This looks like it will be a pretty sweet game. I just hope the boss fights have more vairety. (Which they will, judging by what we already know.)
Batman: Arkham City Preview
By
Giancarlo Varanini, Senior Editor
The Dark Knight returns in a sequel that takes him to the streets of a transformed Gotham.
It's one thing to hear the development team members at Rocksteady say that Arkham City is much bigger than the island in Batman: Arkham Asylum, but it's quite a different thing to see it and realize just what they mean. Batman: Arkham City is an absolutely massive game, and we were able to get a taste of just how grand it is in a short demo that featured Batman--once again--attempting to track down his nemesis, The Joker.
The demo begins with Batman standing on a rooftop, overlooking a courthouse in Arkham City--a district of Gotham that has been walled off from the rest of the city. Its new warden is Dr. Hugo Strange, whose armed guards maintain brutal control over the inmates and will shoot anyone who tries to escape. By hacking into Strange's communications and with the aid of Alfred, Batman learns that Two Face (also known as former district attorney, Harvey Dent) has captured Catwoman and that he's keeping her in the courthouse below. Naturally, the building's facade is designed to represent its new inhabitants--one side is perfectly fine while the other is completely mangled.
Before heading into the structure, we were shown one of the ways Batman can get around in Arkham City. By leaping from rooftops, or other suitably high locations, Batman can glide over the streets of Arkham. He can continue gliding to the ground and perform a high-impact landing by using his dive-bomb maneuver, or he can use the same maneuver to quickly lose altitude and then swoop back up toward the sky. If you're already on the ground, then you can easily grapple up the side of a building (or even onto the landing struts of a helicopter) to get back to higher ground. What's interesting is that while you're doing all of this, you can use detective vision to check out what's going on in the city and choose to fight crime elsewhere, if you are so inclined.
But for the purposes of the demo, Batman heads back toward the courthouse and makes his way in, dispatching some thugs near the entrance with some slick melee moves that smoothly transition from one punch to the next. Once inside, we see a cutscene that shows Two Face rallying a group of inmates and proving how powerful he is by attempting to kill Catwoman, who happens to be dangling over a vat of acid. This isn't a small group of foes either--Rocksteady says that it has managed to increase the number of enemies you can face at once to about 25 or 26.
By using detective vision, Batman can see that most of the people in the group are holding machetes or led pipes; nothing that he can't handle. But just above his location is a thug with an automatic weapon who can easily take Batman down if the Caped Crusader goes right for Two Face. To improve your chances, you can climb up to the platform and quietly take the enemy out before leaping down into the crowd to dispatch justice with feet and fists. It's worth pointing out that over the course of this fight, enemies will use anything they can as a weapon against Batman. We saw a couple of inmates pick up chairs and hurl them in a sad attempt to do some damage, but Batman can also catch these objects and throw them right back.
With the crowd under control, Two Face suddenly shoots Batman and then makes his way over to Catwoman. Just as he's ready to shoot her, Catwoman escapes from the trap and manages to knock Two Face down. Just as soon as she does this, the former district attorney pulls out another gun and tries to shoot her, but Batman saves the day with his grappling hook. As Batman and Catwoman begin their back and forth, we see a laser appear on Catwoman's face. Someone's trying to assassinate her with a sniper rifle, and that someone is none other than The Joker.
With everyone safe, the courthouse becomes a crime scene, which gives Batman an opportunity to investigate a little more. Using his detective vision, you can scan for the entry point of the sniper's bullet and where it landed, which then lets Batman figure out its trajectory. He learns that the bullet came from a gun located in the bell tower of a church nearby. Like what we saw earlier, you can have Batman go immediately to the bell tower or stay inside the courthouse to do some more investigating.
By
Giancarlo Varanini, Senior Editor
I am error.
206 comments
you know what makes batman so cool not in games only even at the movies and comics is joker , honestly he's the one who makes me laugh when he acts so crazy
I'm not worried if this game will be good or not, cause if its anything like the first one then its GOOD. I just want more gadgets, like hundreds :P, and more villains and thugs to take down :)
Sadly I did not like the first one as much as I thought I would, but it was one of the best super hereo games I've played in a while. That being said I will still be getting this one, because I imagine it will still be agreat super hero game and I have not played one since the last Batman game.
The cover picture of the disk is not as good as the 1st. But no matter what, this game will be a great game! Try your best, Rock Steady!!!!
Batman Arkham Asylum was the first game I got all the achievements....not because it was too easy. But because I couldn't stop playing it. Now Arkham City is going to be bigger, badder, and HELL OF ALOT MORE awesome. Can't wait for this game :D
wow, that does sound/look very impressive - I still need to get through the first one...should I not admit this, I wonder...
I usually am one to hate Batman but this game does actually seem pretty good. Looks like I might have to think outside the box for this one. :P
I found too many typos in this, you guys should either hire me as a proofreader or go back to high school English.
@burns112233 Is this going to be the last Batman game by Rocksteady? Do you know something we don't?
this year will be the toughest contender year for GOTY title..just imagine- Dead Space 2, Killzone 3, Dragons Age 2, Mass effect 3, Batman AC, GearsOW 3, Uncharted 3, Crysis 2, Rage, Resistance 3.....and more...im saving every penny i can...
GOTY, but I just hope they tone down detective mode, Batman AA could have been a game full of secrets taking months to solve or find, but detective mode just shows you eveything, I thought that was a shame. It also lead to a relience on it.
WOW!:o I'm currently playing "Batman: Arkham Asylum" (PS3) and I'm really impressed with it so it looks like I'll be getting "Batman: Arkham City" as well. The game..looks..AMAZING!:)
Hey guyz! Is Nemesis on this!? Cuzz he is a scary man... You know I has two an stories and they are gewd. I onced liked swollen eyes cause he followed meh int Resident Evil 3 LOL But he's teh would not die blarg! This game looks AWESOME! I just did that thing above because I was bored.
If this is going to be the last Batman game by Rocksteady then I hope they put most of the Batman villains in this game. Freeze, Clayface, Mad Hatter, and so on. Hopefully they also bring back past villains Scare Crow, Ivy, Killer Croc.
All in all I have no doubt that it will be a good game which will hold my attention for some time but it's far from game of the year material. It brings very little new content to the table and has been outdone in almost every facet. The content they already have may be polished but releasing a game we've already seen before isn't enough to win game of the year, not for me atleast.
Alright, lets go in order Transportation: I don't even see why this is worth talking about. Jumping from somewhere high up and gliding is basically a staple in any superhero game. even outside of super hero games, just look at just cause 2, it's the exact same mechanic. As far as grabbing onto helicopters goes as a method of transportation? Spiderman 2 did it and it wasn't a good idea then either. Combat: I will admit, the combat in Arkham Asylum was fantastic. The punches and kicks felt like they had weight to them and when the made contact it really felt like there was real force behind them but again there is nothing new here, this is the same combat system we saw in the last game. Detective Vision: Yes it was a cool idea but it made the game far too easy and I doubt that here it will be any different. There was never any real puzzle solving or challenge when it came to detective vision, all it was, was more busy work you had to do before you got the next waypoint on your map. I can only hope they introduce some real puzzles in this game. Boss Fights: Thank god we finally get to fight villians. By far the most appalling part of Arkham Asylum was the fact that each and every boss fight was nothing more than a gauntlet of beating up lowly thugs until batman got them in a cinematic (yes I know you got to fight bane and poison ivy but those were so dry and boring I refuse to even consider them).
nothing new? did you even read this article? this game looks so good, i might just buy a batman costume to wear while playing it! oh yeah, kinky and kool!
So basically this game brings nothing new to the table and innovates nothing. C'mon now batman, what you're doing now, we were doing in spiderman 2 seven years ago.
@KUNG-LO The administrator of Arkham Asylum is mayor now and he bought a chunk of the city slums, put a security wall around it, and put the inmates in that area because of the condition Arkham Asylum was left in. Therefore titled Arkham city.
This, Skyrim, Deus Ex 3, Star Wars Online - it's going to be an epic, epic year for this gamer, yes indeedy.
this is higher lrvrl of game and i will buy bought pc and xbox ,but pc version will be awsome like every other game on pc its better...
Nice re-hash of a video gamespot :( I thought this was new stuff on BAC...but nope...its the same stuff from TOTS :( lame...thanks for getting my hopes up
I hope this game's side-quest/extra stuff is a little more interesting than the scavenger hunt crap in Arkham Asylum. If I want to wander around collecting random tokens I'll break out Crash Bandicoot, thanks.
Wow that techno music was effing annoying. It LOOKED great, but I couldn't hear a thing and had to force myself to keep watching. Please re-edit that one, Gamespot.
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Review Scores
| Platform | GameSpot | Metacritic / User Score |
|---|---|---|
Game Info
- Release Date: Oct 18, 2011 (US)
- ESRB: TTitles rated T (Teen) have content that may be suitable for ages 13 and older.
- Release Date: Nov 22, 2011 (US)
- ESRB: TTitles rated T (Teen) have content that may be suitable for ages 13 and older.
- Release Date: Dec 13, 2012 (US)
- ESRB: TTitles rated T (Teen) have content that may be suitable for ages 13 and older.
Related Unions
Batman: Arkham City
- Publisher(s): Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
- Developer(s): Rocksteady Studios
- Genre: Action
- Release:
- ESRB: T
Batman: Arkham City Navigation
