Batman: Arkham Asylum 2

[MyNameDidntFit]

http://arkhamhasmoved.com/

It appears that a sequel to the recent--and apparently quite good--Batman: Arkham Asylum is coming. And the Joker is still alive (apparently this is not expected, according to people who've played it, who are not me).

I've just been discussing it with Dead Prodigy over at L4DF (for those of you that go there/know DP) and I'm somewhat confused about this trailer. Why, you ask? Well because of the following:

There is the asylum and there are armed guards at the gate to said asylum. However, the guards are outside the gate of the asylum and thus are in the lunatic-filled city. DP, who has played the first game, said this is possibly due to Arkham having 'moved' into the city... but that begs the question of why the guards are guarding the asylum?

...

Eh. Cool trailer, anyway.

[Jason]

The first one is fantastic. I highly recommend it if you have even a passing interest in the Batman franchise, or just quite enjoy good third person action games.
It's definitely by far the best 'superhero' game I can recall playing, and you're missing out if you don't play it, to be honest.

Looking forward to what they come up with for number 2.

[Konrad]

AA was awesome. I recommend a play through, by whatever means necessary. I'm excited to see that this will take place in Gotham, though I probably am getting my hopes up for free roaming.

[Jason]

Ditto. I would sell half my family (specifically the half with my estranged wife) for a free-roaming Batman game. Think GTA but with Batman... Oh my god, I think I need to change. >_>

[MyNameDidntFit]

I still don't know what's going on.

[Jason]

Well play the damn game, sillykins. You have a PS3, dontcha? Rent it - it shouldn't take more than a couple of days to clear.

[vlbarto10]

Loved the game. Can I just say I enjoyed it so much I dont even care why the guards were guarding the asylum. Its the Joker ! I even enjoyed the character history for the not being an avid comic book fan.

[Rob]

All right you guys made enough noise about this game that I am going to put it on my gamefly account and after I complete Assassin's Creed II then its on!

[Jason]

Good! It's one of those games you need to play at least once.

[MyNameDidntFit]

Well play the damn game, sillykins. You have a PS3, dontcha? Rent it - it shouldn't take more than a couple of days to clear.
Fine. I'll be near the store at some point today so I may well rent it.

Just so I can figure out this trailer. -_-

[Konrad]

I don't get it. What is there to figure out exactly?

[MyNameDidntFit]

The guards are outside the asylum gate, guarding it, right? Obviously they're there to keep the inmates IN. But then the camera moves and it pretty much shows that the whole part of the city has become the asylum (hence "Arkham has moved", I believe). So, then, why are they guarding the gate?

[Jason]

They're guards. It's what they do. If they weren't guarding something, they wouldn't be guards. :p

[nilihanth]

They're guarding their integrity

[MyNameDidntFit]

It's possible they aren't actually guards, just crazy people who took guns and wanted to pretend to be guards...


... and I totally forgot to rent the game >.>

[Jason]

It appears that through various slip-ups from cast members, some of the villainous cast for AA:2 have been revealed - amongst them Two-Face (which we all expected), Mr Freeze (which most of us expected) and Talia Al-Ghul (which very few of us expected).

It also sounds as if the tone of the game will be even darker than the previous game (and there were moments (albeit hidden ones) in the first game that were pretty damn dark), with one of the many voices of Batman, Kevin Conroy (Batman: The Animated Series) revealing that it's similar in tone to Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker for all you bat-philes out there.

[dimples]

First one was so amazing! I had a lot of achievements left to do, but I sold the game :( Will buy again once it's cheaper

[JustaBitOutside]

Love arkham asylum, can't wait for the new one. It's worth playing a second time on a harder difficulty, because it's freaking HARD! :)

[Jason]

Well, there's quite a few updates on this one since we last visited this. It's now officially known as Batman: Arkham City and will feature Catwoman and Two-Face/Harvey Dent as major plot characters, and will take place in and around the streets of Gotham.

If that's not enough to whet your appetite, the first screenshots of the game have emerged on Flickr, and look rather shmexy. Have a click of the spoiler below for them:
http://static.gamesradar.com/images/mb/GamesRadar/us/Games/B/Batman%20Arkham%20City/Bulk%20Viewers/360_PS3_PC/2010-09-01/4947853971_a65c9ec66d_b--article_image.jpg

http://static.gamesradar.com/images/mb/GamesRadar/us/Games/B/Batman%20Arkham%20City/Bulk%20Viewers/360_PS3_PC/2010-09-01/4947855611_ece59b2be8_b--article_image.jpg

http://static.gamesradar.com/images/mb/GamesRadar/us/Games/B/Batman%20Arkham%20City/Bulk%20Viewers/360_PS3_PC/2010-09-01/4947856501_eeb8f6f4e0_b--article_image.jpg

http://static.gamesradar.com/images/mb/GamesRadar/us/Games/B/Batman%20Arkham%20City/Bulk%20Viewers/360_PS3_PC/2010-09-01/4947858117_2889def70c_b--article_image.jpg

http://static.gamesradar.com/images/mb/GamesRadar/us/Games/B/Batman%20Arkham%20City/Bulk%20Viewers/360_PS3_PC/2010-09-01/4947858559_1ff9e4fba2_b--article_image.jpg

http://static.gamesradar.com/images/mb/GamesRadar/us/Games/B/Batman%20Arkham%20City/Bulk%20Viewers/360_PS3_PC/2010-09-01/4947858847_4013d6ecd6_b--article_image.jpg

http://static.gamesradar.com/images/mb/GamesRadar/us/Games/B/Batman%20Arkham%20City/Bulk%20Viewers/360_PS3_PC/2010-09-01/4947859053_e153f920bc_b--article_image.jpg

http://static.gamesradar.com/images/mb/GamesRadar/us/Games/B/Batman%20Arkham%20City/Bulk%20Viewers/360_PS3_PC/2010-09-01/4947859527_ac3051f1f1_b--article_image.jpg

http://static.gamesradar.com/images/mb/GamesRadar/us/Games/B/Batman%20Arkham%20City/Bulk%20Viewers/360_PS3_PC/2010-09-01/4947860927_00fd36a6bb_b--article_image.jpg

http://static.gamesradar.com/images/mb/GamesRadar/us/Games/B/Batman%20Arkham%20City/Bulk%20Viewers/360_PS3_PC/2010-09-01/4948442198_43d7584e59_b--article_image.jpg

http://static.gamesradar.com/images/mb/GamesRadar/us/Games/B/Batman%20Arkham%20City/Bulk%20Viewers/360_PS3_PC/2010-09-01/4948442676_222b09c8a8_b--article_image.jpg

http://static.gamesradar.com/images/mb/GamesRadar/us/Games/B/Batman%20Arkham%20City/Bulk%20Viewers/360_PS3_PC/2010-09-01/4948442890_67ce75916a_b--article_image.jpg

http://static.gamesradar.com/images/mb/GamesRadar/us/Games/B/Batman%20Arkham%20City/Bulk%20Viewers/360_PS3_PC/2010-09-01/4948443132_c3549d5aac_b--article_image.jpg

http://static.gamesradar.com/images/mb/GamesRadar/us/Games/B/Batman%20Arkham%20City/Bulk%20Viewers/360_PS3_PC/2010-09-01/4948444428_b3a61d3b50_b--article_image.jpg

http://static.gamesradar.com/images/mb/GamesRadar/us/Games/B/Batman%20Arkham%20City/Bulk%20Viewers/360_PS3_PC/2010-09-01/4948446132_ef92a002ab_b--article_image.jpg

http://static.gamesradar.com/images/mb/GamesRadar/us/Games/B/Batman%20Arkham%20City/Bulk%20Viewers/360_PS3_PC/2010-09-01/4948447246_3c1ef2774d_b--article_image.jpg

http://static.gamesradar.com/images/mb/GamesRadar/us/Games/B/Batman%20Arkham%20City/Bulk%20Viewers/360_PS3_PC/2010-09-01/4948448322_32da2486db_b--article_image.jpg

http://static.gamesradar.com/images/mb/GamesRadar/us/Games/B/Batman%20Arkham%20City/Bulk%20Viewers/360_PS3_PC/2010-09-01/4948450266_5fab124580_b--article_image.jpg

http://static.gamesradar.com/images/mb/GamesRadar/us/Games/B/Batman%20Arkham%20City/Bulk%20Viewers/360_PS3_PC/2010-09-01/4948450420_179087e717_b--article_image.jpg

http://static.gamesradar.com/images/mb/GamesRadar/us/Games/B/Batman%20Arkham%20City/Bulk%20Viewers/360_PS3_PC/2010-09-01/4948450960_e216c024bd_b--article_image.jpg

Looks quite tasty, doesn't it?

[MyNameDidntFit]

Catwoman has no bra AND her top down like that? SHE DOES ACROBATICS! HOW WILL THEY STAY IN THAT TOP? HOOOWWWW?

DAMMIT MAN IT JUST ISN'T POSSIBLE WHEN SHE'S UPSIDE-FRIGGING-DOWN (http://static.gamesradar.com/images/mb/GamesRadar/us/Games/B/Batman%20Arkham%20City/Bulk%20Viewers/360_PS3_PC/2010-09-01/4947860927_00fd36a6bb_b--article_image.jpg).


O_o

/crazy eyes.

[Lance]

It's called double-sided tape :p

I like the change of look for Harley and Two-Face looks excellent - especially the bit where it looks like he's had the clothes burnt right in to his skin.

[MyNameDidntFit]

Well, I was thinking trusses because then they maintain their shape.

[Archangel]

She's actually a man. That's all just solid silicon.

On topic, though; I never did finish the first Arkham Asylum. Not because it wasn't a good game--it was pretty great for what I played--but in the end I just found the gameplay got a bit repetitive and tedious, and I'm not a big Comic Book sorta fellow, so all the nerdgasms were lost on me.

[Jason]

I enjoyed Arkham Asylum from start to finish, although I won't deny that towards the end it started to run low on ideas - I felt the 'detective' mode over-simplified things and kind of let the devs rest on their laurels a little by leading players to do things a certain way, rather than leaving it open to the player to find their own way.

Hopefully the more open-ended nature (I'm assuming - if they're calling it Arkham City and NOT giving me a city to roam, There Shall Be Trouble) of the sequel will negate the need for such breadcrumbing.

[MyNameDidntFit]

Hopefully the more open-ended nature (I'm assuming - if they're calling it Arkham City and NOT giving me a city to roam, There Shall Be Trouble) of the sequel will negate the need for such breadcrumbing.

Clearly you didn't notice the screenshot showing the detective mode.

[Lance]

All I know, is that if I don't get to jump off that huge tower (or something bigger) there's.... well, there's not going to be a bat splatter on the ground, but also I'll be sad

[Jason]

Clearly you didn't notice the screenshot showing the detective mode.

Oh no, I'm fully aware that the detective mode will make a return, but hopefully it won't treat us like such dribbling idiots this time and they can use it a little more creatively.

[MyNameDidntFit]

How do you use a feature which highlights objects, and the paths to them, in bright orange as anything other than a spoon-feeder? :/ Serious question.

Detective mode to me feels like they had this conversation:
"Hey, wouldn't it be cool to make Bruce get all detective-y?"
"Oh, man, that would be awesome."
"But it totally wouldn't fit the game's pace at all..."
"... what if we just make him detectivise and have the game do it for the character?"
"Huh. I guess that works."

TL;DR: it feels like a cheap, shoddy gimmick.

[Jason]

Agreed, tbqh. :-/

[Jason]

Rumours are circulating with increasing ferocity that the game's going to feature multiplayer of some description.

The most likely bet is co-op, with one player controlling Bats and the other controlling either Robin *shudder* or, more likely, Catwoman. Whether this will be in story mode or simply an extension to the Arena modes of the first game is unknown - hell, it's not even been confirmed there will be any yet.

[Konrad]

Catwoman has no bra AND her top down like that? SHE DOES ACROBATICS! HOW WILL THEY STAY IN THAT TOP? HOOOWWWW?

DAMMIT MAN IT JUST ISN'T POSSIBLE WHEN SHE'S UPSIDE-FRIGGING-DOWN (http://static.gamesradar.com/images/mb/GamesRadar/us/Games/B/Batman%20Arkham%20City/Bulk%20Viewers/360_PS3_PC/2010-09-01/4947860927_00fd36a6bb_b--article_image.jpg).


O_o

/crazy eyes.

With PhysX set to Very High, Catwoman's boobies follow ALL laws of physics. nVidia graphic card sales quadruple overnight.

Also, Harley Quinn now looks almost EXACTLY like that crazy vampire chick from Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines

[Archangel]

With PhysX set to Very High, Catwoman's boobies follow ALL laws of physics. nVidia graphic card sales quadruple overnight.

Unfortunately, that's how most sales quadruple overnight.

Also, remind me to write a post about PhysX, sometime. So's I can be all informative for y'all and whatnot.

[twhiting9275]

I never quite finished this game on the 360, but can't WAIT for the second one to come out, it looks great. If it's even half as good as the first one, it'll be excellent!

[dimples]

Batman: Arkham City Riddler Trailer

http://youtu.be/NJMXFxug0DY