Batman: Arkham Asylum hit gaming consoles back in 2009. Batman: Arkham City arrived in late 2011. Batman: Arkham Origins, the prequel to both games, is now set for a October 25 release this year, and those fine folk over at GameInformer have the scoop on what to expect.
First up, Rocksteady Studios are no longer in charge of this crack of the cat whip, with Warner Brothers Games Montreal taking over (they did the Wii U Armored edition recently) - though they will be using the modified unreal engine Rocksteady had made their own over the past two games. Head of WB Montreal's team is Eric Holmes, which will mean something to anyone who's played Prototype, as he's the man behind that particular open-world gorefest.
It's a safe bet that there will be fewer bodily organs flying around cityscapes in this particular game, which is set several years before the events of City and Asylum and sees Bats meet eight supervillians for the first time on the streets of Gotham one Christmas Eve.
You'll no doubt form your own list of guesses as to which bad 'uns will appear, though no points for picking The Joker or, as the picture above reveals, Deathstroke. Many fingers crossed that the immensely annoying Harley Quinn will have nothing to do with anything this time around, and that Mark Hamill will reconsider his decision not to voice The Man Who Laughs.
GameInformer have released a video to accompany their coverage of the game, and you can check it out below. Note just how scared everyone is about following up two games that between them hauled in dozens upon dozens of Game Of The Year awards...
Update: GameInformer / WB have released a bunch of stills from the game, which give some more hints as to which villains to expect. Think... The Penguin, if only because one of the pictures includes The Penguin.
{Batman Arkham Origins Grabs}
Also, more plot details have emerged, which reveal that the Black Mask is the man driving the story, as he's the guy who's gathered together these eight antagonists with the promise of a cash reward for the head of The Bat. Bent cops have also joined in on the fun, so expect His Cowliness to POW! a few policemen over the course of the game.
Then there are the locations available, which are split into Old Gotham (the area seen in Arkham City, but without the prison paraphernalia) and New Gotham (a skyscraper-filled modern section that'll no doubt remind many of Nolan's Batman trilogy). Side missions will allow players to also pursue other, non-plot important baddos, as well as time-sensitive 'Crimes In Progress'.