Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

‘Batman: Return to Arkham’ brings two remastered games to Xbox One and PS4

By
It seemed inevitable given the success of the series — and more specifically, last year’s Batman: Arkham Knight — but it has now been made
Recommended Videos
official: both
Related
Batman: Arkham Asylum and Arkham City are making their way to Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

Remastered by Virtuos, which previously worked on the Final Fantasy X/X-2 port for PlayStation 4, Batman: Return to Arkham includes Rocksteady’s first two Caped Crusader adventures with all downloadable content.

The announcement comes with a trailer highlighting some of the best moments from the first two games (and their Metacritic scores, for some reason), including fights against Mr. Freeze, Bane, and Scarecrow, coupled with plenty of taunts from Mr. J. While the box art in the Arkham games has never been anything special before, this changes with Return to Arkham; a playing card featuring two versions of Batman is placed crookedly on the front, as if the Joker is making a statement from within the marketing team.

Arkham Knight is still one of the best-looking games on this generation of consoles, but Rocksteady still used Unreal Engine 3 to accomplish the feat. Return to Arkham remasters both games in Unreal Engine 4, which Warner Bros. says will have “upgraded models, environments, lighting, effects, and shaders.” Remastered games are very rarely visually superior to games designed for current-gen systems, but the gap might not be as wide as we’re used to.

Of course, there are two games missing from this collection that keep it from being complete: Batman: Arkham Origins and Batman: Arkham Origins — Blackgate, both released in 2013. While the former game had a few brilliant boss fights and the new investigative features, it was a glitchy mess with a predictable story. The latter game, developed by Armature, featured sluggish combat and a horrible finale. Perhaps it’s best they’re left out.

Batman: Return to Arkham arrives to Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on July 26.

Pre-Order Batman: Return to Arkham on Amazon

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Gabe Gurwin
Gabe Gurwin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…
The best indie games on Xbox One
superhot coming to xbox one in may press screenshot 01

The Xbox One era was a great time for indie games: Microsoft proved increasingly willing to support smaller developers, and Game Pass alone made it far easier for players to access a whole library of fascinating indie titles they hadn’t known about before.

Plus, the popular indie games on Xbox have plenty of other advantages, too -- they’re usually shorter than larger titles, they can be incredibly ambitious in design or premise, and if you’re buying them, they’re significantly more affordable purchases. Here are some of the best available to help you get started!

Read more
The best multiplayer Xbox One games
e3 2019 gears 5 escape mode modernizes the microsoft franchise screenshot

Nearing the end of the Xbox One's life cycle, one thing is clear: Although there are some excellent single-player Xbox One games, the console is defined by its multiplayer titles. Games like Halo 5 and Sea of Thieves cement Xbox One as the place to play with friends. Including the two previously mentioned games, here are the best multiplayer games currently available on Xbox One.

For this list, we looked for multiplayer games that are best experienced on Xbox One. That includes Xbox One exclusives, of course, but also games that are enhanced for Xbox One X. Most of the best multiplayer Xbox One games are available on Game Pass, too. If you want a few more options, make sure to check out our guide on the best multiplayer games on PC.

Read more
The best multiplayer games on PS4
Two characters from It Takes Two talking to one another.

When you think of the PlayStation 4, multiplayer games might not be the first thing that comes to mind. After all, the system is home to some of the best single-player adventures of the generation. But we'd be remiss if we skipped over the fantastic multiplayer games the system has to offer. Some of the most successful multiplayer games of all time are available on the PS4, from competitive shooters like Fortnite and Call of Duty: Warzone, to cooperative adventures like A Way Out, and tons of options in between.

In this list, we'll go through the absolute best multiplayer games the PS4 has to offer. So when you're finished with single-player masterpieces like God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, Marvel's Spider-Man, and Uncharted 4, why not give some multiplayer games a try?

Read more