Batman Arkham City

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Challenge map preview


New screenshots

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Freaken insane Xbox









Riddler takes over Xbox twitter

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Finally, the first TV Spot for Batman: Arkham City has officially been revealed. Nothing new - just a condensed version of the Hugo Strange trailer, but it still has a way of pumping you up all over again.

Joker's Carnival to add 4 more gameplay hours

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Dax Ginn has revealed there will be a mighty 436 Riddler trophies to collect in Batman: Arkham City! Check out the interview below for more info from Rocksteady's Marketing Manager.

WTF! it took me forever to find the 240 Riddler trophies in Arkham Asylum, Arkham City is five times the size and there's 436!!!


New game+ confirmed . . . YES!!!

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Just read Batman Arkham City #5 and to be honest it left me with shivers, Paul Dini and Carlos D' Anda totally nailed it. Definately the best from the series. After reading this, I can barely imagine how bold and unique the game is going to be . . .



Voice actors of BAC

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More Cool character concept art

Another interview with Dax G.




Two new screenshots

An interview with Rocksteady's famous Dax Ginn has given us a minor glimpse at Batman: Arkham City's new bio display. One of Arkham Asylum's major collective incentive was to gain access to character bios, these would consist of a small summary and an art piece by Carlos D'Anda. Its sequel has swapped the art for some in game character models with a stylish new menu.

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Catwomen's Thief Vision [ 90 degree cam . . . watch it if you want]

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more hi-res images

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[Grimnebulin]

At what point does the phrase 'I need this game now' lose its meaning? At the nth repetition? The words feel numb in my mouth, as if they have no potency.

September, I have nothing against you, but would you kindly collect your things and bugger off double-quick? Thanks.

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At what point does the phrase 'I need this game now' lose its meaning? At the nth repetition? The words feel numb in my mouth, as if they have no potency.

September, I have nothing against you, but would you kindly collect your things and bugger off double-quick? Thanks.

You have no idea dude, 21 October is taking freaken forever

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Rocksteady Comment On Arkham City's Boss Battles
Angry Joe's recent interview with Rocksteady's Dax Ginn has shed some light on the boss battles in Batman: Arkham City. Ginn notes that you'll be able to go "toe to toe" with the super villains, while also having different experiences in combat with each one.

Can you face Penguin and Riddler in physical boss battles?

One thing we really want to do with Arkham City is make sure that you get a really intimate connection with the super villains you?re going up against. So you get to slam Harley Quinn into the ground, you get to destroy Riddler, you genuinely go face to face and toe to toe with all of these guys [villains].

Is their plenty of variety in the boss battles? Is each boss different?

Totally. We really design our boss encounters from the perspective of the villain. We just released a trailer a couple weeks ago with Mr. Freeze and some of the hints in that trailer really show how we?re going to approach that [boss battles]. He?s not only just this huge robot, he?s also a super smart scientist. So if you manage to get close to him and put a hit on him, he?ll retrospectively analyze the strategy you took and he?ll change the environment so you can?t do the same thing again.

So that?s a really good example of the way we treat all of these super villains differently.

!!!!!

Two new screens





Speculation of BAC's fourth playable character

Nick Cowen (The Guardian, UK) talks to Dax Ginn, marketing game manager at Rocksteady Games, about the Dark Knight's return.

When we were playing through Batman: Arkham Asylum for the second time, picking up all the achievements, we found the blueprints for Arkham City ?
You found that? That was you guys?

Er, no, if we're being honest; someone else found it first, posted it on Gamefaqs.com and then we found it using their walkthrough.
(Laughs) Aha! So you can't take credit for that! Well, that's honest of you.

Thanks. So the existence of those blueprints means you were planning a sequel before Arkham City was even out the gate, right?
It does.

So how did you stay focused on the game you were making at the time? And how much of what you planned in those blueprints ? and what you were planning for Arkham City at the time ? has ended up in the new game?
Let me answer the second question first. Those blueprints ? when we look at them now and we look back at Arkham City, they're really accurate. We managed to stay focused on that broad footprint of the layout of Arkham City almost to a fault.

It was always going to be driven by technical considerations because when you're making an open-world game you don't know how big it can be until you start building it. But we knew we really wanted to inject it with the same level of detail and attention and love that we put into Arkham Asylum. We also wanted to layer it with Batman DNA; we wanted to make sure that it contained legendary locations that made the place meaningful for Batman and that it wasn't just a collection of generic streets.

So when we hatched the idea of taking the game out of Arkham Asylum and on to the streets of Gotham, and then the concept of Arkham City, that was the point where we created the secret room with the blueprints for Arkham City ? almost in the hope that we would be allowed to make it. But by that stage, to answer your first question, we were so close to finishing Arkham Asylum, there was no chance Arkham City could be a distraction that would threaten the polish of the game we were working on.

When you started thinking about Arkham City, was it a case that you wanted to take what you were doing in widescreen? Or did the idea for the city environment come from features you couldn't put into the first game ? like Batman's new gliding ability, or his new combos? Which of those aspects came first?
It actually came for the desire we had to give the player an immense sense of navigational freedom. We want to be true to the character of Batman, to all the things that make him a person and make him a hero. For example, the Dark Knight, the defender of Gotham ? that's just one aspect of his personality. Being the world's greatest detective is another aspect, and it's just as important. That's why there's a lot of crime scene investigation and puzzle solving in the game.

Then you have the Caped Crusader moniker for Batman and so, being able to deploy his cape and glide through buildings is something we have in the game ? I think the recent Batman films did that aspect particularly well. We knew that was something we wanted in the game; it felt very Batman, it felt great for the gameplay and overall it was the next logical place for us to go with this Arkham-verse that we're building here.

Speaking of the Arkham-verse, you've got a lot more characters in this game than there was in Arkham Asylum. We've already seen the Riddler, the Joker, Harley Quinn, Catwoman and Two-Face. Are there anymore characters that will make an appearance in Arkham City?
Yes.

Can you tell us which ones?
(laughs) No. We've got more character announcements to make but I can't tell you what they are yet. I can tell you, though, that the Riddler will appear physically in the game. In Arkham Asylum he was just a voice on the radio, but here, you'll come face to face with him.

Catwoman's in the game both as an adversary and as a playable character. Calendar Man, Zsasz and Hugo Strange ? as the warden of Arkham City ? are in the game too. So there's a lot of fan service with very well-known characters as well as some obscure ones in the game. This is a big game as well, you're looking at around 40 hours plus to get 100% in there, and then you've got challenge maps on top of that.

We've got a lot of time and space to fill out the development of all of the different super villains. Arkham Asylum was a lot more focused and claustrophobic experience ? the focus in that game was mainly on the tension between Batman and the Joker.

Speaking of fan service, Robin is a character that divides fans. Yet we have seen concept art for the young lad in Arkham City. Was there an internal argument at Rocksteady before the decision was reached to put him in the game?
(laughs) You're right, he does divide people. The inclusion of Robin is always going to be met with resistance, whether within Rocksteady or outside with the fans or the community. It's actually incredible how divisive a character he is, but I think done well and done right, he's got the potential to be an awesome character.

We haven't shown anything of Robin in action yet, but I can tell you he has his own navigational system, he has his own moves, his own combat combos and he's got an explosives augmentation. I think gamers are going to find that he feels very different to playing as Batman ? the same way that Catwoman feels different to playing as Batman. We definitely wanted to make players feel the three different playable characters offer three different experiences.

Are you a fan of Robin?
Absolutely! Always have been! I've always thought he's a brilliant character. I know why some fans don't like him, but I've always been on Team Robin!

Bah! Next question. You might be sick of hearing this one, but let's talk about the Batmobile. After all you've given Batman an open city, so why can't we drive his car?
It ain't a driving game, is the short answer. You've seen the work we've put into the gliding system and that works just fine for moving the character around the city. Also, lots of the streets in Arkham City are filled with rubble an craters so the Batmobile wouldn't be the best mode of transport. It wouldn't make for very fun driving even if we put the Batmobile in the game.

In all seriousness, though, the moment you put Batman in a car, it becomes an entirely different kind of game. So there are no vehicles in the game whatsoever.

Would you say, that in a way, Batman is the ultimate vehicle in the game?
Well, he certainly controls with the same level of responsiveness. We wanted to build in a lot of navigational options for players ? you can see that even in the way the player can use the Batarang, where you can completely control their path once you throw them.

Speaking of the Batarang, lots of games featuring superheroes make you unlock their powers ? even in the sequels. Will we have to spend a lot of time unlocking all of Batman's gadgets from the first game?
No, you have them right from the start of Arkham City. We wanted players to really feel like Batman has been preparing for the inevitable day when Gotham would experience a crisis like it does in Arkham City, so all of his gadgets are ready.

Mark Hamill says this is the last time he's playing the Joker. It seems that every time a Batman series hits a peak, something untoward happens with that character.
How do you mean?

Well, Tim Burton made a good Batman film and then killed off the Joker at the end of it. Christopher Nolan made a great Batman film and then Heath Ledger tragically passed away. Now, after Rocksteady made an outstanding Batman game ? you're losing your Joker as well.
I hadn't thought of it that way. Well, Mark said that he thought that Arkham Asylum would be very difficult to top and I absolutely agree ? when I play Arkham Asylum, the performance he turns in is amazing.

But his performance on Arkham City has been just phenomenal. When it comes to the Joker, Mark's a genius. He gets this character so perfectly. All we need to do is just write the dialogue and then he brings it vividly to life. When we add his performance to the game, the quality our game just doubles.

To be honest, I don't know what's going to happen in the future. So long as we remain focused on making an amazing game, opportunities will come for the studio, I'm sure and creative solutions will present themselves.

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Soundtrack List
1. Panic! At The Disco - Mercenary
2. Coheed and Cambria - Deranged
3. The Duke Spirit - Creature
4. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Shadow On The Run
5. Blaqk Audio - Afterdark
6. The Raveonettes - Oh, Stranger
7. (Crosses) - The Years
8. The Damned Things - Trophy Widow
9. Daughtry - Drown In You
10. The Boxer Rebellion - Losing You
11. Serj Tankian - Total Paranoia
(Bonus Collector's Edition Track)
12. A Place to Bury Strangers - In The Shadow

Soundtrack

New Game + Q and A

HOW DO I UNLOCK NEW GAME PLUS?
Finish the game on normal or hard mode

WHAT DO I START NEW GAME PLUS WITH?
ALL of your gadgets from the end of your first play though, ALL of your XP (including unlocked upgrades)

WHAT IS DIFFERENT?
No counter icons on thugs
Different Thug Levels: tougher thugs are available from the start of the game
Different Thug Configuration
Increased difficulty Bosses : Bosses will be even more cunning

HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM HARD MODE?
The main difference is that you will have ALL of your gadgets and xp so even though the enemies may be tougher you will have the technical upper hand

IS NEW GAME PLUS ONE DIFFICULTY SETTING?
Yes, regardless of whether you finish the game on normal or hard new game plus will be the same difficulty

CAN I STILL REPLAY THE GAME WITHOUT NEW GAME PLUS?
Yes you can, however you won't start with all your gadgets

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New Villain to be revealed on 15 September

Now I'm all excited again

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32 un-lockable bios. But could there be more? Check out the 3 bio tabs above Two-Face's name!

It seems every bio contains a 3D render, this could suggest 32 3D rendered characters exist within Arkham City.

Cam footage:

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Game Reactor have interviewed Arkham City Community Manager Sarah May Wellock about the upcoming game.

Strange to see a BAC interview not done by Dax Ginn

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First BAC review on Oct 10

The image was taken from a page in this month's Games Master, which hits stands this Monday, September 12. The October issue containing the review for Arkham City can be expected to be on shelves around a similar date next month.

We're not far away, now! I can't see Batman: Arkham City getting anything less than a 95%.

NOTE: For the record, Games Master gave Arkham Asylum a 96% in a similar world exclusive review.

I wish we could of got the NAG review so early

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New challenge mode detailed

Hints of a Catwoman DLC

Deadly riddles of BAC

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It seems Batman: Arkham City has gone gold. An interviewer from Eurogamer luckily stepped into Rocksteady's studios when they were "half an hour" away from completion.

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But none the less, Rocksteady are already in talks regarding future projects. "There's conversations going on about potential possibilities about what's down the track for Rocksteady" Ginn explains.

But we won't be finding out anytime soon, Dax concluded in saying there was nothing else he could comment on to gain more clarity on what's next after Arkham City.

But Paul Crocker goes on to explain possibile secrets that lie within the city limits. "There are elements in the game that you will be able to look for, whether they are to do with another game or just something else (ideas we have). It's definitely worth exploring every nook and cranny of Arkham City."

The awesome video interview also sheds some light on Rocksteady's motion capture techniques, Story decisions and more!

I hope there's many future titles for Rocksteady since this masterpiece is completed.

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I was throwing around ideas of who could tomorrows New Villain be. These are the possibilities that I came across:

Poison Ivy - She featured in the BAC comic

Killer Croc - Saw a pic and heard some rumors

Black Mask - He was in the debut gameplay trailer

Ra's al Ghul - His daughter Talia is in the game, so there might be a little father and daughter reunion

In my opinion I think It's going to be Black Mask .




Any other ideas?