‘Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate’ Deluxe Edition Coming to PC and Consoles in April

Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate will join a growing trend of games receiving an HD port from its modest hand held home. Originally spotted on the Xbox Games Store earlier this month, the HD port for 2.5-D game was officially confirmed this morning by publisher Warner Bros. Interactive. Much like Assassin’s Creed: Liberation HD, Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate will receive a “Deluxe Edition” featuring many improvements over the original.

Originally released for the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita, Blackgate served as a narrative bridge between the events of Arkham Origins and the first game in the franchise, Batman: Arkham Asylum. The handheld game featured many of the mechanics from its console brothers; free flow combat, detective mode and an open world to explore were all included with slight alterations to better suit the handheld platforms.

Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate was originally developed by Armature to continue the story of Batman: Arkham Origins. Blackgate was identical between the 3DS and Vita and centered around a mechanic which combines action with exploration to find tools and items which would advance the story and open up more areas to explore. Often times you would pass areas that would have a powerful weapon or upgrade you could clearly see, but lacked the tool or ability to access until later in the game requiring the player to revisit many parts of the game world.

Blackgate was met with mixed reviews from the gaming press. Many of the problems centered around a poor map system that ended up confusing the player matched with bewildering level design that had left the player lost more often than not. Other reviewers called out a narrative that was light on mythos and more about simply moving Batman from one area of the world to the next. This updated HD version of the game promises to fix some of these issues.

Beyond the standard HD treatment to the textures, other improvements that have been confirmed by Warner Bros. Interactive include a new map system to address the issues from the handheld version of the game, improved hint system and 5.1 surround sound. Players who link their Warner Bros. ID (WBID) with the game will receive the Zero Year Batsuit. Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate is scheduled for digital release on April 1 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U and PC via Steam for $19.99.