A string of videos have surfaced online that show glimpses of a canceled Batman game, which was later transformed into 2014's Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor. The available footage shows some combat gameplay as well as traversal mechanics that would have appeared in the scrapped Batman title.

Warner Bros Games has released several games set in the Batman lore in the past 15 years or so, including the highly successful Arkham series from developer Rocksteady. But, there were seemingly some more such titles under the wraps that eventually didn't see the light of day. And, one such project was developer Monolith Productions' take on the Dark Knight, which was shelved and later turned into the highly acclaimed LOTR game Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor.

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A recent, trending Twitter thread from user @Dageekydude has got the conversation about Monolith Productions' canceled Batman game, codenamed "Project Apollo," going again. The posts, which have been compiled from a variety of sources including developer portfolios, reveal key aspects such as traversal, combat, use of gadgets, detective mode, minigames, and more. As can be seen in the footage, the binned Batman game has an easily noticeable Nolanverse influence with the Caped Crusader even donning a suit identical to that shown in The Dark Knight movie.

The tweet thread showed that the open world game would have featured a mix of gliding and using Batman's grappling hook to traverse a grim-looking Gotham City. Players were also intended to be able to navigate the city in a Batmobile inspired by The Dark Knight's Tumbler. A few clips also revealed that the game had a bunch of Arkham-esque gameplay features, such as combat and gadget skill trees, combat moves like the Glide Attack, and minigames like the one that requires the player to tune audio frequencies. Further, Project Apollo was expected to incorporate Shadow of Mordor's Nemesis System which allowed enemy AI to learn and improve based on past encounters with the player.

Moreover, the thread claims that Warner Bros didn't go ahead with Monolith Productions' Batman game as it thought having two competing game franchises with the same main character wouldn't be for the best. However, this isn't the only instance of the publisher axing a promising Batman project because, a few years ago, another game featuring Damian Wayne was revealed to have been scrapped after multiple leaks and for its relatively darker take on Gotham.

Next Chapter for Warner Bros' Batman Games

Since the launch of Batman Arkham Knight, Warner Bros Games hasn't been able to find its next big hit game starring the Dark Knight. While Gotham Knights and Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League have rolled out in recent times, they are a far cry from the immense success tasted by the Arkham series. With Arkham Knight's launch approaching its 10th anniversary next year, it might be time for the bigwigs at Warner Bros to bet on another AAA game that features Batman as its main protagonist.

Batman

Batman is one of the most popular and well-known superheroes of all time. Created in 1939 by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, Batman has evolved over the decades into a cultural icon.

As a child, Bruce Wayne's parents were murdered in front of him. Since that day, Bruce made it his mission to fight back against the criminal element in Gotham City. Taking on the appearance of what scares him most, Batman faces off against powerful villains like the Joker, Two-Face, Bane, and the Penguin.

Created by

Bob Kane , Bill Finger

Creation Year

May 1939