Batman: Arkham Shadow (2025)

Batman: Arkham Shadow is a virtual reality video game, based on the DC Comics Superhero Batman, and the sixth main game in the Batman: Arkham Series. It was developed by Camouflaj, the developers of Iron Man VR, for Warner Bros. Games and was released on October 22, 2024. The game is a sequel to Batman: Arkham Origins and a direct continuation of events from Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate. Chronology-wise, this story is placed third in the series and is followed by the events of Batman: Arkham Origins Multiplayer.

Plot[]

Set between the events of Batman: Arkham Origins (2013) and Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009), the game follows a young but confident Batman (Roger Craig Smith), who must prevent the Rat King from executing public office officials, such as District Attorney Harvey Dent (Troy Baker) and Police Commissioner James Gordon (Mark Rolston), and unleashing chaos in Gotham City on the Fourth of July. Among the game's supporting cast are Dr. Harleen Quinzel (Tara Strong), Otis Flannegan (Khary Payton), Lyle Bolton (Earl Baylon), Barbara Gordon (Chelsea Kane), Alfred Pennyworth (Martin Jarvis), and Dr. Jonathan Crane (Elijah Wood).

Cast and Characters[]

Arkham Shadow features a large ensemble cast of characters pulled from the large history of the Batman comic mythos. Returning characters from the previous main games include:

• Bruce Wayne/Batman/Irving "Matches" Malone (Roger Craig Smith)
  • Young Bruce Wayne (Max Mitchell; flashbacks only)
• Harvey Dent/The Rat King/Two-Face (Troy Baker)
  • Young Harvey Dent (Jesse Berry; flashbacks only)
• Harleen Quinzel (Tara Strong)
• James Gordon (Mark Rolston)
• Oracle (Chelsea Kane)
• Alfred Pennyworth (Martin Jarvis)
• Jonathan Crane (Elijah Wood)
• Joe Chill (Armin Shimerman)
• Howard Branden (Chris Fries)
• Woody (William Salyers/Dwight Schultz)
• Bronze Tiger (Zeno Robinson)
• Bird (Jordan Reynolds)
• Vicki Vale (Ali Hillis)
• Frank Boles (Jake Green)
• Richard Grayson (Josh Keaton)
• Ferris Boyle (Stephen Tobolowsky)
• Ricky "Loose Lips" LeBlanc (Walter Gray IV)
• The Joker (Troy Baker; voice only)
• Black Mask (Brian Bloom; voice only)
• The Penguin (Nolan North; voice only)
• Firefly (Crispin Freeman; voice only)
• Deadshot (Chris Cox; voice only)
• Thomas Wayne (Andrew Morgado; hallucination only)
• Martha Wayne (Salli Saffioti; hallucination only)
• Jack Ryder (James Horan; radio voice only)
• Lucius Fox (Dave Fennoy; voicemail only)
• Selina Kyle (Chantelle Barry; voicemail only)
• Martin Joseph (Khary Payton; diorama voice only)
• Cyrus Pinkney (Dwight Schultz; diary voice only)
• Bane (Fred Tatasciore; flashback voice only)
• Deathstroke (Mark Rolston; flashback voice only)
• Killer Croc (Khary Payton; flashback voice only)
• Anarky (Matthew Mercer; radio voice only)
• Rick Flag (voicemail only)

Characters marking their debut in the series:[]

• Carmine Falcone (Darin De Paul)
• Lock-Up (Earl Baylon)
• Takeo Yamashiro (Jonathan Ohye)
• The Ratcatcher (Khary Payton)
• Leslie Thompkins (Mara Junot)
• Arnold Wesker (Dwight Schultz)
• Donnegan (William Salyers)
• Shrike (Rick Gomez)
• Vanessa Rios (Debra Cardona)
• Christopher Dent (Andrew Morgado; flashbacks only)
• Shadow Batman (Roger Craig Smith; hallucination only)
• Alexandra Brackett (Jennifer Hale; radio voice only)
• Rob Touchstone (Chris Hill; radio voice only)
• Vic Sage (David Dastmalchian; radio voice only)
• Andrea Beaumont (Amber Hood; voicemail only)
• Salvatore Maroni (Troy Baker; voicemail only)
• Douglas Zsasz Sr. (Mark Rolston; voicemail only)
• The Gray Ghost (Roger Craig Smith; television voice only)

Henchmen in Arkham Shadow:[]

• The Rats
• TYGER
• Falcone Henchmen
• Blackgate Prisoners

Referenced Characters:[]

• Edward Nashton
• Pamela Isley
• Jason Woodrue
• Victor Zsasz
• Gilda Dent
• Electrocutioner
• Calendar Man
• Solomon Wayne
• Tony Zucco
• Alberto Falcone
• Louisa Falcone
• Hugo Strange
• Gillian B. Loeb
• Simon Stagg
• Peyton Riley
• Kate Kane
• Zatanna
• Martian Manhunter
• Barbara Kean Gordon
• James Gordon Jr.
• Amadeus Arkham
• Count Vertigo
• Tracey Buxton
• Solomon Grundy
• Kirigi
• Tiny

Locations[]

Gotham City:[]

• Blackgate Island
  • Blackgate Prison
    • Batcave (Blackgate Prison)
• Gotham North
  • Amusement Mile
    • GCPD Building
  • The Bowery
    • Iceberg Lounge
    • Sal Maroni's Italian Restaurant (mentioned)
  • Industrial District
    • Sionis Steel Mill (mentioned)
  • Park Row
    • Ace Chemicals
    • Crime Alley
    • Monarch Theatre
• Gotham University (mentioned)
• Wayne Enterprises (mentioned)
• Wayne Manor (mentioned)

Outside Gotham City:[]

• Blüdhaven (mentioned)
• Santa Prisca
  • Peña Duro (mentioned)

Development[]

On May 1st, 2024, the reveal trailer for the game was released, along with a note that more details will be revealed on June 7th during Summer Game Fest. The reveal trailer was met with negative feedback, mostly due to its exclusivity as a VR game.

On June 7th, 2024, the story trailer was revealed at Summer Game Fest. Details revealed that the game is set between events of Batman: Arkham Origins and Batman: Arkham Asylum, taking place around The Fourth of July, and will feature the origin stories of Harley Quinn, Scarecrow and other well-known villains. The Rat King is also confirmed to be the game's main antagonist. Roger Craig Smith is revealed to be reprising the role of Batman in the game.

On August 20th, 2024, the official gameplay trailer was revealed at Gamescom 2024, showcasing combat, predator, traversal, detective mode and further story elements. This trailer was better received, specifically due to it showcasing how the rhythm-fluid style of the Arkham series' combat translated into VR for the first time.

On September 25th, 2024, the release date (October 22) was announced at Meta Connect along with another announcement that the game is being bundled with a new VR Headset called the Meta Quest 3S which will cost $299 and will release on October 15.

On October 19th, 2024, the voice actor for Jonathan Crane was officially announced to be Elijah Wood in the fourth and final Camouflaj pre-release Q&A video for Arkham Shadow.

On October 22nd, 2024, the game was released on the Meta Quest 3 and Meta Quest 3S.

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

• It was confirmed by the developers in a Q&A video that Rat King and Ratcatcher are two different people and that Ratcatcher idolized Rat King as he did Black Mask before the events of Arkham Origins, but when Joker was revealed to have been Black Mask and not Roman Sionis, he felt betrayed and soon followed in the path of The Rat King.
• The gameplay mechanics from the previous Batman: Arkham games will be featured in Arkham Shadow, including freeflow combat, counter attacks, predator encounters, Detective Vision, Crime Scene Investigations and gadget utilization.
• The game features a sort of free-roaming, open-world mode where players can explore locations such as the Monarch Theatre, Bowery and Beacon Hotel in a "new perspective". The game is also confirmed to take place over several days instead of just one night like in the previous Arkham games.
• This is the second Batman: Arkham game to be established in virtual reality, with the first being Batman: Arkham VR.
• This is the fourth time a Batman: Arkham game was made by another gaming studio besides Rocksteady. The first was Batman: Arkham City Lockdown, which was developed by Netherrealm Studios, the second was Batman: Arkham Origins, which was developed by WB Games Montreal, and the third was Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate, developed by Armature Studios.
• In the story trailer for the game, an instrumental version of "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" by the Smashing Pumpkins plays.
• The gameplay trailer presented for Gamescom 2024 featured three characters new to the Arkham series, Otis Flannegan/The Ratcatcher, Lyle Bolton/Lock-Up, and Arnold Wesker/The Ventriloquist. The latter was initially presumed to be Wesker because he was holding a ventriloquist dummy that was presumably Scarface. Upon release, Wesker (pre-Ventriloquist) was confirmed. Additionally, the ventriloquist dummy in his hand goes by the name Woody before eventually being renamed Scarface.
• According to one of the Q&A videos from the creators, the game takes place 6 months after Arkham Origins and 3 months after Arkham Origins Blackgate.
• Challenge Maps will be in the game as confirmed in a feature on September 26th.
• Howard Branden returns, now working for TYGER after having been fired from the GCPD, sometime after the events of Origins.
• Elijah Wood, who voices Jonathan Crane (pre-Scarecrow) in the game, is best known for his role as Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson's The Lord of The Rings film trilogy.
  • Wood is the second Lord of The Rings actor to have voiced Scarecrow in the Arkham series. John Noble, who portrayed Denethor in Return of the King, previously voiced Crane in Arkham Knight.
• Carmine Falcone, having been mentioned in previous Arkham games, makes his proper debut appearance. His last time appearing was in the now defunct online game Batman: Arkham Underworld.
• Barbara asks Batman to call her Oracle while working with him, an alias she will reuse after being paralyzed by the Joker and retiring from the field as Batgirl.
• This game marks one of the rare occasions in the franchise in which Joker isn't the main antagonist or involved in the plot, although he does make a voice cameo when situated in a cell next to Malone. Joker makes reference to this when he tells Batman (having correctly deduced him to be Malone in disguise from his voice) that he isn't involved in the Rat King's plot.
• This is the one of the few main titles in the Arkham series, and the second following Arkham Origins Blackgate, to not feature the Riddler in any physical or vocal capacity, and the first main game in the series to not have any Riddler challenges and collectibles be featured in the game, instead being replaced with Rat King collectables such as propaganda radios.
  • As the game is set during Batman's third year of crimefighting, Nigma would have needed time to build up his Riddler persona, steal money to hire thugs, devise his death traps and discern which thugs to hire based on eidetic memory and espionage capabilities, possibly explaining his lack of involvement in the events of the game.
  • Additionally, there are numerous references to "If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich?", the fortieth episode of Batman: The Animated Series, overall, which saw Riddler make his debut in. The references primarily focus on the game the Riddler designed known as Riddle of the Minotaur.
  • Oddly enough, despite not appearing at all, physically or vocally, Riddler was listed in the German and Mexican-Spanish versions of the game's voice cast during the credits. This might have been a developer oversight or he may been intended to have been an additional phone number in the game that the player can scan and listen to on release. This may be rectified or added in a future game patch.
• Arkham Shadow marks the first game since Arkham Knight to feature Batman as the playable title character, after the release of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League in February 2024 and Batman's more antagonistic role in that game.
  • The game also marks the first time Batman has been voiced by a different actor in the series following the death of Kevin Conroy in 2022, with the actor in question, Roger Craig Smith, reprising the role after having voiced a younger version of the character in Arkham Origins and Arkham Origins Blackgate.
• When encountering the Rat in the Monarch Theater's projection room, there were hints strongly implying he was actually Dick Grayson before taking on the role of Robin (and later, Nightwing). Some of these hints involve his battle stance (holding two broken pieces of wood as weapons much like Nightwing would do with his Escrima Sticks), his hairstyle being close to the one from Arkham Origins' now-defunct multiplayer mode and an easter egg reference in Malone's apartment where a newspaper of the Flying Graysons' deaths can be seen in the beginning of the game, suggesting Grayson had joined the Rats not long after his parents had died.
  • The release of the first post-launch Q&A video for the game, as well as the November patch having new game over scenes, confirmed that Grayson was indeed the Rat from the Projection Room. Additionally, the developers stated a potential January 2025 update for the game would feature a "lore-expanding" scene after the post-credits.