P.E.D. DirectCast/Batman: Arkham Beyond

This page contains the archived text for the P.E.D. DirectCast for Batman: Arkham Beyond. Outdated information is highlighted by italics.
=Original=
So, anyways, for those who have been following along, I have recently begun redevelopment of one of my most frequently worked projects: Batman: Arkham Beyond; why redevelop a title that I have poured most of my creativity and ingenuity into? Well, after the release of Arkham VR, the continuation of the ongoing Telltale series and the leaking of a new Batman game featuring Damian Wayne under the cowl with the Judge as the main villain (the Judge is just really Harvey Dent, after his career as Two-Face), I decided to start polishing the main story and add some new (or old) faces to the Arkhamverse; while the overall story remains the same, a lot of new stuff will be added to make more sense in the context of the story (like how Terry can now ride the Batbike instead of the Batmobile or Battank or Batboat; makes more sense because it's smaller and stealthier).
With that being said, let's get on with the DirectCast and delve into Arkham Beyond's... everything, I guess.
==The Story==
One of the first things I did when I started the redevelopment of AB was the story; it seemed too close to the original Arkham games when I did it, and while I wanted it to be at least somewhat close, it felt kinda unrealisticly close to the original games - in other words, it was close to the main formula of the Arkham games, but close enough to where it didn't make much sense.
Basically the main story was pretty simple: Batman returns to Gotham after Bruce Wayne's disappearance, but with Terry McGinnis under the cowl, not Bruce; Terry eventually faces off with Arkham King, the game's main villain, and puts him away. Like Batman always does.
Originally, it took place 3 years after Arkham Knight, but now it takes place 5 years; why 5? Well, it gives me time to add a little more backstory for the gap between Knight and Beyond, set things up a little better. And speaking of setting things up a little better, I'm going to be trying to giving the main story a little bit of a boost, so things seem a bit more elaborate. Since I am doing away with the Riddler sidequests of the last 3 Arkham games, I'm going to be giving the puzzles and stuff to another green-loving freak of the Rogue's Gallery: Jervis Tetch, the Mad Hatter. His Wonderland puzzles will serve as Riddler's challenges for this iteration.
But where's the element of challenge and collection like in City? Well, in Arkham Origins, Riddler (before he was the Riddler) planned to use Extortion Datapacks, the GCN Radio Towers, and Network Relays to extort then blackmail data from the people of Gotham; that's coming back, but instead of Riddler doing it, it's Calculator. You remember Calculator, right? The Oracle for Bad Guys? Anyone? ...No? Ok, fine, whatever.
==The Gameplay==
Though the gameplay for the Arkham series is already fantastic in itself, for me it was kinda lackluster; when I first did the Gameplay for Beyond, it was after I read up on Arkham Knight's story and finished playing City's Armored Edition. Now, that I've finished playing Arkham Knight and studied up on Arkham VR, I've decided to revise the gameplay of Beyond while at the same time adding some new, but giving twists to the old:
*For example, most of Batman's gadgets are integrated into his suit, excluding projectiles like the Batarang and Freeze Blast. This is to lighten the utility belt's capacity, so Batman can move even faster yet.
*A lot of the past gadgets are returning as well:
**All the gadgets from Asylum (minus the Sonic Batarang) are returning: Batarang (Multi-Batarang), Remote Batarang (with Reverse Function), Explosive Gel, the Batclaw (later Ultra Batclaw), and the Line Launcher.
**The City gadgets returning are the REC, the Smoke Pellet, the Freeze Blast and the B.A.T. mode included in the Armored Edition.
**The Knight gadgets returning are the Remote Hacking Device and the Voice Synthesizer.
**And that's not all. I'll be including at least 3 new ones as well. Not saying what those are because I don't have them at the moment; but I am planning some kind of sonic weapon. And before you ask, I am scrapping the Disruptor. I find that the Disruptor makes some Predator sequences too easy for the player, no matter how limited the ammo is. Which is why I'm going to try to encourage usage of the other gadgets with this, including the new ones. Considering you can disarm foes with both the Batclaw and the REC (in some instances) I say the Disruptor is kinda unneeded. But it will make dealing with foes in Predator mode more challenging.
*And the Batsuit's getting some upgrades as well, despite the gadgets; a prototype Waynetech chameleon manta will let Batman temporarily go unseen in Predator instances. While it can be useful, there are drawbacks to this: you can't perform regular takedowns while cloaked, only Fear Takedowns, since an enemy being choked by nothing would look suspicious; the charge for it only lasts about 20 seconds, so as to not get to scurry around endlessly; its recharge is very slow and can only be sped up by a silent takedown; enemies with heat vision goggles also can see Batman; and projectile attacks also give away Batman's position when cloaked. So y'know, use it wisely.
I would go on, but I'd take too long with this direct. There is one last gameplay-related thing I would like to go over, though.
I recently decided on making a new hybrid control schematic for the game, since it's now PS4-exclusive. I've decided on making a brand-new combat style for the game that will be implemented in the Aerial VR Expansion Pack: aerial combat. A few familiar faces will show up in Gotham in the expansion, and can only be fought in this new combat system. Basically, the PlayStation VR headset and Dualshock controller will be used in conjunction to attack these aerial-based foes (not saying who, but you can probably guess just from the context).
Still reading? I'm impressed at your patience. Well, don't worry, it's over.
Anyways, look forward to seeing more of Arkham Beyond; or don't. I don't really mind at this point.
Category:P.E.D. DirectCasts