Summary
Some of the most unique moments in anyBatmangames have come from sequences where it was Bruce Wayne who was playable without the cape and cowl.Arkham City’s cinematic opening has Bruce admitted to the titular criminal compound where he defends himself against inmates and Penguin thugs before optionally knocking out Penguin himself, for example, whileArkham Origins’ Initiation DLChas Bruce fight to prove his worth at a Korean monastery before he became Batman.
The Batmanadmittedly doesn’t feature as much of Bruce as it does Batman, but Robert Pattinson’s portrayal of the character is certainly unique enough to have made a distinct mark. It’s interesting seeing Bruce without any care for his public persona and dedicating his life fully to his efforts as Batman, eluding the facade of a playboy billionaire to wear heavy layers overtop his Batsuit while riding a motorbike around Gotham City. Many of these instances would also make for great sequences inaBatmangameif players got to scout for criminal scum even when they weren’t dressed like an armored bat.
A Batman Game with More Bruce Wayne Could Lend Itself to Exciting Gameplay
The Batman’s Drifter Bruce Infiltrates and Patrols Public Areas
BeforeThe Batmanit wasn’t ever really made perfectly clear how Batman might specifically locate crime outside of particular circumstances, clues already found leading to a crime, or the GCDP illuminating the sky with the bat signal. Importantly,The Batmanis set in Bruce’s second year of vigilante crime-fightingand it’s neat to see how he scours rain-slicked streets amid Gotham’s denizens in order to find where he’d have the greatest effect, such as when a group of makeup-clad hoodlums decides to assault someone on a train station.
Further, arriving places as Bruce Wayne instead of Batman garners a different outcome since the cape and cowl alert a different kind of attention to him. It would be exciting in aBatmangame if players could obscure themselves in a crowd to track people down before eventually suiting up and engaging with the enemy and having the city respond differently to them depending on how they’re dressed.
A Day and Night Cycle Could Make Bruce Wayne as Valuable as Batman
Being Batman might always make for more interesting gameplay moments since that’s likely where the bulk of combat would be anyhow, and to give Bruce some dedicated time on-screen a game could enforce a day and night cycle. Therefore, players might be able to go out on a Batcycle during daylight hours, but they’d fail to surprise any enemy that way.
Instead, Bruce could appear at private galas or make other appearances to a similar effect as inBatman: The Telltale Series, where Bruce Wayne as a playable character is perhaps the most substantial. The two episodic seasons of this series leaned heavily on Bruce’s relationships and truly allowed Batman to feel three-dimensional in a way that he’s rarely shown in games where he may be in costume for its entirety.
This is the same gripe that could be said about attempting to achieve a modern AAA Superman game, where Clark Kent’s mild-mannered persona would need to be represented as much as his heroic persona, andThe Batmanhas once more given a glimpse at what that could look like for Bruce Wayne’s involvement in a Batman game. That said, a fine balance would still be necessary so that neither side is short-changed because aBatmangame where most of the time playing is spent out of costume could be largely underwhelming unless it wasanother Telltale-esque point-and-click experience.
Batman: The Telltale Series
WHERE TO PLAY
Enter the fractured psyche of Bruce Wayne and discover the powerful and far-reaching consequences of your choices as the Dark Knight.In this gritty and violent new story from the award-winning creators of The Walking Dead – A Telltale Games Series, you’ll make discoveries that will shatter Bruce Wayne’s world, and the already fragile stability of a corrupt Gotham City.Your actions and your choices will determine the fate of the Batman.
