*”ARKHAM ASYLUM”/”ARKHAM CITY” SPOILERS AHEAD*
As a rule, I try not to get caught up in conspiracy theories, but as a mega fan of the “Batman: Arkham Asylum” games (especially “Batman: Arkham City”), it’s hard not to find this one intriguing.
First, some backstory. Recently, developer Rocksteady announced that for all of the fan devotion in finding “Arkham City” Easter eggs, and there is a large devotion to this subject, there are still undiscovered secrets in the game. What lends particular excitement to that statement is that it took months after “Arkham Asylum’s” release before anyone discovered that the game’s biggest secret, a hidden office, was still undiscovered. When the office was found, it was revealed that it contained a blueprint that outlined the idea for an “Arkham City” section of Gotham, essentially alerting fans of what the next game was going to be.
Because of the large nature of that particular secret, the hunt for sequel clues has been a Day One priority for “Arkham City” fans, and has so far yielded a plethora of potential hints that come in the form of Harley Quinn’s left behind pregnancy test, odd tape recordings, an identity thief’s master plan to look like Bruce Wayne, a secret boat apparently in use by Scarecrow, and many more. If you want some idea of the trail so far, this video does a good job of giving the highlights.
While the hunt for sequel clues has felt all-inclusive, today a video appeared on YouTube that may yield the biggest hint of them all… if it can be believed. The video shows a puddle in the Arkham City museum (Penguin’s hideout) with an interesting reflection. If you look at it right, you can see a skyline in the puddle that doesn’t seem to exist anywhere in the room, or in the entire game world for that matter. In fact, the closest thing the image does resemble is the far-off skyline of Gotham City that you can view along the game’s edges. The nature of the mysterious reflection is exasperated by the fact that it is located next to a book that is otherwise illegible except for the word “Gotham” and a plaque that reveals the words “Sanity Fighting the Madness,” which was also a saying that appeared throughout “Arkham Asylum” in connection with warden Quincy Sharp.
Put it all together and you have a new theory in the works that says the next game will take place in Batman’s traditional stomping grounds of Gotham City.
Now, the uploader does point out that this puddle is a reused texture that is actually repeated throughout the game, but it is odd that the reflection is not as clear in other places as it is in that particular location with the Gotham book and Sharp’s mantra. While this is, admittedly, a pretty weak theory based solely on this evidence, there has long been the idea that the next game will take place in Gotham based off of the games’ other hints and the fact that there is little else to take the series.
If nothing else, it does make for an interesting “huh” moment to your day, as well as the excuse to play “Arkham City” again and scour every last detail.
