Adapting Famous Stories

Superman has a rich history to draw from so why not just follow the core story? Start with his origin as the sole survivor of Krypton, growing up and realizing he has superpowers, eventually becoming the hero we know and love. Superman’s exploits and interactions with the various denizens of Metropolis, including his battles with Lex Luthor, could eventually culminate in a showdown with Doomsday. It’s prime story-telling and would be excellent for an adaptation.

Epic Games’ next collaboration for Fortnite Battle Royale could be another DC Universe property. The official Twitter for the battle royale title tagged Warner Bros. Pictures with the line “See you soon, Harley!” with the latter’s Twitter account replying in kind. This seems to indicate a crossover with Birds of Prey which releases in February.

It wouldn’t be too strange considering that Epic Games has collaborated with DC Comics on featuring Batman, incorporating the Dark Knight’s skins and mechanics like the grappling hook into the game. In hindsight, it’s kind of funny that Harley Quinn, of all characters, could be featured in the battle royale title before Superman. Other high-profile collaborations include The Avengers, Borderlands, John Wick, Star Wars, the list goes on.

That’s not all that Fortnite fans have to look forward. Season 2 of Fortnite Chapter 2 has a launch date – February 20th – and will carry a new battle pass, cosmetics, map changes and other new activities. Stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks.

https://twitter.com/wbpictures/status/1220773650854363137

Over more than 75 years, Bob Kane and Bill Finger’s signature creation has stood alone in superhero comics. There’s no one else like him. Maybe it’s his violent origin story. Maybe it’s because he doesn’t have super powers. Maybe it’s because no one else has spawned a family of heroes like he has. Maybe it’s because no one else has a rogue’s gallery that compares. Maybe it’s because he has some of the greatest stories in the medium. Whatever the reason, Batman endures, staking a claim to the imaginations of generation after generation. Batman’s stories, allies, and enemies have evolved over the decades, and multiple people have put on the cowl. But at his core, Batman is Bruce Wayne, a traumatized eight-year-old scarred forever by the death of his parents. It’s what drives him into Gotham’s streets night after night, so that no other child will ever experience what he did. And in the mask, he isn’t a kid anymore. He’s powerful. In the mask, he might have been able to stop Joe Chill from murdering his parents, the way he couldn’t as a child. In the mask, Bruce can force Gotham to make sense.

"The Enemy Within is an excellent game, and one that makes a noticeable improvement in terms both Telltale’s storytelling and gameplay systems. Like Batman: The Telltale Series, the story takes place when Bruce is still learning what it takes to be Batman and hasn’t encountered many of his more famous foes yet."

It’s why Wayne can’t give it up, and why, no matter what else changes from story to story, Gotham endures. Telltales Games understands this, which is why Batman: The Enemy Within is as good as it is. The story picks up where 2016’s Batman: The Telltale Series left off, but you don’t need to have played it to understand what’s going on in The Enemy Within. That said, there is a feature to let you choose what happened in the original series, if you’re so inclined.

Regardless of whether you import your choices, use these feature, or start with the pre-baked choices Telltale has chosen for you, The Enemy Within is an excellent game, and one that makes a noticeable improvement in terms both Telltale’s storytelling and gameplay systems. Like Batman: The Telltale Series, the story takes place when Bruce is still learning what it takes to be Batman and hasn’t encountered many of his more famous foes yet. The core plot in The Enemy Within revolves around the return of The Riddler, an older criminal who was terrorizing Gotham long before Bruce Wayne wore the mask, and a group known as The Pact, which features members like Harley Quinn, Bane, and a couple others that I don’t want to spoil.

The presence of these villains in Gotham causes problems for the Gotham Police, and attracts the attention of The Agency, a secretive federal agency with a lame name that is led by the distinctively not lame Amanda “The Wall” Waller, a hard woman who is not opposed doing morally questionable things if it helps the greater good. You have to use both Batman and Bruce Wayne to solve this problem, while managing your relationships with Waller, Alfred, Jim Gordon, Catwoman and a few others – most interestingly John Doe, a green-haired, slightly insane guy Bruce met in Arkham Asylum. Sound familiar? These relationships, especially the one with John Doe, and the choices you make, can significantly change how the game plays, to the point that certain episodes diverge significantly depending on your choices. Telltale has done this before – Guardians of the Galaxy does a good job of it as well – but it’s clearly obvious where that moment of divergence is. It’s never felt like all of my choices mattered as much as they do in The Enemy Within. They probably don’t. Choice in games is inherently a very well-crafted illusion, but Telltale pulls it off well here, and that’s something to applaud.

"The Enemy Within allows you to make decisions mid-combat. Do you wanna throw a batarang at this guy or use your grappling hook on him, or maybe shock him with some electricity? It’s your call. Many of these decisions don’t matter, but some – who you fight with, how you’ve managed your relationships with certain characters, and what you do when fighting – have big decisions on the plot."

Aside from the quality of the story and the sheer impact of your choices, the other major positive for longtime fans of Telltale’s work is the ability to choose how to handle certain situations in combat. In most Telltale games, combat plays one way: Quick Time Events appear on the screen, you press the appropriate buttons, and your characters carry out pre-rendered actions that are usually pretty neat. It looks cool, but it doesn’t require much decision-making.

The Enemy Within switches this up by allowing you to make decisions mid-combat. Do you wanna throw a batarang at this guy or use your grappling hook on him, or maybe shock him with some electricity? It’s your call. Many of these decisions don’t matter, but some – who you fight with, how you’ve managed your relationships with certain characters, and what you do when fighting – have big decisions on the plot. Normally, Telltale games rely on decisions made outside of combat to make things work and The Enemy Within’s steps away from that are a nice change of pace.

But Batman isn’t just a great fighter. He’s also the World’s Greatest Detective, and Telltale does a good job of selling this aspect of the character, too. Many episodes ask you to reconstruct a crime scene or balance your identities as both Batman and Bruce Wayne to solve puzzles. These puzzles are usually pretty simple, but a good puzzle’s job isn’t to be complex, though it can be. Its job is to make you feel clever, and that sense of accomplishment comes pretty regularly in The Enemy Within. Better yet, they don’t even have to resort to gimmicks like Detective Vision to make it work.

"The writing is great, as are the performances, and it looks and runs pretty well. Like all Telltale Games, the gameplay is a bit simple, but the new additions help The Enemy Within immensely."

Beyond that, this is a Telltale Game. The writing is great, as are the performances, and it looks and runs pretty well. Like all Telltale Games, the gameplay is a bit simple, but the new additions help The Enemy Within immensely. But you’re not here for the gameplay: you’re here to enjoy a good Batman yarn and The Enemy Within delivers one of the best I’ve seen in recent memory, regardless of medium.

What’s here is compelling, both as a story and as a game that makes you feel like The Dark Knight. It does new and exciting things with these characters – especially through its use of the Bruce Wayne identity and Bruce’s relationship with John Doe – that I haven’t seen before, while respecting the source material and providing a fun gameplay experience where your choices matter. It captures the essence of what makes Batman special, more than 75 years on. And that’s something that, like John Doe, we can all smile about.

This game was reviewed on the PC.

Batman: Arkham Origins developer Warner Bros. Montreal, who also worked on DLC for Batman: Arkham Knight, is in hiring mode. According to its job openings page, the developer is working on not one but two new titles set in the DC Comics universe.

As per the listing, “We are a growing studio with two AAA projects in development focused on expanding the DC Comics universe in the interactive space.”

Rumours have run rampant over what Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment plans to pursue as its next big DC Comics game. While some say Superman or the Justice League, others have pointed to the Suicide Squad. Maybe that has something to do with the movie coming up next year? Then again, it could just be another Batman prologue game.

Which new DC Comics property would you like to see Warner Bros. Montreal? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below and stay tuned for more information.

Today, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment have announced that they plan on releasing Batman: Arkham Knight worldwide on June 2nd of 2015. Not only this, the game is set to launch alongside two limited production collectors editions that will be made available in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand on the PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

The Batman: Arkham Knight Limited Edition is set to include an 80 page, fully coloured art book, a special steel book case and special disc. An issue of DC Comics Batman: Arkham Knight #0, exclusive character skin packs featuring skins from DC Comics – The New 52 and last but by no means least, a Batman Memorial Statue. This pack is listed as £89.99 for consoles and £74.99 for the PC version.

The Batman: Arkham Knight Batmobile Edition will include an 80 page, fully coloured art book, a special steel book case and special disc. An issue of DC Comics Batman: Arkham Knight #0, exclusive character skin packs featuring skins from DC Comics – The New 52 and it will also include a statue. This statue is a transforming Batmobile which has been created by TriForce. The Batman: Arkham Knight Batmobile Edition is exclusive to console builds of the game and is set to retail at £169.99.

Players that pre-order the standard version of the game will also receive twi additional DLC packs in the shape of  the Red Hood Story Pack and the Harly Quin Story Pack.

DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. With that in mind, we give you some of the top DC Heroes of all time.

For more exciting features and lists, please click here. Also don’t forget to check out our ultimate list of Marvel heroes here. Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more news and updates.

Note: List is in random order

Vixen

In my opinion Vixen is quite the awesome character, because she possess some pretty extraordinary abilities. For one Vixen adopts the abilities of animals. Using her a magical device of sorts, she can channel the powers of the animal kingdom, which means for example  that she can use the accelerated healing from Earthworm, Snake and so on.  She has been a member of the Birds of Prey, Checkmate, the Justice League, Suicide Squad and the Ultramarine Corps.

Remember that little tidbit last week about Rocksteady Studios’ Batman: Arkham Knight being delayed by DC Comics? It turns out this wasn’t the case at all. After the CG trailer for the game was showcased, many thought they heard about Arkham Knight being delayed into 2015.

But according to Furious Fanboys, it was actually revealed that Arkham Knight would be out this year while a new Injustice would release in 2015. Yes, there’s going to be a sequel to the DC fighting game Injustice. No other details were provided, including who would be developing it, but it is most definitely out next year.

Batman: Arkham Knight meanwhile will release as scheduled on October 14th for PS4, Xbox One and PC. We expect gameplay footage to be showcased at this year’s E3. Could an Injustice 2 teaser also be on the cards, along with information on launch platforms? Stay tuned for more information as it arrives.

Scribblenauts Unmasked, the upcoming DC comics tie in of the gleeful puzzle game series from 5th Cell, will feature Superman in not just one, but all of his variations and incarnations across the DC multiverse- this includes you regular Superman, Red Son Superman, Kingdom Come Superman, and more.

Pity it isn’t Batman they’re focusing on, though. Superman is interesting and all, but there’s only so much a do everything, always good all powerful superhero can do.

For those not in the know, Scribblenats Unmasked is the fourth installment in the award winning Scribblenauts franchise from 5th Cell. The new game, which takes Maxwell on a new quest, promises to add in to the trademark hilarity of the series by letting players access trademarked characters for the first time in its history.

Scribblenauts Unmasked hits Wii U, PC, and 3DS on September 24. Stay tuned for our coverage.

PlanetSide 2 is an MMOFPS that has been out for PC for at least 6 months, the developers are absolutely thrilled to bring this free-to-play game to the PlayStation 4. PlanetSide 2 is widely popular on PC due to it’s massive battles, vehicular combat, nice graphics and free-to-play model.

PlanetSide 2  PlayStation 4 Trailer:

Fans of DC Universe Online may also rejoice and won’t be left in the dust because the game is also being added to the  fantastic library of PS4 games.

DC Universe Online PlayStation 4 Trailer:

Here is a quote from John Smedley the President of Sony Online Entertainment: “Since the launch of the original EverQuest, we have pioneered major shifts in the development of MMOs and videogames as a whole, and now we’re bringing our titles to the forefront of next-gen gaming.”

“Players are evolving and want a variety of ways to access and play games. Our goal is to deliver epic gaming experiences that players crave while harnessing the awesome power and technology of this incredible new platform. We are thrilled to bring two of our most popular free-to-play games to PS4.”

PlayStation 4 will be an amazing piece of hardware for Sony thanks to the strong support from publishers and developers and of course Sony for creating such a beastly platform.

Let us know if you’re excited to play PlanetSide 2 or DC Universe on your shiny new PlayStation 4 in the comments below.

Check back on GamingBolt for our E3 coverage next week.

Many people were hoping for Scorpion to appear in Injustice: Gods Among Us and now Warner Bros has announced that it will be happening. The last two downloadable characters for Injustice: Gods Among Us were Lobo and Batgirl which makes Scorpion the third.

Scorpion will cost 400 Microsoft Points on Xbox Live Marketplace for Xbox 360 and £3.99 via PlayStation Network for the PS3.

Mortal Kombat fans feel free to rejoice as your favorite character is now making a comeback in NetherRealm Studios’ latest game.

Let us know if you’re excited for Scorpion’s return in Injustice: Gods Among Us in the comments below.

Check back on GamingBolt for more updates.