EDGE: THE FUTURE OF INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT
Article summarized from original print of “Dark City”article in EDGE #231 September 2011
Trying to grasp the scope of the new ARKHAM CITY game, the people at EDGE say that though Batman is just as he was in ARKHAM ASYLUM with the “…same mixture of bruising strength and human fragility”, the developers have …inverted the environment completely. The first game’s poky madhouse has been plucked from Gotham Harbor and dropped into the rambling streets of the city proper. Concrete replaces carpets, interiors give way to exteriors, and brilliant, focusing claustrophobia is replaced by something that feels almost like an open-world games at times.”
That being said, this new larger scope of the games will allow Batman to explore skills that were barely used or non-existent in the first game. Batman will now have a chance to use his forensic skills and analyze crime scenes. Not only that, moves are enhanced for Batman to deal with this new environment, like his new ability to break through flimsy walls to reach targets or the ability to take down two enemies simultaneously and most fun to use will be the ability to use the environment during a fight (rails, walls, lamp posts, etc.)
Rockteady® has also guaranteed that this environment will be filled with Batman DNA, “…we’ve got Batman legacy stuff, obvious nods, and cameos only hardcore fans will notice. We don’t force you to find them all, but if you come across a few, it makes the world feel more real.”
Arkham City Trivia: When Rocksteady was working on the problem of waypoint markers they came up with an interesting solution. Now wherever you are on the streets of Gotham, if you want to know where the next mission kicks off, all you have to do is look at the sky, where a very familiar bat-signal will be pointing the way to you.
Adding to Batman’s new ability to snoop into communications in the radio, Batman will also have a chance to interrogate thugs (before taking them down), to gather more information and he will also be able to temporarily team up with others in search of clues (like his volatile alliance with Bane while in search of the Titan venom shipments). Expect some interactions to be much more involved as it is the Riddler’s challengers were Nigma has scale his style a notch from “verbal abuse” and now sets traps and takes hostages guiding the Bat to a direct confrontation.
A new addition to Batman’s arsenal will be the REMOTE ELECTRICAL CHARGE or REC (“It’s the only weapon Batman McGyvers into existence this time around”) and it is basically “a rigged shotgun that shoots an instant spark-splattered knockback to foes (or worse if they are armored”). It will damage enemies’ weapons, jolt enemies out of control (good for those wielding machine guns, see pic below), energize machinery, and turn nearby metal into magnets (useful for some of Riddler’s trophies).
"Aren't you all shocked to see me here?" Batman using the REC
Unfortunately, while the game has a lot of new gadgets and skills to add, it also takes away from some that had been useful in the past like the DETECTIVE VISION that had be limited in this game to environmental analysis (while you could used it all the time in Arkham Asylum). And while you can use it for crime scene analysis, you will lose navigation tools like the compass and waypoints on your HUD. Better is just to leave it for when you really need it.
As characters go, Rocksteady’s® greatest achievement is the reinvention of Penguin where he has become a really TERRIFYING character while keeping his less that attractive personality and looks. This Penguin is “a psychotic barrow-boy rather than a demented aristocrat, clad in a fur overcoat instead of tails, with a nasty woolly cardigan instead of his waistcoat. There is a hint of Bob Hoskins in him, along with a trace of vintage Pete Postlethwaite, and if you look closely at his Coke-bottle monocle, you’ll discover that it actually is a Coke bottle—a fragment of glass presumably wedged into his eye socket during a fight.”
Another great addition to the game is Catwoman’s character. Selina’s “invoked as a palate-cleanser whose thievery missions apparently take up only ten percent of the overall
game—which still amount to around four hours.” According to Ginn from Rocksteady® , “they wanted to showcase that she’s different to Batman…so she can stun people with her whip and crawl about the environment with her claws. When you’re playing as Batman, you’re always doing the right thing, when you’re playing Catwoman, it’s a chance to do the wrong thing. She’s meaner: she targets the testicles when she fights. She’s more than a cameo. She’s like a special guest star.”
Catwoman trivia: Rocksteady® wanted to pay homage to ADAM HUGHE’S iconic modern take on Catwoman—a design that borrows the face of Audrey Hepburn.
The character of Robin, though present, is limited to only the challenge missions—an indicator that they don’t want to repeat the mistake made by Batman Returns. What Rocksteady has done with the character is interesting though, “mutated by some canny after-hours spitballing into a thuggish, shaven-headed street fighter modeled on the UFC roster rather than the circus acrobats that inspired his comic incarnation.” It’s good though that they restricted his intervention in the game since Batman does the best of his work when he works alone.
And were would we be without our favorite Psychopathic Clown in the milieu. Here is a pic to entice you all:
