Batman:
Arkham City 2011 is a video game genre-action adventure based on DC
Comics' superhero Batman and all were developed by Rocksteady Studios.
Batman
game Arkham City 2011 was released by Warner Bros. Interactive
Entertainment for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Mac OS X and Microsoft
Windows.
Arkham
Asylum is written by veteran Batman writer Paul Dini along with Paul
Crocker and Sefton Hill, and it is based on the long-running comic book
story was a myth itself. In
the game's main storyline, Hugo Strange in Batman Arkham City
incarcerates, a new super prison enclosing a portion of the fictional
Gotham City. Batman
must uncover the secret behind the strangeness of the "Protocol 10"
while protecting many other inmates from Gotham's most famous criminals
was also imprisoned in Arkham City. The
game's main character is voiced by many actors from the DC Animated
Universe, namely Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill to repeat their roles as
Batman and the Joker. The
game is played as a game of action-adventure third-person perspective
with a focus on Batman's combat capability, stealth and detective
skills, and gadgets that can be used both in combat and exploration. Batman
Arkham City expand the arsenal of gadgets and combat assault and offer
more "open world" structure, which allows players to complete side
missions from the main storyline.
Game Play
Arkham City is an "
open world"
action-adventure game that incorporates elements of
stealth and
beat 'em up game tactics. The gadgets previously obtained in the first game are present at the start of
Arkham City,
while others are available later in the game. Most of these gadgets
have improved or boast new capabilities; for example, the Cryptographic
Sequencer can also track signals, the line launcher now can be deployed
as a tightrope and has a feature that allows Batman to flip over and
launch another zipline, switching directions. The remote control
Batarang now has a built in brake and boost, and the grappling gun can
now be used while gliding to boost Batman further up into the air. New
gadgets include smoke pellets to confuse armed enemies when spotted by
them, the Remote Electrical Charge, a taser gun used to power generators
and shock enemies, ice grenades used to freeze enemies and make
pathways through water, and a signal disruptor used to jam firearms and
detonate enemy explosives. The game incorporates more puzzle elements;
the use of Batman's "Detective Mode", which highlights elements such as
enemy skeletons and clues on-screen, is used to perform forensic
activities such as tracing the origin of a sniper round.
The player also has access to a criminal database that tracks several
investigations across the city and the forensic puzzles, as well as a
communications interception and tracing network. However, Rocksteady's art director David Hego described the new
detective mode as an "augmented reality mode", and game director Sefton
Hill has also stated that although enemies and evidence can be seen more
clearly, the navigational part is toned down as they found that some
players completed
Arkham Asylum using detective mode almost throughout the entire game.
Optional challenges from the Riddler to collect hidden trophies placed
around the city are also present, but require additional effort to
locate, such as interrogation of men loyal to the Riddler, and the use
of nearly all of Batman's gadgets to disable "traps" and barriers placed
around them. After a certain number of trophies are found, Batman must
go rescue a hostage that the Riddler has captured, which requires him to
disable death traps set by the Riddler.
The player controls Batman, making their way around Arkham City to
complete mission objectives. In addition to the primary mission, the
game introduces secondary missions featuring a number of key characters
and their stories. The player can opt to move silently, avoiding inmates
and other enemies using a combination of gadgets to sneak up on enemies
to incapacitate them. Batman's gliding ability allows players to dive
downward and pull themselves back up, enabling the player to traverse
the city by air.
Batman defeats an enemy in a demonstration of
Arkham City's "Freeflow" combat system.
At other times, the player may be forced to fight inmates using an improved version of the Freeflow combat system from
Arkham Asylum,
allowing for multiple simultaneous counters, the ability to counter
thrown objects, jump attacks, powerful multi-strike beat-downs, upgraded
Batarang and Batclaw attacks, and the ability to use gadgets such as
the Explosive Gel. Movement about the city is made difficult due to the
formation of gangs and territory between rival villains, such as
Two-Face, The Penguin, and the Joker, that causes in-fighting that
Batman may avoid.
Catwoman
is also a playable character with her own heist-focused storyline at
specific points in the game. Her combat is more acrobatics-oriented and
features her claws, whip, and
bolas.
She has her own version of Detective Mode called "Thief Vision" to
locate items for stealing. Dax Ginn revealed at Gamescom that the game
has about 40 hours of gameplay with the main campaign lasting 25 hours
and 15 hours for the side missions.
The game contains 440 Riddler challenges, which make up one of the
multiple side missions that players can embark on at any given point in
the game.
Rather than rely on maps, the player can mark Riddler puzzles as they
are found, if the player does not have the necessary equipment to
complete them. A portion of the puzzles are also specific to Catwoman,
and can only be completed by her.
The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of
Arkham City include a stereoscopic 3D mode for 3D HDTVs and for 2D HDTVs via
Inficolor 3D
glasses, while the PC version supports Nvidia 3D Vision which allows an
even greater 3D depth due to the Nvidia software and hardware
supporting adjustments of such. It uses
TriOviz for Games Technology, which is integrated with Unreal Engine 3. All
Arkham City gameplay and cinematics have S3D support.
