Lab Rats (Video Game)

Lab Rats is a video game based of the Disney XD show Lab Rats. The game will be developed by Rocksteady for the Playstation 4, Xbox One and PC versions while Rockstar will develop the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 versions and will be published by Disney Interactive. The cast from the show will reprise their roles while new voice actors will voice new characters.

Synopsis
After the events of Lab Rats Season 3. Victor Krane decides to destroy the Adam, Bree and Chase once and for all. Krane also threatens the city to evacuate or he will bomb the city, forcing the evacuation of the city. Only Krane and criminals take over the city, leaving Donald Davenport and Douglas Davenport overwhelmed. Anticipating a new threat, the Lab Rats spring into action to save the city.

The map will be five times bigger and will include neon lights and industrial crates. Leo has set up communications in the lab to communicate with Adam, Bree and Chase via computer.

Cast
Lab Rats will feature Adam Davenport (Spencer Boldman), Bree Davenport (Kelli Berglund) and Chase Davenport (Billy Unger) as the three playable protagonists. They are aided by their step brother Leo Dooley (Tyrel Jackson Williams) and Donald Davenport (Hal Sparks). Lab Rats will feature Victor Krane (Graham Shiels) as a secondary villain while Douglas (Jeremy Kent Jackson) will ally himself with the Lab Rats. Rocksteady said that there will be new villains created by Geoff Johns. There will be greedy buisnessman Clark Doe (Troy Baker), mysterious assassin Steve De Michaels (Ned Luke), military combatant the Bionic Knight (Dino Andrade), nightclub owner Flamingo (Nolan North) and the Jester (Arleen Sorkin). There is also the Mayor of Mission Creek and returning Arkham character, Quincy Sharp (Tom Kane), riddle enthusiast Puzzler (Wally Wingert), rogue agent Jack Phillips (John DiMaggio) and gun slinger Aiden King (Noam Jenkins).

Gameplay
Rocksteady's Free Flow combat returns in this game. The Lab Rats will be able to access the bionic abilities. They will also be able to activate Bionic Vision, which is similar to detective vision. Rocksteady said that they will have a grapnel gun which can be used to grapple onto buildings and vantage points.

The combat system will be different to previous Rocksteady games where they can attack enemies with their bionic abilities. They will also be able to throw enemies into dangerous objects. Adam will be able to use his bionic heat vision to melt armour of armoured enemies. They can also access grates from far away.

A returning element from Arkham Knight is the Fear Takedowns. Chase will be able to hack into things. The Puzzler will leave cube trophies for the Lab Rats to find.

Vehicles
The Lab Rats will be able to use vehicles in the game. Vehicles can jump longer distnaces, have speed boosts, rotate and smash through objects. Vehicles can also jump into buildings that have glass. The Lab Rats personal Combat Vehicle called the Davenport Tank Mk III, will be able to fire missiles, tase enemies and will be able to eject them out of the vehicle. The Davenport Tank can be upgraded, just like Adam, Bree and Chase. The vehicles can also be driven into indoor locations.

Development
In June 3rd 2016, Paul Dini, writer of the first two Arkham games said that he will be working on the script. Billy Unger also confirmed that the game was in development in 2016.

Warner Bros allowed Disney to use Rocksteady for the Lab Rats game as long as Warner has the approval of co working on the video game. The game was announced in March 2016 with Rocksteady working with Disney and WB Games on a epic action game. Sefton Hill described that the game was the first game in the series. In April 3rd 2016, The cast of Lab Rats confirmed that they will be returning to voice their characters.

Rocksteady decided that they will do the game for the next gen consoles while Rockstar does development on the last gen consoles. The game allows up to five times the enemies on the screen, and riots can be featured up to fifty enemies interacting with the environment to smash items and graffiti. The cutscenes are also rendered. This is Rocksteady's second game to feature the Apex physics engine.

The game will not feature the multiplayer mode in Arkham Origins. Hill says that multiplayer will take more development time and delays for the game.

Design
Sefton Hill said that he wanted vehicles in the game just like Arkham Knight. The designers worked closely with Geoff Johns to make various vehicles including the Davenport Tank Mk III. The Davenport Tank can be summoned with the press of any button. The characters can enter and eject the vehicles. The city was designed for destructive buildings and objects with the Davenport Tank. The tank can smash into the building without taking damage.

To design Mission Creek City, Rocksteady added neon lights to buildings, industrial crates for docks and tall buildings for other parts of the city. For the characters, David Hego said that the Lab Rats will get new and improved mission suits. In early designs, Flamingo was going to wear a black trench coat with a white top hat. Hego then scrapped that idea and instead went with a dirtier look for him. For Krane, nothing was changed except for the beard. They also used a green and purple fedora for the Puzzler.

Music
Nick Arundel and David Buckley will provide the music for the game. Hans Zimmer was also hired to produce the score. Arundel said that he wanted to have a techno type of vibe for the score. Buckley also said that he wanted Hans Zimmer to produce the score when he mentioned that he was working on the game. Hans Zimmer stated that working on the score made him feel the techno vibe. Arundel and Buckley also co wrote the chords and melody.

Release
Lab Rats will be out on Xbox One, Playstation 4, PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 Worldwide in 2017. Victor Krane will be a playable character for preorder with his own story mode, challenge maps and bionic abilities. Rocksteady chose the 2017 spot because if they released it in 2016, they wouldn't be happy with the game. The Playstation 4 will get the "Flamingo Challenge Pack". The Challenge pack depicts the Lab Rats in a twisted version of Mission Creek High while Flamingo taunts them.

Reception
The game received GameInformer's Best Action Game at E3. It also received the IGN Best Xbox One game. The Game Critics Awards awarded it with Best Action/Adventure Game, Best of Show and Best Console Game.