Batman: Arkham Asylum Catch-All

The screens look sh*t-hot. Easily the best looking Batman game, not that it means much. At least they're putting the effort in for visuals.

WOW!!! This looks incredible. This could be the Batman game I've been waiting for. Simply gorgeous. At this rate it looks so good that it will probably become vaporware.

I think it all comes down to how the combat and stealth plays out. Based on the stuff from Game Informer, the combat system sounds as streamlined as Assassin's Creed, which for some is good (particularly me, who enjoyed disemboweling guards with my short sword) but bad for others. Stealth is an open question, on the other hand. But, what encourages me is the "CSI" stuff in terms of being a Detective (as Ras al Ghul would put it) to piece things together. Combat wouldn't be the only gameplay mechanic; using your brain counts as much as your muscles. Now if only they can get the likes of Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamil to lend their voices to the game and we'd be all set.

Well, apparently they did get Mark Hamill as the Joker. And they're holding a contest for one lucky fan to get their own inmate and cell. Insane lunatic with pictures of kittens and puppies on the wall? It could be yoooooooooooooooou!

In addition to the atmospheric trailer from a week or two ago, there's now a new trailer available. It's all part of the plan.

Preview at Edge Online. I like how they describe the sequence where Batman picks the bad guys off one by one because they're all carrying guns. I've never seen the protagonist of a comic book adaptation game be that vulnerable, though 99% of the time those protagonists have super powers.

I've always thought that Batman's vulnerability made him far more ripe a character for adaptation than most others.

Also, the Arkham Asylum setting in inspired. If they're going for a Bioshock-esque experience, Arkham is really the only option.

Final confirmation that Mark Hamill will voice the Joker and Kevin Conroy is back as Batman.

Rat Boy wrote:

Final confirmation that Mark Hamill will voice the Joker and Kevin Conroy is back as Batman.

Nerdgasm!

oldmanscene24 wrote:
Rat Boy wrote:

Final confirmation that Mark Hamill will voice the Joker and Kevin Conroy is back as Batman.

Nerdgasm!

Would you like some Kleenex?

Rat Boy wrote:
oldmanscene24 wrote:
Rat Boy wrote:

Final confirmation that Mark Hamill will voice the Joker and Kevin Conroy is back as Batman.

Nerdgasm!

Would you like some Kleenex?

I was thinking more like a wet wipe.

Rat Boy wrote:
oldmanscene24 wrote:
Rat Boy wrote:

Final confirmation that Mark Hamill will voice the Joker and Kevin Conroy is back as Batman.

Nerdgasm!

Would you like some Kleenex?

No, I'm not done yet.

New trailer out here (among other places).

Looks like they're going to have Joker in kind of a Shodan role, taunting Batman over the intercom throughout.

If this game sucks I might cry.

Wasn't really paying attention to this game before but...that trailer looks pretty good.
Got a bit of an "escape from butcher bay" kind of a vibe about it.

gewy wrote:

New trailer out here (among other places).

Looks like they're going to have Joker in kind of a Shodan role, taunting Batman over the intercom throughout.

If this game sucks I might cry.

Wouldn't that be the Xerxes role? SHODAN was your ally in System Shock 2 (I'll confess I haven't played the first).

Edit: Not even Xerxes so much as the Many. Or, GlaDOS.

Yep, was referring to the first...

SHODAN was your ally in System Shock 2

Well...I don't think SHE saw it that way.
She probably saw the player as more of an occasionally disobedient pet.

Methinks the Joker would be more like Atlas from BioShock. Hopefully he's not an Andrew Ryan, for obvious reasons.

Hammil & Conroy: Solid Gold.
Jim Lee designs in 3d: Eww, and I think his Jim Gordon design probably looked bad in 2d as well. In my mind he's been the smart guy, and his strength is his solid morality (like a Sam Vimes) not a steroid pumped physique like in the trailer.

I doubt it'll even reference the Arkham Asylum comic by Morrison and McKean, but then again, they weren't fond of their final result either though a few things stuck. The dark Knight film even refers to Morroson's idea that the Joker's form of insanity is actually some form of super sanity, he certainly seems to have an easier time living in the world he lives in then everyone else does.

Trainwreck wrote:

I thought Grant Morrison's take was incredible, Paul Dini has some shoes to fill.

And Alan Moore. Him and Morrison's take were pretty much what the Dark Knight went with for the Joker.

LobsterMobster wrote:

Also, boobs. Hopefully they'd redo her lame-ass costume.

Or Powergirl, and you know which costume.

3 posts in a row!

Reminds me of *Legion* in a SOCOM thread.

Shouldn't Batman be more...I don't know...Splinter Cell than Bioshock?

magnus wrote:

Shouldn't Batman be more...I don't know...Splinter Cell than Bioshock?

Given the proper setting, yeah, but in Arkham Asylum...I think it fits quite well.

I also do not like much how Gordon looks, if they made the Joker so well, they could have spared us the protein-shake nurtured Gordon.

Other than that, bring it on,

Chtulie wrote:

Jim Lee designs in 3d

I've read that Wildstorm did the character designs, trying to strike a balance between realism and what we see in the comics.

I would like to state my excitement now, kind sirs!

Rat Boy wrote:
Chtulie wrote:

Jim Lee designs in 3d

I've read that Wildstorm did the character designs, trying to strike a balance between realism and what we see in the comics.

Except it doesn't look to have any elements of either realism or what we see in the comics of Jim Gordon.

Rat Boy wrote:
Chtulie wrote:

Jim Lee designs in 3d

I've read that Wildstorm did the character designs, trying to strike a balance between realism and what we see in the comics.

I really like the character designs. I refuse to get my hopes up about the game though. It all seems too good to be true. Hopefully there will be a demo.

I don't mind the design of Gordon too much. I wish he didn't have a buzz-cut, and I'm not terribly in love with his voice in the trailer.

I am allowing my hopes to get up. In fact, I'm getting my hopes up so high that when this game doesn't live up to my ridiculous expectations I will be slammed back down to Earth and crushed under the massive weight of unimaginable disappointment, leaving my emotional well-being strewn across the pavement in a messy, sun-baked goulash like so many armadillo brains.

New trailer, finally showing off some gameplay. I may just hang off of ceilings all day and dive bomb badguys one at a time.