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Batman: Return to Arkham is out now for Xbox One and PS4

The HD bundle collects Arkham Asylum and Arkham City.

David Craddock

October 18, 2016 2:15 PM

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Following a slight delay, Batman: Return to Arkham collects HD prettified versions of 2009's Arkham Asylum and 2011's Arkham City, and is available now for $50 on Xbox One and PS4.

Both games boast "remastered and updated" graphics, according to developer Virtuous, as well as all DLC. Highlights from the expansion content include Arkham City's Harley's Revenge, which you get to switch between Batman and Robin, and special challenge maps for both, including Arkham Asylum's graveyard where you keep a combo going on Scarecrow's skeletal minions as long as you can before invariably getting hit.

Batman: Return to Arkham isn't available for PC, at least not under that branding. The PC versions of Arkham Asylum and Arkham City were already tricked out; this package is targeted at players who experienced those games on last-gen consoles and want to see the frills afforded to them by better hardware.

Craddock's Corner: I'm disappointed to see 2013's Arkham Origins, a prequel to Asylum and City, omitted from this collection. Origins' only sin was not straying far enough from Rocksteady's formula. Origins delivered the same patented Freeflow combat and stealth-heavy gameplay as the earliest entries in the franchise, and the storyline presented an interesting take on Batman's inaugural encounters with several famous faces from his rogue's gallery.

Rocksteady drew a line in the sand to distinguish its trilogy—Asylum, City, and Knight—from the prequel game developed by Warner Bros. Montreal. Even so, Origins is technically a part of Arkham canon; including it would have rounded out Return to Arkham nicely, and given fans sticking with consoles the opportunity to play the entire series on a single platform.

David Craddock

Long Reads Editor

David L. Craddock writes fiction, nonfiction, and grocery lists. He is the author of the Stay Awhile and Listen series, and the Gairden Chronicles series of fantasy novels for young adults. Outside of writing, he enjoys playing Mario, Zelda, and Dark Souls games, and will be happy to discuss at length the myriad reasons why Dark Souls 2 is the best in the series. Follow him online at davidlcraddock.com and @davidlcraddock.