Friday 27 July 2012

All Good Things Come In Three's - Batman Arkham....

So Arkham City is probably the best Batman game ever so why does everyone seem worried about the third outing being anything but better…? I’ve heard the rumours online too and it all stems from the fact that this appears to be a prequel to the original Arkham Asylum.

Now we all love Batman; he’s fast and he’s strong with a good bit of wit and an eye for solving devious problems. The addition of Catwoman in the second outing proved that Rocksteady know what they are doing and placed these interesting additional chapters through their wonderfully crafted story. The fact that these supplemented the whole progression without becoming a detriment to their well flowing ideas only made these feel even more suitable.

Reports suggest that the game will take place during the silver age and follow Batman’s inclusion in the Justice League – a ‘league’ of superheroes banded together to complete one single goal when one of them just isn’t enough. This could therefore follow a rescue attempt including all your favourite DC hero's or alternatively have even more emphasis on co-operative gameplay.

Many people believe that the new story will take away from the gameplay elements already being used as the Batman’s usual ‘arsenal’ of weapons and gadgets won’t be quite a grand. Or maybe they could be just as good but used in a dissimilar sense – imagine being clad in the Adam West costume planting risky first generation explosive gel as Bruce slowly hones his creation skills.

The game is almost definitely going to include the likes of Superman and Wonder Woman but their capacity is yet to be confirmed. With the second game featuring different playable characters (mainly though the added contact) many believe they will be part of the main story in a playable way too. I have to say I disagree with this and I think Rocksteady do too. Their ethos so far has been to stick as closely to the Batman lore as possible without jeopardising their own unique feel. As such I really believe that they will be going for a more ‘meet-and-greet’ situation with these characters – perhaps showing that they all have their own weaknesses that Batman has either planned to assist or planned to use to disable them.

In the Tower of Babel books the Batman slowly hatches a fail safe to disable each of the members should they switch to the other side or need to quickly be immobilised. Ra’s Al Ghul steals his ideas and uses them to quickly and efficiently take down the league in order to stop them disrupting his latest plans. Batman states that this was always a cautionary measure that he devised after the Injustice League swapped bodies with the Justice League with the aid of the alien tyrant Agamemno years earlier (during another Silver Age event).

This story would be a good way to use all our favourite characters in a non-playable capacity while allowing us to either fight them or help them on their individual quests. Think of the possibilities…

It’s also safe to assume that if the Joker will be one of the main villains if not the main villain. Perhaps the Joker has stolen Bruce’s plans a’la Ra’s and then distributes them to villains from the other DC character world taking out their nemesis one by one.

Enough on the story what else would we love to be doing….

Ok it’s safe to assume that we might be doing more than just playing the big bad bat this time around – perhaps there might be the opportunity for a Batmobile car chase. We all want to get behind the wheel of the coolest vehicle ever and give chase around the streets of Gotham (or even the streets of anywhere). It’s something every fan wants to be able to do and even if it’s just a quest based one off that will be enough – provided it’s written well. What about chances to play as Bruce Wayne himself – maybe gathering information at big city parties or running around in Wayne Manor.

Whatever is announced I’m sure it will be fantastic as Rocksteady have been preparing themselves for a trilogy ever since the success of Arkham Asylum. They’re making things bigger with each outing and I full expect them to do the same come the third iteration.

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