There was a time in the 2000s where a blockbuster film wouldn’t be released without an accompanying tie-in game. This was done to cash in on the goodwill from the movie, with most games generally being so-so at best.
However, Batman: The Dark Knight had set out to change this perception, having been in development to take the industry by surprise. Unfortunately, while there was some hype surrounding its release back in the day, the title was never released at all. There were a number of factors for this, which fans will be interested to know. Along with that, the details concerning the game itself are worthy of mention, and here are 10 facts about the cancelled Batman: The Dark Knight that any fan needs to know.
10 Pandemic Studios Developed The Game With A Very Tight Deadline
These developers were already big names in the business, being responsible for delivering titles like Star Wars: Battlefront and Mercenaries. Unfortunately, not even they could get the ambitious timeline for Batman: The Dark Knight’s done right, considering they only had 18 months.
As part of Electronic Arts’ licencing deal with DC, Pandemic Studios were given only until December 2008 to get the game rolling out, which was nearly impossible considering development had only begun the previous year.
9 The Story Was A Video Game Version Of The Film
For some reason, a lot of movie tie-in games at the time didn’t have the same storyline as the films, instead featuring mostly standalone things. However, Batman: The Dark Knight was supposed to work extremely close to the film, in that whatever transpired in the story was meant to play out here. The developers were even provided scripts from the movie to incorporate.
This would have provided a different viewpoint for fans of The Dark Knight, as sequences such as Batman rescuing Rachel and Harvey Dent, or the climactic fight with Joker, would have been in the hands of the players.
8 It Was Set In An Open-World
Batman: Arkham City was the first game in the Caped Crusader’s video game series to be an open-world feature, but that wasn’t the initial plan. Originally, it was this one that was set to introduce an explorable world in a superhero game.
In fact, Gotham City in its entirety was going to be available, with particular focus in making it out to be along the vision of Christopher Nolan’s film series. This was done to avoid the usual linear style of movie-based games, with the intention to make players feel as if they were living in Christopher Nolan’s Gotham.
7 Stealth Was A Central Theme
Another attempted venture into originality was introducing stealth as a vital point of gameplay. This was to keep Batman in line with the film, where he utilized the theme of fear to take out his opponents.
While the action sequences were going to be there as well, stealth was meant to balance out gameplay by playing into Batman’s status as a detective and the worst nightmare of criminals. To this end, gameplay aspects like Batman using the darkness to strike were put on the table.
6 It Featured The Main Cast Of The Film Reprising Their Roles
Games starring A-list actors have become the norm, but back in the day this was a rarity. Batman: The Dark Knight was to be much more authentic, with the cast of the film set to reprise their roles for voice acting.
The previous entry in Batman Begins had also featured some of the big-name actors, although this one looked to up the ante by bringing in all of the major actors back. This would have tied into making the scenes play out as faithfully to the film as possible.
5 The Game Was Too Superior For Pandemic's Game Engine
The developers had their own game engine called “Odin” that they had used for The Saboteur’s development. It was decided to transfer Batman: The Dark Knight over to Odin to implement the open-world feature, a decision that backfired.
It was found that Batman’s model was too advanced for the engine, causing the game to crash altogether. The engine was unable to handle the frame rates, which meant there was no way they could get the game running. It was also the reason why the December 2008 deadline couldn’t be met.
4 There Were Multiple Ways To Control Batman
Batman Begins had handed gamers the opportunity to use the Batmobile, although this was limited to sequences specifically designed for its use. In Batman: The Dark Knight, however, players were to have the choice of how to use Batman.
This included the simple travelling on foot, to grappling around Gotham City, gliding, and finally the usage of either the Batmobile or the Batpod. This was supposed to play into how vast Gotham City was set out to be, with enough material around for players to have their pick over gameplay style.
3 Side Missions Were A Factor
It wouldn’t have made sense to have such a big city to explore and have nothing to do, an idea that also struck the developers. To this end, Gotham City was going to feature a whole lot of side missions for players to be immersed in.
The utilization of Batman’s gadgets and Batmobile/Batpod would have varied from one mission to another, and the design of Gotham City would have played into this.
2 Development Was Supposed To Be Kept A Secret
Strictly speaking, the game wasn’t actually announced or hyped up. Its reveal was spoiled by Gary Oldman, who had not been aware that the game was supposed to be a secret. During an interview, Oldman let slip that he’d seen the concepts of the game already.
With the Brisbane branch of Pandemic Studios making the game, Oldman had visited their offices and viewed materials, including the map of Gotham City and the Bat-Signal being put to use by his character. This unintended reveal led to the game’s development being sped up, which didn’t help matters in the long-run.
1 Materials From The Game Can Be Found In Other Titles
If anyone wants to know what the levels of Batman: The Dark Knight were going to look like, then they can check out Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, whose “The Dark Knight” expansion pack contains designs from the cancelled game.
Along with that, Batman: Arkham Knight also carried the Batsuit featured in The Dark Knight, the very same which would have featured in Pandemic’s game. While the title might never have seen the light of day, these bits and pieces do reflect what gamers would have had in store.