Warning Spoiler Alert
Thursday (AEST Time) I was working away in our Sydney office when all of a sudden my phone started to beep. It kept beeping, then my Facebook notifications started to buzz me. Yes, that’s right it was one of those days when an epic announcement sends shock waves over the web. All my friends, and a plethora of people for that matter watched the CGI trailer for Batman: Arkham Knight. What is going to be the last of the Batman series that Rocksteady have brought us, its defiantly one of the most defiant and compelling game franchises in recent years. Dating back to 2009 when Batman: Arkham Asylum was released, we were graced with a ground breaking Batman console/PC game that re-wrote the book on how to deliver an all out action packed experience.
If we thought Arkham City was a decent sized game, this is set to be five times bigger (environment). One piece of information I just can’t get my head around is that according to character artist Albert Feliu, the polygon count for one specific character in this new game is larger than that of the entire Arkham City game. You can read back my last sentence, I haven’t made a mistake it just sounds unbelievable. If that doesn’t get you excited, nothing will.
Warner Brothers have told us that this game is based after and continues on from the story of Arkham City which means the Joker is dead! Throughout the comic book world we have seen various characters come back from the dead, and in saying that along side with the Joker both Hugo Strange and Ra’s al Ghul met their ends in Arkham City so I will assume the prison plan they had has completely fallen apart.
Mrs Quinn and Scarecrow
If you haven’t seen the new trailer as yet, a frightening, controlling voice begins near that start saying “abandon this city, or I will unleash your greatest fears,”. It’s the Scarecrow 100%, but we do not know yet who the actor is who has donated their voice for the role. This leads back to Arkham City for those players who went beyond finishing the main story line there was an easter egg which (boat) which had an inmate that was driven by the concept of “fear”. There was also a shipping manifesto that referenced a host of shipping containers (gas) that looks to be a threat in the new trailer. We see in the new trailer people evacuating the city, the streets seem to be turned upside down with villains running a muck!
We see Two-Face, Penguin, and Harley Quinn who are either working together or all attempting to form their own individual grip on Gotham. We know that Troy Baker, Nolan North and Tara Strong-Charley are all coming back to donate their voices to these characters (Game Informer). The main man in Kevin Conroy will be voicing the Dark Knight once again too.
With the E3 exhibition in June, Rocksteady may not release too much information too soon but as far as characters are concerned both Hush and Azrael were not captured by Batman so do they some how bleed into this storyline/new game?
Then for the detail so many of us can’t wait to find out, confirmation of a new villain which seems to be central to the entire plot considering his name is in the title of the game. Arkham Knight. Game Informer game director Sefton Hill said, “[the villain] is definitely a formidable foe for Batman.”
The car, oh the car!
To help fight a collection of enemies and the new “Arkham Knight” Batman has a new method of getting around his city. Its a new Batmobile which looks unbelievable! The streets and structures of the city have been redesigned and widened to suit the game play so when you take control as the Bat you can call on the Batmobile from anywhere in the city. From the trailer we can see Batman can remotely control the car, eject from it at break neck speeds, and seems to be able to take heavy gun fire. The action sequence in which Batman drives through a blast from heavy gunfire (Two Face attempts to slow him down) is just breathtaking. If you haven’t watched the trailer I have it below.
In some games that boast the concept of being able to travel in vehicles, it can become tiresome driving from point to point with no obvious advantage other than rushing through game components which can water down the concept of becoming the character you are playing. Therefore attempting to absorb everything there is to offer in the unique world (gaming) thats been created for you, you can often miss the point. For that reason there may be some debate about how useful the Batmobile will be. Hill has said, “We’re not trying to create the biggest open-world game ever. We are trying to create a really rich, vibrant, dense open world.” Rocksteady I am sure have all this under control, after all they have the runs on the board.
The combat, action sequences, and limited visibility we get of what the Batman is capable of seems to be everything we had in the previous games plus more. There are reports that the attacking tactics of Batman have been increased offering an array of ground moves, using the enemies weapons against them and much more! Bring it on! Given the fact the game is being made for the next gen consoles means its going to take the Batman experience to a whole new level.
We know this epic game is coming in 2014! I personally can’t wait.
Source: whittierdailynews
