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Batman committed to Arkham Asylum

[UPDATE] Warner Bros., Eidos, and Rocksteady bringing Bioshock-like action game featuring the Joker to PS3, 360, and PC in 2009.

303 Comments

Last week ended with the Associated Press reporting that Pandemic Studios was, at one point, indeed working a game based on the Batman blockbuster The Dark Knight. However, the report said that development had halted prior to the $400 million-grossing film's release, costing Electronic Arts an estimated $100 million in game sales.

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Today on its Web site, Game Informer confirmed a new Batman game is in the works--at a publisher other than EA. The September 2008 issue of the Minnesota-based magazine touts Batman: Arkham Asylum, a new Eidos Interactive action title based on the DC Comics which inspired the films. Besides Batman, the game will feature the Joker and "an army" of other supervillains, and will be set in the titular madhouse featured in many Batman comics and graphic novels, including Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns.

According to Game Informer, Batman: Arkham Asylum has a "dark and gritty setting reminiscent of Bioshock." Cowritten by Paul Dini, producer of TV's Batman: The Animated Series, the game begins when the Joker breaks out of jail and escapes to Arkham. There, he orchestrates a plan to kill Batman and wreak havoc on Gotham City with the help of unnamed accomplices.

Batman: Arkham Asylum is being developed by Rocksteady Studios, which is currently boasting a Batman-logo countdown clock on its Web site. Though there is no text on the site, its Web page description reads, "Rocksteady Studios is an independent videogame developer based in North London, currently working on our latest FPS title for next-gen platforms." (Emphasis added.) Rocksteady's sole previous effort was 2006's lukewarmly reviewed Urban Chaos: Riot Response for the PlayStation 2 and original Xbox.

[UPDATE] Wednesday morning, Eidos publically announced Batman: Arkham Asylum will ship for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC in 2009. In North America, the game will be co-published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, which is self-publishing the forthcoming Lego Batman. WBIE is the game division of Warner Bros., the movie studio holds the Batman film rights and bankrolled The Dark Knight.

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darkknightdetec

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GRRRRR!!!! WHY ISN'T IT COMING TO THE WII!!!! I'm a huge Batman fan but also a huge Nintendo fan and am wicked dissappointed it isn't coming to it so I probably won't get to play it!!!!

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MrArmageddon8

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Just got my Game Informer and I must say I really like the game's graphic style. This could be the first good Batman game.

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Imagine09

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the only batman game i played was batman and robin for the sega genesis. aand i loved it. =)

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dougfoster

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[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

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dougfoster

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just read the full graphic novel last week hope they can stay true to grant morrison's vision

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crisvok

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im a batman fan sadly all batman games suk so far not counting lego batman which ive havent played if there smart this game should be a mix of assasins creed the stealth and action and GTA (the open city ) that be the best batman game in my opinion i hope this game owns

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Avatar image for El_NiNo_XII
El_NiNo_XII

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hope this game turns out good

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Midgetmen

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dude who doesnt love batman!! I KNOW I LOVE IT!!!

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Avatar image for kevo25
kevo25

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sounds like a good game hope it turns out better than the other batman games

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Avatar image for B-bad
B-bad

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sounds good I cant wait to see how it turns out.

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mankeyador

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yay a batman game that's actually good.

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Avatar image for TheEnigma20
TheEnigma20

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"Though there is no text on the site, its Web page description reads, "Rocksteady Studios is an independent videogame developer based in North London, currently working on our latest FPS title for next-gen platforms." Being that their next game is this one, it sounds like this is going to be first person

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Avatar image for chico12
chico12

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its nop a fps its just dark like BioS

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Avatar image for Crazychinadude3
Crazychinadude3

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most of you guys are reading way too far into this... to quote the article, "dark and gritty setting reminiscent of Bioshock" SETTING, people, SETTING. it's going to look like bioshock, and it's probably going to be a third person action game. any objections to that?

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Avatar image for TheNetworkZ
TheNetworkZ

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lol, fps Batman game :U

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PinJosh

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how can batman be a fps

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Midgetmen

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dude this looks sick!!!!!!!

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Spelly-93

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THIS HAS SOOOOOOO MUCH POTENTIAL. JUST MESS IT UP LIKE MOST SUPERHERO GAMES. And I think they should go illustrative like the new Prince of Persia game.

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burstlimit514

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i hear its going to be a stealth like game also which i like!

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shadowflare77

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Batmans gonna lay the smack down on some dirty fools in this one. I wonder which joker they will use?

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Hieh

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Well if EA had made it would be a Superman:Returns.. but with eidos it will probly own but have super complex controls.. should be fun :)

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MonkeyWrench127

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I watched The Dark Knight and all through it I thought if treated properly this could make a mega game... Please don't screw this up!

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Midgetmen

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i like batman

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rob_dAmAgE

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sometimes information leeks out a little too fast. i would have loved to have seen some screen shots of this game in action. i was one of the the few who had played "urban chaos," although the story was arse, the gameplay was really good. i am hopeful that these guys can give batman a decent video game.

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Ton77

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@IronShiggity well keep waiting.

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baystatethrashr

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Eidos hasnt made a decent game in years. No one has made a decent Batman game in years. So this game is either gonna suck horribly or be really good. im gonna keep my hopes up.

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IronShiggity

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Yes! I've been waiting for too long for a Batman game that doesn't suck!

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Amir29

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I'm pleased to hear that it will no longer be based on the movie. Movie to game, I don't think that Dark Knight would make a good transition. I'm confused on the FPS thing though. This article isn't VERY clear on that. If it's first person, I will definitely NOT be interested. I feel it's important to actually see Batman for it to feel like a Batman game. I like the setting concept. It seems that with many villains on hand, we could see a proper action game with a good atmosphere and possibly villains as the boss battles. Overall, this is full of potential and I would be VERY excited if it turned out well. Unfortunately, Batman hasn't had a good run in video games since Batman Returns on SNES, so I'm not going to keep my hopes up until I see a proper gameplay video preview.

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makemeweak

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Bet it will suck terribly....

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Ozzer_Ozby

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I only hope that Mark Hamill returns to voice The Joker.

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OfficialBed

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NOOOOOOOOOOOO!......this will ruin batman!

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Spartan809

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I hope Heath Ledger's voice will be SOMEHOW in the game. Mehhh.. games like these usually fail, but it seems quite interesting.

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nynthninja

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Negative for Butcher Bay?! are you smokin rocks?? dont give a thumbs down for that if it turned out like Chronicles of Riddick, it would be the best movie to game to date

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inuyakusho

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Wow, Someone Says Biocshock-like and Now First person Shooter is all people can think of? Bioshock had alot more to it than that you know. They are Referring to the dark, Insane, Nerve racking and just downright creepy feel Bioshock had. Now Games based off of movies now adays arnt very good, They are made to cash in on the Success of the movie and lack the heart that most real games have. But if done right, And has real work put into it, It can end up being something amazing. But I don't think of this as a Movie to Game, I see this as Batman's Time to shine in something all in it's own. Seeing as how they seem to have a nice plot going already I have high hopes for this.

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Iraqi_Gangster

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Sounds neat

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aygol

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YES! This made my day!

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Zerosumgame

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Notice it said "Bioshock-like"? rofl.

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nynthninja

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Hey if done correctly this could be Batmans version of Escape from Butcher Bay.....that was amazing

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StealthRUSH

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AWFUL!!! -steps away from pc-

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mikemetroid5565

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OO top 25 Games.. Turn to page 34

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Xtatic324

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wait a minute.. fps? batman doesnt use guns.. lol..

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remmitanceman

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Hopefully waiting this long after the movie release will help this be a good movie-based game.

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jmrwacko

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That's not true at all nicky. Batman uses grappling hooks, grenade launchers, mounted machine guns, etc. He's just so badass that he chooses to beat people up rather than shooting them with small arms.

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dj_pulserfan

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I think they should do a batman game with the Assassins Creed engine, with use of shadows like Splinter Cell and a simple yet effective combat system like Bourne Conspiracy. Come on, I seriously cannot be the only one who thinks that would be great.

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-Intellectual-

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Eidos did Kane & Lynch and then you know the rest

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JohnnyNeat

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Sounds cool but is suspect.

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Spartan1017

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uh, okay

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therealcoolin

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hopefully this will be good

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Hokkie

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Just read through the full article. *spoilers* for those who would rather read it themselves. Its primarily a 3rd person over the shoulder view, but depending on what you are doing (hiding in the cieling, inside vents, combat) the view changes. Using Batman's utilities usually procs the first person view, and throwing a batarang puts you through a view very similar to Dark Sectors "guided glaive" ability. Will run off of Unreal 3 engine, with what sounds like an AI whos programmed to stick together and its up to you to know how to seperate the gang to pick them apart one by one.

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SSKing

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Speaking of Eidos, What the hell happened to Soul Reaver... That **** was hot. Make a re-make to that with the graphics we got now.

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