Cancelled Batman game footage shows the Arkham follow-up we all wanted

Footage and screenshots of a cancelled Batman game have been making the rounds in social media, showing a slightly different take on the Arkham open-world formula. This take on the caped crusader wasn’t approved, it was later turned into Monolith Productions’ acclaimed Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor game.

Leaked screenshots and footage of the game were shared on social media recently, with Twitter user SpideyRanger compiling all of them in a thread. Through these videos, we get to see how different open-world traversing would have been, as they mixed gliding and zipping with Bruce’s signature batmobile.

While this Batman game does take inspiration from the Arkham series, the visual identity is entirely its own and we would have liked playing this. Despite how good this looks, it might have been too much like the Arkham series for its own good and changing this to Shadow of Mordor was a good decision.

Monolith’s Middle Earth games ended up becoming a smash hit for Warner Bros. so this new Batman game just wasn’t meant to be. This game also would have had the Nemesis system, a gameplay mechanic so unique and original that Warner Bros. now owns its copyrights.

Not getting the Nemesis system in a Batman game is pretty disappointing, but Warner Bros. can now use it on other games. The company confirmed that Monolith’s upcoming Wonder Woman game will also have the Nemesis system. Seeing stronger versions of Amazon enemies should be really interesting, though we could also see other forms of thugs get an upgrade as well.

Batman will always be a relevant name in whatever medium he’s in, so we’re interested in seeing what his next major game will be. It’s a shame that his appearance in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League wasn’t the best, with many upset over this being his final showing in these Arkham games.

Fans can pick up the Batman Arkham Trilogy right now on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch, and PC.