‘Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate’ Features Catwoman, A Smaller Gotham

Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate will feature a smaller Gotham, and the first appearance by Catwoman.

We know about Batman: Arkham Origins, the full-on console followup to the highly successful Batman Arkham series on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It is to take place in a fully open multi-level world, and feature Batman in a Gotham City that existed before he knew about its most insane criminals. Set in the Silver Age of DC Comics origins, the game will be the debut of Deathstroke, a master assassin hired by the Black Mask to hunt down the dark knight around Christmas Eve.

The mobile followup to Batman: Arkham Origins is called Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate, named after the Blackgate Prison where criminals who are still quite sane are locked up. However, it won’t be an open-world game.

Now you could be asking, “How can a followup to an open-world game with multiple levels not be even more expansive?”

The answer is that this is a mobile game, made for the 3DS and PlayStation Vita, and it’s a 2.5D gameplay title. If you remember the classic Double Dragon, it may be like that. However, developer Arcane Studios has put as much of the Batman Arkham gameplay into it as possible, keeping it fun enough that you won’t miss that pesky half a dimension. It won’t feel like a contrived rip-off as most dumbed-down mobile titles tend to be; it does it in a way that still feels fresh.

Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate will also include the first appearance of Catwoman. Nothing is known yet of how her appearance will affect the game, but you can probably expect some double crossing and might not mind it. After all, she is one of the most charming characters in the Batman canon, playing both sides of the law.

Between Catwoman and a downsized Gotham City, Batman: Akham Origins Blackgate could be the mobile super hero game you didn’t know you wanted.

What do you think of the smaller Gotham City in Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate? Are you excited to see Batman’s first encounter with Catwoman?