Batman: Arkham City Message Board older than one year ago

Batman: Arkham City loses the confines of its predecessor's island asylum for the more expansive slums of Gotham City. Arkham warden Quincy Sharp has been elected mayor and has requisitioned the city's downtrodden district as "Arkham City," the new holding area for all of the crazies and dangerous types from Arkham Asylum and Blackgate Prison, with Hugo Strange appointed as overseer. This prison city has been sealed tight by a heavily guarded perimeter, keeping all of that danger festering inside.

In addition to the unchecked crime produced by a population composed entirely of criminals, Batman also has to deal with Two-Face, who's captured Catwoman and plans to publicly execute her within Arkham City.

At a Microsoft press event this week, a reprentative from developer Rocksteady offered us our first guided demo of the city and some of Batman's enhanced gadgets, including the revamped Detective Mode.

#preview 2009's Batman: Arkham Asylum set a new bar for super hero video games, a game unexpectedly great. Based on what we've seen of the sequel today, the developer of greater than expected Batman games is ready to shatter our expectations again. More »

Gotham needs the Dark Knight. Criminals better run.

We delve into the differences between the comic-book, movie, and video game Batmen.

Remember back on Wayne's World when Wayne and Garth would put their faces all up in the camera for "EXTREME CLOSEUPS?" Apparently, the Joker was a big fan, as seen in the latest slew of screens from Batman: Arkham City. Party on, Joker!

#gallery His hairline may be receding, but with his best girl at his side Batman's archenemy has never looked happier as he does in this new set of screenshots for Arkham City. More »

Though rumors (and some slick yet ultimately fake video evidence) to the opposite effect has been circling 'round the internet for some time now, Rocksteady game director Sefton Hill confirms in a recent IGN interview that Batman: Arkham City will be "a 'single-player only' experience." According to Hill, the developer didn't want to lose resources that could have been spent on perfecting the solo campaign. "With the game now coming to the final stages, I can honestly say it would not have been possible to deliver Arkham City the way we wanted to if we'd have added multiplayer."

Well, shoot. We were really holding out hope for a Batman and Robin co-operative mode, in which one player does all the crimefighting while the other comments on things that are holy -- until being bound and captured by lower-echelon thugs. Oh, well!

For more info on things that are actually in the game (including classic supervillain Hugo Strange), check out Rocksteady's discussion with IGN.

News on multiplayer, Catwoman's role and much more.

#comics Fans of Detective Comics, Batman, Batman & Robin, Gotham City Sirens, Streets of Gotham, Batman Inc., Batman: Dark Knight, and Superman/Batman can soon celebrate the launch of another Batman comic: Batman: Arkham City. This one's based on the video game. More »

As a promotion for Batman: Arkham City, DC and Warner Bros. are giving you the chance to read a Batman story in its natural habitat: comic books. A six-issue Batman: Arkham City miniseries will be available in stores and digitally starting in May, linking the storyline of Batman: Arkham Asylum to the new game.

Arkham Asylum and Arkham City (and Batman: The Animated Series!) writer Paul Dini is in charge of the comic, while by Paul D'Anda, who did concept art for both games, will provide art for the monthly book. In addition, eight-page "digital-first" minicomics will link together each issue of the miniseries, allowing you to experience basically every minute of Batman's life between the first and second games. We look forward to the issue in which he's just sleeping, and Alfred takes the opportunity to do some Bat-laundry.

Six issue run to fill in the gap between Arkham Asylum and Arkham City.

We'd say chances are 50/50 that you're going to be thrilled by these (three) new Batman: Arkham City screenshots (and some Two-Face art). On the one hand, they don't appear to reveal any new tidbits about the game -- but then, they're also three new Arkham City screens!

#gallery These lovely new images for Batman Arkham City hit today. Harley? Check. Two-Face? Check. Naughty clowns? Check. Your thoughts? More »

Though the eerie, psychopath-filled buildings that constituted the titular stomping grounds of Batman: Arkham Asylum were pretty expansive, we felt like we'd completely turned it over during our hunt for the Riddler's secrets. We prefer our in-game locales to be virtually impossible to fully explore -- and it sounds like Batman: Arkham City might just cater to these needs. In an interview with Gamespot, Rocksteady developer Sefton Hill explained, "The footprint of Arkham City is about five times bigger than Arkham Island."

Don't fear getting lost in the hustle and bustle of the crime-filled metropolis, though, as Hill explained, "Players will be able to go anywhere at any time, but we have made sure that players will always have a very clear idea of where they are needed most if they want to just stick to the core narrative path of the game." He added that there will be plenty of dark alleys and side streets littered with secrets to uncover. Hopefully, Bats will retain his ability to see through walls.

This is fun! A supposedly leaked trailer billing itself as "Batman: Arkham City - Warner Bros - Fight Trailer" has made its way to French video-sharing site Kewego. The approximately 2-minute clip features our fearless Dark Knight beating up baddies with ... the Joker? Putting aside our canonical concerns about the caped crusader clobbering criminals with the clown prince of crime, a few other things raise immediate bat signals.

Join us after the break for our best world's greatest detective impersonation as we piece together the clues and reveal the truth about this "Fight Trailer."

This new trailer for Batman Arkham City is most unexpected. Who needs Robin, when the Joker can help Batman beat up the bad guys? Or is this just a fan mode of the first game? More »

We pore over the footage inside the Hugo Strange Reveal Trailer to uncover all the secrets within!

The Dark Knight returns to save Catwoman's life.

#villains Hugo Strange is a major bad guy in the next Dark Knight video game, Batman: Arkham City. Who is he? He's a villain who has been around since before the Joker. And he's got an obsession. More »

The wait was worth it: Batman: Arkham City's VGA trailer showed Bats taking down some crooks seemingly strapped with tons of high-tech weaponry in the most badass way. Of course they're no match for The Dark Knight -- why would they even try?

Will the Dark Knight's secret identity be sold to the highest bidder?

The gameplay debut trailer for Batman: Arkham City just aired at the 2010 Video Game Awards. Batman's nemesis this go around will be Dr. Hugo Strange, who knows the Dark Knight's darkest secret. More »

One of Batman's greatest villains is back and ready for vengeance! Professor Hugo Strange reveals Batman's secret in the trailer from the Spike TV Video Game Awards in 2010!

You'll learn two facts about Batman in the brief Arkham City teaser video offered exclusively by MSN Games UK:

Batman is sneaky Batman is good at fighting These are important character traits to reveal to people who have never heard of Batman before, which is apparently the target audience for this video. Otherwise -- if you know anything about Batman at all, or if you were looking for, say, gameplay footage from Arkham City -- the clip is less thrilling and more workaday.

#teaser In Arkham Asylum Batman hunted down an assortment of Gotham City's most violent criminals. In Arkham City, someone is hunting Batman. More »

What's the next Dark Knight game saying?

Game Informer's September cover story about Batman: Arkham City has now been posted online in its entirety, and it's full of details that you may not have heard about Rocksteady's superhero sequel. After detailing the story and setting up a daring rescue of Catwoman, the feature mentions some new mechanics being introduced, like the ability to perform takedowns more quickly by pressing a button at just the right time.

Other new ways Batman can deal with enemies include taunts, projectile counters, and even multiple counters at once. He also has a "beat down" attack that will dispatch even armored enemies in a barrage of punches. His non-punch-related detective skills are augmented by gadgets like the "Broadcast Analyzer," which lets him listen in to police and other radio broadcasts and trace their sources.

We encourage you to check out the full, exhaustive article -- as if you have anything else to do while waiting for Fall 2011 to arrive.

See Arkham City in all of its dark glory.

Unlike last time, it doesn't take much detective work to figure out that these screenshots for Batman: Arkham City are the real thing -- they came directly from Warner Bros. this time. Check out the gallery to see the Dark Knight beating up a variety of goons, and Harley Quinn cosplaying as Harlot.

#rocksteadystudios Developed by Rocksteady Studios, Batman: Arkham City takes players into the new maximum security prison for Gotham City's worst criminals. More »