Batman: Arkham Origins to Have Ultra-Hard Permadeath Mode

[Steven Bogos]

Batman: Arkham Origins to Have Ultra-Hard Permadeath Mode

Batman: Arkham Origins' "I Am The Night" mode features no saves and only a single life.

We at The Escapist remember a time where you had to hike forty miles uphill in the snow to the nearest health pick-up, and it seems that the folks over at Warner Bros. Games Montreal do, too. Speaking to Eurogamer [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-09-29-batman-arkham-origins-initiation-dlc-stars-bruce-wayne-in-asia], Batman: Arkham Origins producer Guillaume Voghel announced that the game will feature an ultra-hard masochists-only "I Am The Night" difficulty level, in which you cannot save your game and have but a single life.

"We have a new difficulty level, New Game Plus is coming back - that's really difficult - and when you're done with that there's I Am The Night mode - which is no saves and one life."

In the Eurogamer interview, Voghel also talks a bit about Initiation, the first piece of story DLC scheduled for the game. "You play as Bruce Wayne learning to be a ninja," said Voghel, adding that the DLC will be set in Asia. "That's a really cool one. Narratively there's some added content that will give players a little more background story."

"[But] it's not League of Assassins, it's ninja-related," he continued. "It's when he learned to be a ninja and learned those techniques. He goes to a monastery - custom content was created for the DLC. You'll be in Asia in the monastery. The team did a great job on that, it looks really good."

Voghel says that all of these features, plus around 12 hours of gameplay just from the main narrative arc and story missions, are there to help add replay-ability to the game.

Source: Eurogamer [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-09-29-batman-arkham-origins-initiation-dlc-stars-bruce-wayne-in-asia]

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[Danceofmasks]

I approve of this and all, except ...
FUCK OFF WITH UNLOCKING DIFFICULTY SETTINGS.
Look, you may think it's dumb as bricks to blindly play on a hardcore setting, but knowing what's going to happen already makes games like this trivial.

 

[Random Argument Man]

Anyone else saw the lost opportunity to call this mode "I AM BATMAN!"?

No? Only me?...

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

Anyone else saw the lost opportunity to call this mode "I AM BATMAN!"?

No? Only me?...

While they have discussed putting memes in the Batman games before, like the Shark Repellant, I can imagine that they would have found it too goofy to put in.

 

[james.sponge]

This is a good development. Finally someone acknowledges community's l33t skilzzzzz

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Permadeath and no saving? Let the rage commence. I would attempt it but i know i would mess up towards the end and die. Actually more likely mess up at the start. :-(

 

[Petromir]

Permadeath and no saving? Let the rage commence. I would attempt it but i know i would mess up towards the end and die. Actually more likely mess up at the start. :-(

Nah its the bullshit glitch that kills you 99% of the way through thats gonna be the issue here amonst other similar ones part way through.

 

[chikusho]

By "no saves" I hope they mean "no restarting from checkpoints", right?
Like, you don't have to go through 12 hours in one sitting?

 

[shrekfan246]

OT: Love the idea of permadeath. Having to do the entire game in a single sitting? Not quite a fan of.

Yeah, that's a bit strange. Especially considering it's an open-world title, there's gotta still be checkpoints or something. Just send you back to the main menu or something when you die instead of going to the last checkpoint...

Also, I have to agree that unlocking difficulty settings is obnoxious. It can work in certain games (mostly thinking spectacle fighters or wacky racing games), but there are people who like to go immediately for the hardest setting as soon as they can, and won't bother replaying a game just to do so. Basically, if Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence let you pick "European Extreme" right from the get-go your first time playing the game (er, I'm led to believe that's actually triggered by selecting "I like MGS3!" on the prompt screen directly before it, but still, it's technically entirely possible to play the hardest difficulty without having played the game), Batman: Arkham Origins should let you pick "I Am The Night".

Captcha: "snake eyes"

So Snake is hiding somewhere near me, then? That's good to know, he'll get a Game Over if I spot him!

 

[RJ 17]

By "no saves" I hope they mean "no restarting from checkpoints", right?
Like, you don't have to go through 12 hours in one sitting?

That's what I'm hoping as well. I mean, if I started right when I woke up, I could probably clear Arkham City by the end of the day...but still, having to play through an entire game in a single sitting is pretty tiresome.

 

[Drummodino]

You know I am a big fan of the Arkham series. Yet they continue to piss me off with their bullshit DLC practices. The game isn't even out yet and they're already talking about the first DLC pack! Saying it's "custom content". No. It is not custom content if the game is not even out yet. It is content that you are locking behind a paywall to try and scam from your customers. Fuck you WB. Don't even get me started on the pre-order Deathstroke bullshit. Just as bad as that Catwoman crap from City.

 

[FoolKiller]

Voghel says that all of these features, plus around 12 hours of gameplay just from the main narrative arc and story missions, are there to help add replay-ability to the game.

Correction:
Voghel says that forcing you to play the game three times, plus around 6 hours of gameplay just from the main narrative arc and story missions, are there to help pad the game so people don't sell it right away.

I was looking forward to this but now I don't really want it. I can play the hardest setting off the top. Why do I still need to unlock the challenge?

 

[GoddyofAus]

Clearly marketed at the Sado-masochist gamers out there. I play games primarily to enjoy myself, not going into cardiac arrest when I perma-die on the last boss of the game with no save file.

 

[RJ 17]

Just a random thought, but I think it'd be pretty sweet

Spoiler: If this was a possible costume for Batman in this game:

He is the Terror that flaps in the Night!!!

I know he's a Disney character, but come on! That'd be frickin' epic! :3

 

[ZZoMBiE13]

So... Dark Knight Rouge Like? OK. I'm on board.

Of course I was already on board having loved Asylum and City. But this is one of the first times I feel like they're doing something with this game that is actually kind of interesting. Other than this, it was kind of feeling "more of the same". Then they added mutliplayer that I will likely never touch. This is actually something I might get some time with, so good news everyone!

 

[RJ 17]

Then they added mutliplayer that I will likely never touch.

I'm not putting too much faith into the multiplayer either...I don't see how they'll be able to do it without making Batman and Robin obscenely overpowered. But who knows? It might turn out to be surprisingly fun to play, kinda like how Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood had a multiplayer that was surprisingly a lot of fun to play. I'll be giving it a fair shot, but I'm certainly not getting my hopes up for it.

 

[Covarr]

By "no saves" I hope they mean "no restarting from checkpoints", right?
Like, you don't have to go through 12 hours in one sitting?

Does the real Batman get to take a break in the middle of a mission?

P.S. Thanks

 

[Use_Imagination_here]

12 hours sounds good since I spent at least 6 times as much time in arkham city just fucking around then I did on the actual story.

And the DLC sounds good since the DLC for city was kind of weak. Not bad, just really insubstantial.