Monolith Productions, the team behind Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War, had a Batman game in production that was ultimately canceled by publisher Warner Bros. Interactive.
The canceled game, which was codenamed Project Apollo as reported by SpideyRanger on X/Twitter, was an open-world game where players could traverse Gotham City by either gliding, using the grappling hook seen in the Arkham series, or using the Batmobile. The game also featured some investigative elements, multiple gadgets, stealth sequences, and a combat system inspired by the Arkham series. Interestingly enough, the Nemesis system made popular by the Monolith-developed games set in The Lord of the Rings universe was set to debut in Project Apollo.
The open world of Gotham could be traversed by either gliding and utilizing the grappling hook (as established in the Arkham games) or by operating the Tumbler/Batmobile. pic.twitter.com/VZKXJBFsgP
— SpideyRanger 🇬🇭 (@Dageekydude) April 3, 2024
Early stealth sequence and combat mechanics (Latter would’ve been based on the Arkham system) pic.twitter.com/18uTxPzKm6
— SpideyRanger 🇬🇭 (@Dageekydude) April 3, 2024
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
No matter how promising this game starring Batman was, Warner Bros. Interactive felt that having two franchises starring the Dark Knight wasn’t good, so Project Apollo was scrapped, and its best ideas implemented in Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor.
Warner Brothers didn’t think that having two Batman gaming franchises was a great idea so the Batman game was retooled to a Lord of the Rings project and that’s how we got “Shadow of Mordor” pic.twitter.com/dkfJv2Jvua
— SpideyRanger 🇬🇭 (@Dageekydude) April 3, 2024
While it is a shame that Project Apollo was canceled, there’s no doubt that having two Batman franchises wasn’t a good idea, and letting the Arkham series be the only Batman video game series definitely paid off, considering its quality and success. Unfortunately, things at Warner Bros Interactive have changed a lot since the early 2010s, and the publisher’s focus on live service games led to the release of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, an extremely disappointing game that in no way honors the amazing legacy that Rocksteady built with the Arkham series.
