Hideo Kojima Needs To Make A Batman Game

What's black and blue, and played all over? Batman games. While we were once confined to the likes of Acclaim Entertainment's Batman & Robin being almost as bad as the 1997 movie of the same name, we're thankfully in a new era of superhero games. The question is, do we need some more bats in the belfry?

Some will attribute the massive success of Insomniac Games' Spider-Man as giving new hope to the sometimes struggling superhero game genre, remember Peter Parker's spandex-clad world was inspired by Rocksteady's dark and brooding Arkham games.

Only recently, we saw Warner Bros. embrace the dark side of the Dark Knight with Matt Reeves' The Batman - which has caught the attention of much more than just the movie community. It looks like Battinson has landed on the radar of the legendary Hideo Kojima, so, could we see him answer the call of the Bat Phone? 

Is Hideo Kojima A Batman Bat Fan?

Although the idea of Hideo Kojima taking on a Batman game might seem ludicrous, the man himself has shown his love for the hero - Bat Nipples and all. If you head over to his Twitter right now, it's full of adoration for The Batman and the wider Batverse. Alongside listening to Michael Giacchino's atmospheric soundtrack, Kojima has been sharing his thoughts on the movie and how impressed he is with the muscular Pattinson. 

Given The Batman's dark aesthetic, it's no surprise this has struck a chord with Kojima. While it's easy to throw around the idea of Kojima stepping up to the plate to direct a Batman game, it turns out he has an unusual choice for his "favourite" movie from the franchise. 

According to Kojima, Chris McKay's The LEGO Batman Movie is his favourite outing for Bruce Wayne's vigilante alter ego. We can't imagine Kojima developing a LEGO Batman game, but in terms of a gruelling origin story in the vein of The Batman, we can see it. 

Why Kojima Is Perfect For A Batman Game?

When it comes to auteurs of the video game world, few are as acclaimed as Hideo Kojima. Alongside his work on the cancelled Silent Hills and heading off on his own to found Kojima Productions, he's known for being the father of the stealth genre thanks to his creation of Metal Gear. Given the Caped Crusader's knack for stealth, it seems like a marriage made in heaven. 

He's also something of a horror aficionado, and while this might not always be associated with Batman games, we find ourselves pining over the idea of what Kojima could do with a character like Scarecrow. Heading back to Rocksteady's Arkham trilogy, its scenes involving Scarecrow's Fear toxin are some of their very best. 

Elsewhere, picture the scene of Hideo Kojima making a full-blown Arkham Asylum: A Serious House On A Serious Earth video game. We know Rocksteady used this as a loose influence for Arkham Asylum, but there's more than enough mileage for a Kojima title. In response to his tweet about The LEGO Batman Movie, someone even suggested that Kojima make a video game adaptation of the anime Batman Ninja. 

In terms of Batman stories we could see being turned into horror games (not just by Kojima), big hitters like Batman: The Cult, The Batman Who Laughs, or Batman & Dracula: Red Rain immediately jump to mind. Finally, imagine the simultaneous explosion of video game minds if Kojima reignited those old ideas of a Gotham by Gaslight game. 

What's Next For Batman Games?

Ironically, the two next Batman games on the docket (probably) won't feature him at all. Warner Bros. Montreal's Gotham Knights is set in a separate continuity to the Rocksteady games but still follows a narrative where Bruce Wayne had died. Elsewhere, Rocksteady is moving forward with Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which follows Task Force X taking out brainwashed members of the Justice League - seemingly set after Batman's death in Arkham Knight. 

There's a bat-shaped hole in the market right now, and while it presumably won't be long until Batman spreads his wings again on console and PC, now is the perfect time to try something different. Kojima himself is apparently tinkering away on something mysterious, but away from rumours of him jumping ship from Sony to Microsoft, those repeated whispers of a Silent Hills revival have turned into nothing.

We've never had a proper horror game for Batman, and although Kojima's stealth past has been seen in this world, we'd love to see what the horror maestro's mind could conjure up if given ownership of this rain-soaked world of bats and bad guys. If nothing else, we'd just love for Kojima to write a Batman story. For all we know, his latest rush of love for Batman could be a Riddler-inspired breadcrumb trail to something bigger. Maybe we've spent too long trying to be a detective like Batman, but come on, there's always hope.