Batman: Arkham Origins, the third game in the Arkham series, is the first to have a multiplayer mode and today we have been treated with a trailer; which you can see embedded above. The online is being developed separately by Splash Damage (developers of Brink) and lets you play as the Batman himself, as well as others.
The online mode contains 8 players in a 2v3v3 format. You can play as Batman or Robin in the first faction, one Bane’s three thugs or one the Joker’s three thugs.
When playing as Batman or Robin you get the full array of gadgets and control as you do when playing as Batman in the singleplayer, when playing as the heroes you will want to stay in the darkness, picking off enemy thugs as quietly as possible. However when you play as one of the thugs the game turns into a third-person shooter, not only do you have Batman and Robin to look for, you are also fighting against the other team of thugs.
Splash Damage creative director Alastair Cornish had this to say:
“We wanted this tension with the hunter/hunted mechanic, if Batman’s primary method of engagement was to just run in and club people, a) that’s not very Batman and b) it’s not that tense or rewarding.
“So we worked out a clever system with the scoring, so you would vary your takedowns and be patient and not just go in swinging, because that’s not Batman. The whole idea is to instil fear and intimidation into players.”
At certain points throughout the match the thugs will be able to call in their leader, which means that one lucky thug will get to play as The Joker or Bane in attempt to salvage any chance of winning. Thugs also get to use the ‘vision mode’ that Batman can use anytime, but only for a short while, this is so that the thugs have a chance of finding and locating the heroes and helps balance the game.
Let me know in the comments what you think about this multiplayer mode and whether you will be playing it when the game releases in October.
Batman: Arkham Origins is coming to the PC, PS3 and 360 on October 25.