The Batman Video Games Thread

[Anti-Robot Man]

Thought this was a neat easter egg. In the first Arkham Asylum game there is a super secret room (it doesn't contribute to your completion percentage) that shows blueprints for the "Arkham City" project that the sequel will be set in. This link has a video that shows how to get to it (its behind a breakable wall that doesn't show up in your detective vision).



I loved the first game and this makes me look forward to the next one even more, shame other licenced properties aren't handled this well.

[Johnny M]

Wow, thats cool!

[Anti-Robot Man]

New Batman themed multiplayer game coming to XBLA/PSN/PC.

Looks like a pretty horrible use of the licence (and just when they were doing so well with Arkham Asylum/City) though it seems to be at an early stage of development.


From

"The notion of a multiplayer Batman was often nixed by the publisher, we were told during a morning briefing in Santa Monica, because the theory was that everyone playing a mulitplayer Batman game would want to play as the cowled hero. So in Gotham City Impostors no one plays as him.

Instead players will play on either the side of the Batz or the Jokerz as they game their way through a variety of online only, multiplayer only modes.

Because the game is multiplayer-only there is no ongoing story, but there is a backstory. The concept, as shown during a cartoon shown during today's presentation, is that Gotham is filled with a lot of disgruntled citizens who have decided to put on a Batman cowl of their own and take out a rising crowd of Jester-themed baddies.

The game, built on a proprietary engine, feels a bit like a Team Fortress game, with fast gameplay and quick matches.

I had a chance to check out the multiplayer deathmatch which put me in the shoes of a Bat armed with an assault rifle, shotgun, pipebombs and grappling hook.

The game will include a number of classes, as well as body types. Body types, which include speedy, nimble and tough, impact your characters speed, toughness and strength.

Players can also pick through an assortment of weapons to choose their primary and back up guns, a gadget and a support item.

While many of the weapons looked pretty straightforward, there were also some home made weapons like a PVC-and-fireworks rocket launcher nicknamed "The Thunder Dragon" and a grappling gun that used a crank to pull you up to ledges.

Characters' costumes can also be customized, changing everything from the cowl, legs, hands and feet, to the logo and voice options.

While the mode I played was a straightforward team deathmatch, the team demonstrated a mode called "Psych Ward" which had the teams battling for a large car battery. Once captured the battery, which leaves a trail of yellow ooze in its wake, has to be brought back to your base and attached to a brainwashing device. If you can defend it for 30 seconds you score a point, and turn on the machine which temporarily stuns all of the players on the other team, leaving them only able to slap attack you.

The game will not include any bots and the studio said they are still working on how many players it will support in total. The round I played had a total of eight players in it."


While it may be decent, we've already got stacks of this type of game on the xbox, and I don't think slapping Batman themed skins on everything is going to make this game a hit. Still haven't seen footage of it though so who knows?

[nacho]

I'm not sure superhero icons are best suited for multiplayer games. You really can't fix the "everyone wants to be Batman" problem without some kind of very contrived scenario such as this. They're better off making it a game where every player is a kid dressing up as their favorite hero on Halloween, and you've got to complete missions x, y and z to save your candy from the neighborhood bullies.

[Mr.Shaw]

See, that 1st one I'm down for. Not so much the 2nd.

[DarkKnightJared]

I'm sure it'll probably be a fun enough multi-player FPS, but I'm not really into FPS's.

[DarkKnightJared]

So, it looks like at some point in the game you get to play as Catwoman--and hot DAMN this looks like a really fun, exciting take. This DEFINITELY feels like the Selina Kyle I know and love, so I'm pretty hyped.

What say you guys?

[Anti-Robot Man]

Yeah sounds like gameplay will alternate between the two. Really excited about this game, looks like it's going to be even better than the first.

[DarkKnightJared]

[Mr.Shaw]

I like that they spent an absurd amount of time giving Catwoman a sexy tail. Our game dollars at work!

[DarkKnightJared]

Here's the trailer:



Well, at worst it looks like twisted, zany fun riffing off the Batman concept.

[DarkKnightJared]

And now here's a 7-minute preview of the gameplay.



One thing I picked out that sounds AMAZING? If you take on all the side missions and defeat all the villains, you're looking at 25 hours worth of gameplay.

[Dezreavey]

Looks pretty cool, just IMHO.

I really like the premise of the game.

[Anti-Robot Man]

Here's what Robin will look like (he's going to be a preorder bonus)



He's meant to be Tim Drake, and will have a secondary Red Robin skin.

from

No news on where to preorder to get this in Europe, but Game usually get's these things in the UK. Given that they eventually made the challenge maps available for everyone with the first game I would expect this to eventually be released as dlc as well.

Edit: Bit more info from Tim comes with two extra challenge maps, and will be playable in all the other challenge maps.

[Mr.Shaw]

I like it. I'd like it more if it was colored. I don't like that it's a pre-order bonus. I don't wanna buy it from Best Buy, and I don't wanna pay extra for it, either. Maybe GameStop will have Batgirl as a pre-order bonus. That'd make me happy enough to get over Robin.

[DarkKnightJared]

Not a fan of the buzz-cut, but still, I like it.

[DarkKnightJared]

Fan made, and there hasn't been an update for it in five months, but it still looks pretty damn cool.

[DarkKnightJared]

We've seen a fair bit of the footage before, and some of the lines near the end are scrambled (probably to prevent spoilers), but still, it's really cool seeing it put together on it's own--it looks like City will have everything that made Asylum great and more.

[Slym]

Here's the Riddler trailer for the game.

[DarkKnightJared]

I dig it--the sort-of Saw like deathtraps are a strong way of making Riddler a more "gritty" villain while still keeping to his original M.O..