Updated: Batman: Arkham City information blowout and screens!(56K Warning)

Updated with new info courtesy of GAF and VG247.

Batman issue has dropped a metric ****-load of new Arkham City info in its cover feature, which is full of both the game's recently leaked screens and never-before-seen character art.

Warning: spoilers.

There's a lot of new information here, gleaned from a Rocksteady demo seen by the British official mag.

Firstly, there's the premise. Arkham Aslyum boss turned Gotham mayor Quincy Sharp has fenced off "miles" of Gotham City, filled it with criminals and "thrown away the key".Their only rule is that they're not allowed to leave. Aside from that, Gotham's undercIass is left to its own devices. Arkham City's warden is Hugo Strange, a mystery character to Batman.

The fenced-off area is five times the size of Arkham Asylum. Batman, obviously, doesn't like it: "He's been monitoring this place," said director Sefton Hill. "He's worried. He thinks it's a time-bomb waiting to explode into the streets of Gotham."

Batman's taken to patrolling AC. The setting is described as "a mix of Tim Burton's original Batman movie and a touch of Escape from New York," with spires and graveyards swapped for alleys and streets.

The mag was promised that despite the huge play area, "every nook and cranny has a story." Also, thanks to distances, Bats will need a way to move around. When asked if vehicles will be included, Warner PR said it's "something we'll cover at a later date."

Fly me to the moon

Wheels or not,Batman can essentially fly this time round.He has a new gadget called a Grapple Boost, which pulls him up and launches him into the air, and can be combined with a new dive which pulls into high-speed, street level flight.
cIassic Spider Man.

Hill promised the anti-hero now has new moves for "running across rooftops, blending in, running while grappling, sliding underneath objects" and "jumping between objects."

Batman can also, "Slide and smash through vents, slide straight into hanging off an edge. You can dive through windows and over railings as well."

The mag was shown a mission in which Batman needs to rescue Catwoman, as she's been kidnapped by Two-Face. In it, Bats uses a Grapple Roll and a quick takedown to remove a sniper.He ends up facing 40 enemies at Two-Face's Courthouse, although Hill promised the would be "bigger fights".

Basic fighting is "the same," according to OPM, with combinations of punches, kicks and throws. Additions include the ability to throw back projectiles, launch aerial attacks from walls and windows and unleash "beatdown" flurry attacks. He can also backflip and spray explosive gel on the floor before detonating it to stun opponents.

Twos-up on Catwoman

And get this. There's a not-so-subtle hint that Catwoman is a playable, co-op character. She uses her whip in the mission in the same way Batman uses his zip line. Hill wouldn't be drawn when asked directly if she was controllable.

"I'm not allowed to comment on that," he said.

"Forensics" is something Rocksteady wants to push in the sequel, and Batman will be "solving crimes with multiple bits of evidence." There are loads of side-stories in the game this time, Hill added, although the developer doesn't "force you to do those. It's your choice."

Harley Quinn was also seen in the demo, as was the more traditional, Arkham Aslyum gameplay of hunting goons from above in closed environments. Additions here include a hanging takedown where Batman throttles a man from above with his legs, and the ability to punch through panels to get to enemies on the other side.

Arkham City is out next autumn for PS3, 360 and PC

UK OPM

Nirolak over at NeoGAF just posted these screens, and they look great!:)

Playing as Catwoman: cool. :)

Otherwise, you have to admit, it looks quite a bit like the original. Of course, I really don't have any complaints with that, the first game was one of my favorites this gen.

Apparently the newest OPM and OXM confirms that there is some sort of multiplayer in the game, although it doesn't give details. I'm hoping for co-op. Anything else sounds kinda dumb to me.

Love it or hate it, multiplayer is coming to Batman: Arkham City. Confirmed in this months issue of the popular UK magazine PSM3, they have proceeded in claiming that "Multiplayer is a certainty, but no details on this yet".This comes after a rush of rumors and discussion that Catwoman will feature as a playable co-op character and with no mention of Robin or Nightwing this is looking even more credible. Keep in mind that no details have been confirmed and we aren't 100% ruling out the possibility of VS multiplayer.

This wont be Rocksteady's first attempt at multiplayer. Their Playstation 2 frantic fps shooter Urban Chaos: Riot Response also featured net play of 8 players. There is no doubt that we will be seeing a lot more info on this feature soon.

Stay tuned for more info and don't forget to check back tomorrow for info on the Batman Arkham City articles featured in OXM and OPM

Looks great; however, I was sort of hoping they would make Batman a bit smaller. Also, I hope we do not have to play as Catwoman.clayron

Batman is generally portrayed as pretty huge in the comics. I heard some faint laments by some regarding his size in the first game but I found him to be dimensionally proportional to his comic book counterpart.

Playing as Catwoman: cool. :)

Otherwise, you have to admit, it looks quite a bit like the original. Of course, I really don't have any complaints with that, the first game was one of my favorites this gen.

Dire_Weasel

The Game Informer article actually goes into a great bit of detail about the game and it actually appears that they are making some robust changes while keeping the brilliant core intact.

Two-Face looks excellent (as does Catwoman); I always thought that Harvey Dent was one of the most interesting Batman characters because of who he once was. Very excited to see how they will improve and continue the success of Arkham Asylum.

Two-Face looks excellent (as does Catwoman); I always thought that Harvey Dent was one of the most interesting Batman characters because of who he once was. Very excited to see how they will improve and continue the success of Arkham Asylum.

gbrading

[QUOTE="clayron"]Looks great; however, I was sort of hoping they would make Batman a bit smaller. Also, I hope we do not have to play as Catwoman.Grammaton-Cleric

Batman is generally portrayed as pretty huge in the comics. I heard some faint laments by some regarding his size in the first game but I found him to be dimensionally proportional to his comic book counterpart.

[QUOTE="Dire_Weasel"]

Playing as Catwoman: cool. :)

Otherwise, you have to admit, it looks quite a bit like the original. Of course, I really don't have any complaints with that, the first game was one of my favorites this gen.

Grammaton-Cleric

The Game Informer article actually goes into a great bit of detail about the game and it actually appears that they are making some robust changes while keeping the brilliant core intact.

You can see a few of the new moves from those screenies ... the "bash two henchmen together" move and the squirrel suit power dive thing.

EDIT: Also, there's clearly a whole set of new "thug-usable" items and it looks like Bats can now do some tightrope action on one of his cables.

[QUOTE="gbrading"]

Two-Face looks excellent (as does Catwoman); I always thought that Harvey Dent was one of the most interesting Batman characters because of who he once was. Very excited to see how they will improve and continue the success of Arkham Asylum.

rragnaar

Sad to say I am an uninitiated comic book reader: Everything I know about the Batman/DC universe I either learnt from watching the two recent films or from actually playing Arkham Asylum. I should definitely try to seek out some of them, now my interest have grown.

Catwoman has some pretty nice " graphics " if you know what I mean :oops: But really, this looks amazing. Cant wait to play.

I know my number 1 game to buy in 2011 is :P.

New info from GAF and VG247:

Batman issue has dropped a metric ****-load of new Arkham City info in its cover feature, which is full of both the game's recently leaked screens and never-before-seen character art.

Warning: spoilers.

There's a lot of new information here, gleaned from a Rocksteady demo seen by the British official mag.

Firstly, there's the premise. Arkham Aslyum boss turned Gotham mayor Quincy Sharp has fenced off "miles" of Gotham City, filled it with criminals and "thrown away the key".Their only rule is that they're not allowed to leave. Aside from that, Gotham's undercIass is left to its own devices. Arkham City's warden is Hugo Strange, a mystery character to Batman.

The fenced-off area is five times the size of Arkham Asylum. Batman, obviously, doesn't like it: "He's been monitoring this place," said director Sefton Hill. "He's worried. He thinks it's a time-bomb waiting to explode into the streets of Gotham."

Batman's taken to patrolling AC. The setting is described as "a mix of Tim Burton's original Batman movie and a touch of Escape from New York," with spires and graveyards swapped for alleys and streets.

The mag was promised that despite the huge play area, "every nook and cranny has a story." Also, thanks to distances, Bats will need a way to move around. When asked if vehicles will be included, Warner PR said it's "something we'll cover at a later date."

Fly me to the moon

Wheels or not,Batman can essentially fly this time round.He has a new gadget called a Grapple Boost, which pulls him up and launches him into the air, and can be combined with a new dive which pulls into high-speed, street level flight.

He also now has a second zip line which he can shoot out while using the first: think cIassic Spider Man.

Hill promised the anti-hero now has new moves for "running across rooftops, blending in, running while grappling, sliding underneath objects" and "jumping between objects."

Batman can also, "Slide and smash through vents, slide straight into hanging off an edge. You can dive through windows and over railings as well."

The mag was shown a mission in which Batman needs to rescue Catwoman, as she's been kidnapped by Two-Face. In it, Bats uses a Grapple Roll and a quick takedown to remove a sniper.He ends up facing 40 enemies at Two-Face's Courthouse, although Hill promised the would be "bigger fights".

Basic fighting is "the same," according to OPM, with combinations of punches, kicks and throws. Additions include the ability to throw back projectiles, launch aerial attacks from walls and windows and unleash "beatdown" flurry attacks. He can also backflip and spray explosive gel on the floor before detonating it to stun opponents.

Twos-up on Catwoman

And get this. There's a not-so-subtle hint that Catwoman is a playable, co-op character. She uses her whip in the mission in the same way Batman uses his zip line. Hill wouldn't be drawn when asked directly if she was controllable.

"I'm not allowed to comment on that," he said.

"Forensics" is something Rocksteady wants to push in the sequel, and Batman will be "solving crimes with multiple bits of evidence." There are loads of side-stories in the game this time, Hill added, although the developer doesn't "force you to do those. It's your choice."

Harley Quinn was also seen in the demo, as was the more traditional, Arkham Aslyum gameplay of hunting goons from above in closed environments. Additions here include a hanging takedown where Batman throttles a man from above with his legs, and the ability to punch through panels to get to enemies on the other side.

Arkham City is out next autumn for PS3, 360 and PC.UK OPM

mother ******** GOTY!

It's funny, I was reading some of the comments over at Neogaf and some of the posters were claiming that Arkham Asylum borrowed heavily from the Burton films, which is laughable. I still don't understand how anybody who had enjoyed ANY exposure to Batman in any other form than the Adam West show or the Burton flicks could think that Burton's Batman in any way resembles the Batman from the comics.

I love the majority of Burton's work and when I was younger I loved his Batman. Ironically, when I got older and started reading Batman comics because of Burton's films, I realized that he got just about everything wrong.

Like Nolan, the developers at Rocksteady "get" what Batman is all about and even better, they continue to hire talented people, including voice actors and writers, who also share that important understanding. The minutia of their collectively shared consciousness bleeds through in every still and every description of this game and I expect Arkham City, like AA, to be a masterpiece.

It's funny, I was reading some of the comments over at Neogaf and some of the posters were claiming that Arkham Asylum borrowed heavily from the Burton films, which is laughable. I still don't understand how anybody who had enjoyed ANY exposure to Batman in any other form than the Adam West show or the Burton flicks could think that Burton's Batman in any way resembles the Batman from the comics.

I love the majority of Burton's work and when I was younger I loved his Batman. Ironically, when I got older and started reading Batman comics because of Burton's films, I realized that he got just about everything wrong.

Like Nolan, the developers at Rocksteady "get" what Batman is all about and even better, they continue to hire talented people, including voice actors and writers, who also share that important understanding. The minutia of their collectively shared consciousness bleeds through in every still and every description of this game and I expect Arkham City, like AA, to be a masterpiece.

Grammaton-Cleric

[QUOTE="Grammaton-Cleric"]

It's funny, I was reading some of the comments over at Neogaf and some of the posters were claiming that Arkham Asylum borrowed heavily from the Burton films, which is laughable. I still don't understand how anybody who had enjoyed ANY exposure to Batman in any other form than the Adam West show or the Burton flicks could think that Burton's Batman in any way resembles the Batman from the comics.

I love the majority of Burton's work and when I was younger I loved his Batman. Ironically, when I got older and started reading Batman comics because of Burton's films, I realized that he got just about everything wrong.

Like Nolan, the developers at Rocksteady "get" what Batman is all about and even better, they continue to hire talented people, including voice actors and writers, who also share that important understanding. The minutia of their collectively shared consciousness bleeds through in every still and every description of this game and I expect Arkham City, like AA, to be a masterpiece.

Avian005

I think Burton took a superficial look at the character and wove the existing mythology around his own surrealist and quirky sensibilities. When you examine the film in a similarly superficial manner, it holds up decently but upon closer examination of the Batman mythos, Burton made some massive missteps that severely comprise the core integrity of the character. What's interesting is that these missteps become far more pronounced when you compare Burton's films with Nolan's, who fully understands the character even though he makes some of his own modifications.

Burton's Batman is just that; his incredibly personal version of the character. Nolan's take, while infused with his own filmic adjustments, represents the mythology as a whole much more accurately.

Hugo Strange as the warden? Epic game approaching!