Not the best Christmas Batman's ever had

Earlier in the year we learned that a new Batman Arkham title was due in 2013, courtesy of a Warner Bros. financial briefing, and we were hoping that it'd appear on Wii U. The good news is that the statement was true and that Nintendo's system is in line to enjoy the next entry; Batman: Arkham Origins arrives on 25th October.

Also due on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360, development is being taken up by WB Montreal, which previously brought us Batman: Arkham City Armoured Edition in time for the Wii U launch. Set several years before the previous games, this sees a younger Batman meeting some foes for the first time, and the overall premise is that eight assassins have all traveled to Gotham City on Christmas Eve with the intention of killing the caped crusader. It'll use the same framework that Rocksteady employed in the first two games, and the wintry setting suggests that it may have plenty of visual similarities with Arkham City.

The good news for handheld fans is that there'll also be a portable spin-off on 3DS (and the PS Vita), Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate, which has been described as a "2.5D Metroid-style game" and is also due on 25th October. It'll take place after the events of the home console game, and even better is the fact that Armature Studios is behind that project, a company founded by many of the leading lights that produced the Metroid Prime titles at Retro Studios.

It's speculated that this isn't the end for Rocksteady Studios in the Batman series, but that WB Montreal may alternate with the UK studio so that there's a new entry every year. Game Informer magazine is splashing with the game this month, and below is a video that it has posted with some soundbites on what we can come to expect.

So, Batman fans, are you hyped about this one?

[source eurogamer.net]