Preview: ‘Batman: Arkham City’

The sequel to the smash hit “Batman: Arkham Asylum,” looks promising for Batman fans and combat-action fans alike. Multiple new characters, features and story developments will be introduced in “Batman: Arkham City,” which is set to be released in Fall 2011.

As the name suggests, Arkham City will in fact be a city in itself. Quincy Sharp, the warden of Arkham in the previous game, is now the mayor of Gotham City. Sharp has purchased a large portion of Gotham’s slums and converted it into a large criminal facility. Inmates live in the apartments that are located within the city and are left to fend for themselves. Their only charge is not to escape. The newly renovated slums have a large heavily fortified wall surrounding them holding the prisoners inside.

It’s not clear what Batman’s role will be in the new city, but one can be sure that there will be a lot violence involved. The developer, Rocksteady, carried over the same free-flow combat engine from the first game with new combos and minor tweaks. Additions such as simultaneous counters, gadget incorporation, and projectile counters make the combat in the new game look cruel and punishing, but so much fun at the same time. The gear that you acquire throughout first game now comes standard and is received at the start of the game. New equipment such as the Bat Claw, a device that allows you to acquire items from a distance, and the broadcast analyzer, which allows you to track transmissions are said to make a debut.

Detective mode, another feature from Arkham Asylum, has also been tweaked, but it is still unclear whether players will still be able to see through walls, a major complaint of the first game.

No word has been released on what the story line will be for the new game, but we do know that Two-Face, The Joker and other key villains are competing for new members to their respective gangs inside the city. Another villain confirmed is Hugo Strange, the new warden of Arkham City. It seems that Hugo Strange will play a key role in the game because he had an entire trailer introducing him. But there’s a twist: Hugo Strange knows Batman’s true identity. Its unclear what he plans to do with this information, but there has been rumors of an auction where the information goes to the highest bidder.

Another character making it into the Arkham City is Catwoman. You’ll team up with her throughout the game, never knowing her intentions.

The bottom line is Arkham City is shaping up to be an excellent installment in the series, with the new villians and setting, and is a must have if you’re a Batman fan, and definitely worth looking into if you like action style games.

Posted by MarkWatkins on Jan 27 2011. Filed under Leisure. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.