Batman’s Arkhamverse is nothing if not known for having a wealth of Easter eggs reinforcing how rich its lore is. That’s not to say its storytelling or writing has always been airtight, and yet there’s a distinct signature theArkhamgames have all managed to sustain and develop. Sometimes that’s achieved purely in what signage and billboards are viewed, let alone what set pieces in the environment can bescanned via Batman’s Detective Visionto reveal an acute character reference. The latter is where Ratcatcher belonged in a sad stasis of an existence, for example, until the upcomingBatman: Arkham Shadowdecided it would feature him for the first time in-game.
Beyond Ratcatcher, who surprisingly seems to play something of a supporting role inBatman: Arkham Shadow’s gameplay reveal trailer, the Meta Quest 3 exclusive has proven its dedication to perpetuating and honoring the Arkhamverse’s seminal world-building. The reveal trailer itself is as full of Easter eggs as its teaser announcement and story trailer were with references ranging from explicit to obscure. However, as learned at a studio event that Game Rant attended, there is a huge source of Easter eggs that will be more interactive than ever before in anArkhamgame.
Batman: Arkham Shadow Has a Unique Means of Delivering Sought-Out Easter Eggs
The event consisted of a hands-on preview demo with an hour ofBatman: Arkham Shadow. Afterward, a Q&A withCamouflaj’s head of studio and game director Ryan Payton, design director Ryan Darcey, and director of production Matt Walker revealed that we had overlooked a significant interactable in one of the environments we briefly explored, and the possibilities for what it may contain are endless:
“When you drop down into the Bowery for the first time and there’s this theater on fire to the right, just past it there’s a payphone, and there was a lot of nervousness within the team about what kind of phone numbers you might call on the payphone because we have dozens of different people or locations you can call in the game.
It’s a huge source of Easter eggs, obviously, including references to other Arkham games. That’s going to be a really fun place for players to mine.”
I didn’t personally see or interact with the payphone during the hands-on preview demo, but presumably players can find many payphones throughout Gotham City and physically punch numbers in with Batman’s index finger. Interestingly,Batman: Arkham Shadow’s gameplay reveal trailerdoes have a shot of District Attorney Harvey Dent and Police Commissioner Jim Gordon frustratingly mulling over how they’ll track down the Rat King, and in the corner of the frame on a desk there is a note with a phone number on it and the words “Call Me” written above.
This could potentially phone the Rat King for an ominous pre-recorded message provoking or taunting the GCPD, and it’d be neat if more numbers are deliberately placed in other environments for players to legitimately call and listen to Easter egg-laden messages. In the cinematic announcement teaser,stuck to the side of an alleyway dumpster with phone number strips torn away, for instance, and it’d be neat to hear his voice inviting callers to volunteer for whatever experiments he’s concocting.
Arkham City’s Victor Zsasz had players answer payphonesthroughout the titular inmate compound and it would be phenomenal if the cold-blooded killer’s chilling voice appears here as well, perhaps while he’s making some of the first notches on his flesh and introducing himself to Batman. Either way, whether payphones ring for players to answer or not, players are incentivized to make some calls and see who might pick up on the other end.
