New Game Plus is an unlockable game mode in Batman: Arkham City, Batman: Arkham Origins, Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate and Batman: Arkham Knight. It is unlocked by completing the default story on Normal or Hard.
The player is tasked to complete a harder version of the main story. While the exact changes vary per game, the list below lists the changes in each game.
Every Game[]
- Counter Icons are removed, so the player is no longer given hints when an enemy is about to attack.
- Enemies are faster, can take more punishment and deal more damage.
- Enemy layouts are changed, meaning that early-game enemy encounters might have end-game enemies/weapons on them.
- Everything gained on one mode is carried over to the other one. This means that any gadgets collected on the first playthrough are instantly usable on New Game Plus. This affects Gadgets, WayneTech upgrades and Riddler Trophies/Enigma Datapacks.
Arkham City[]
- Alternate costumes and Big Head mode can be used during the playthrough. Note that they are always available in the remastered version of the game, and the original version had a cheat that allowed using alternate outfits during the initial playthrough.
- During the boss battle against Mr. Freeze in the GCPD, while the default story requires using five unique takedowns, in New Game Plus Mode, defeating Freeze now requires nine. Mr. Freeze will also activate a Detective Mode Jammer if Detective Mode is used for too long.
- After beating the game on New Game Plus Mode, you can hear Harley Quinn singing a distorted version of the lullaby Hush Little Baby.
Arkham Origins/Blackgate[]
- As in City, alternate outfits and Big Head mode can be used during the playthrough.
- In both Arkham Origins and Arkham Origins: Blackgate, gadgets need to be reacquired, but retain their upgrades once they are collected, this was most likely done to prevent access to certain areas to early in the story.
- Arkham Origins: Blackgate's New Game+ mode doesn't remove counter icons, and allows the player to beat the bosses in a different order, and unlock more costumes by doing so.
Arkham Knight[]
- The Joker's corpse jumpscares the player during his cremation and says “this is how it happened. This is how the Joker died.”
- The difficulty level is locked to "Knightmare" difficulty.
- Unlike the counter icons, the enemy drone aiming lines are not removed, as it would make dodging them almost impossible.
- Being seen consumes a Fear Takedown charge, requiring the player to perform a silent takedown to recharge.
- Launching a combat challenge from New Game + activates an alternate, harder version of the challenge, during which counter indicators are disabled and the enemies are tougher, but also rewards the player with a "Knightmare Bonus". As of the October 2015 update, this difficulty can be toggled on & off in the A.R challenges menu after New Game + is unlocked.
- The bonus the player receives is determined by the highest combo the player reaches during the challenge/wave, times 100. For example, 19 hits is worth 1900 extra points. The bonus is equal to that of Perfect Freeflow bonus, making it easier to reach higher scores.
Trivia[]
- While this game mode is not available in Batman: Arkham Asylum, the hard difficulty turns off counter icons.
- In Batman: Arkham Origins, turning off hints also turns off counter icons.