How the Batman Arkham series kicked off the golden era of Superhero games

sportskeeda.com:

Rocksteady launched its now iconic Arkham series in 2009, which propelled the superhero games genre to new heights. The series centered around DC’s Batman and told a comic book story in the most spectacular way possible. Praised as one of the best superhero games to be released at the time, the title ushered in a new age for the genre.

Rocksteady gained a lot of recognition for the series, which ultimately spanned three games along with a prequel from Warner Bros. Montreal. The Arkham games set the bar for superhero games going forward, and are still the standard against which many titles are measured.

The final game of the series arrived in 2015, titled Batman: Arkham Knight. It served as the end of Batman's story in Rocksteady’s take on the DC universe. However, with the upcoming Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice game in the works by the developers, it would seem that they are not done with the DC universe just yet.

Note: This article reflects the writer's opinion.

By 2009, video game audiences were not used to expecting good superhero games, as previous titles had mostly been big disappointments. It was a time when such games were a by-product of popular movies and as such were only released as tie-ins, which are generally sub-par experiences.

Even when they were independent properties, games based on comic books did not have a track record of being remembered for their story or gameplay. Despite the popularity of games like 2000's Spider-Man by developer Neversoft and 2001’s Batman: Vengeance by Ubisoft, they never gained proper recognition.

So when a lesser-known developer announced they were working on a new Batman game, no one was intrigued. The hype surrounding the release of Batman: Arkham Asylum was low and most people