Batman Almost Pulls A Joker On Us … Almost

Arkham Knight Season Pass Details Announced

Several days ago, I had the wind taken out of my bat-sails when WB Games announced the season pass for the upcoming Batman: Arkham Knight game would be $40, and NO specifics were given. All anyone could guess was the pass included new story missions, challenge maps, and maybe a few character skins. Of course, the internet cries were loud and clear: How the heck could WB Games expect people to pay an extra $40 on top of the $60 initial purchase price on essentially a blind leap of faith?

It was destined to be the lone smear in the magnificent history of the Arkham games, but fortunately, publisher WB Games has performed a mea culpa, sort of: It's announced the first details of the content inside the $40 season pass, and I kind of like it.

As part of the new pass, players will be able to play in an original prequel storyline as Batgirl. It's not known how long the campaign will be, but it's a great addition to the Batman universe considering Barbara Gordon now serves as Bruce's wheelchair-bound in-ear support, Oracle. Might we see events leading up to her partial paralysis at the hands of the Joker? We can only hope.

First artwork for Batgirl prequel storyline

Other content that will make up the $40 season pass include: new Batman story missions, with the promise of "legendary super villains invading Gotham City," and players being able to drive different versions of the Batmobile throughout the Caped Crusader's 75-year history on custom race tracks. The "super villains" line has me a bit concerned. I'm not the biggest fan of DLC, and I'd hate to see key baddies get held out of the main storyline.

As for the new Batmobile tracks, I can't really say if I'm excited or not since I haven't had any hands-on time with the new Batmobile mechanics in Arkham Knight. All of the previews look fantastic, but nothing beats having some one-on-one time with the game. All I know is I better see the 1989 Tim Burton Batmobile and the Batman Begins-era Tumbler. Those are my two favorite iterations of the Bat's ride.

Finally, the last piece of content in the pass will include the expected set of challenge maps and character skins. I've never been one to applaud the challenge maps or skins in Arkham, but I know people dig 'em, so I shouldn't complain. In any case, WB is promising more details soon, but it's good to at least have a peek under the DLC hood ahead of the game's release next month. I'm not sure if I'm ready to say the $40 purchase price is justified, but it's definitely got my attention.

Batman Arkham Knight releases June 24th on PS4, XBOX One, and PC.