- Before the release of Shadow of Mordor, Monolith Productions was developing a Batman game using the Nemesis system.
- The game was later canceled as Warner Bros didn’t like the idea of two Batman franchises.
- This system was later used in Shadow of Mordor and will return for Wonder Woman.
After the release of Batman Arkham Origins, Monolith Productions released Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor. However, before it debuted this franchise, the team was busy on a Batman game with a different approach.
The game was set in the Nolanverse, known as Project Apollo at that time. The developers were planning to go with a completely open-world title. Interestingly, this game was aiming to use the famous Nemesis system in the Batman universe.
Why it matters: The Batman Arkham series had already made a name for itself after Arkham Asylum. Arkham City was also a major hit, so Warner Bros could have expanded on the character’s presence in games had it continued with development.
Thread of videos and images related to Monolith Productions cancelled Batman video game codenamed "Project Apollo" pic.twitter.com/BMv8P79SES
— SpideyRanger 🇬🇭 (@Dageekydude) April 3, 2024
Unfortunately, the game was canceled, but new gameplay has been leaked online for fans to feast their eyes on.
Dageekydude has made a thread featuring gameplay videos of the canceled Batman game. The game set players loose in Gotham City, something Rocksteady did not do until much later in Batman Arkham Knight.
Monolith Productions appeared to taking inspiration from Rocksteady’s core gameplay, utilizing the gliding and grappling mechanics for traversal. The combat and stealth mechanics would also have been based on Arkham foundations.
Many of these core similarities were later felt in Shadow of Mordor, but the team could have offered a vastly different Batman experience with the Nemesis system. For the unaware, this mechanic would allow random thugs to retain memories of their encounters with the superhero.
This would make Monolith Productions’ title more unique, adding a new depth to each encounter.
The game would have marked the debut of the "Nemesis System" mechanic, wherein enemies retain memories of encounters. This feature was hopefully to distinguish it from the Arkham franchise despite the other elements shared from it pic.twitter.com/jFh8hjmMME
— SpideyRanger 🇬🇭 (@Dageekydude) April 3, 2024
Warner Bros did not think it would be a good idea to have two Batman franchises running simultaneously. This ultimately led to the game’s cancelation, and the Nemesis system debuted later in 2014’s Shadow of Mordor.
Fast forward to 2023, and Monolith Productions has returned to superhero games as a much stronger team. Currently working on a single-player Wonder Woman game, the studio is bringing a more refined version of the Nemesis system with this project.
With recent failures like Gotham Knights and Suicide Squad, DC rests its hopes on Monolith Productions to jumpstart its return to gaming. If history is anything to go by, Wonder Woman will be worth keeping an eye out for.
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