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Batman Arkham City |OT| Smashin' Faces, Glidin' Places

JazzmanZ

Member
Making a Superman game in the vein of Arkham asylum is kinda impossible, what with Superman being nigh invincible and can...oh I don't know..Fly everywhere?
 
FantasticMrFoxdie said:
Random thought: Would anyone like to see Rocksteady make a Superman game? lol
Only way they could do that is if they used a pre-Superman Clark Kent who hasn't developed all of his powers yet. Flying in particular comes to mind as a big obstacle to take on game design wise. They'd also have to have Kryptonite everywhere.
 
So I've been on media blackout for awhile now and I realize I haven't decided which version to get. When Arkham Asylum came out, the PS3 version ended up being the better version both in content and in performance. Does anyone know if there is anything like that this year? I'm only considering the 360 version now because my PS3 has gotten pretty loud but I'll put up with that if there's exclusive content or a performance quality difference.
 

Adam J.

Member
Marty Chinn said:
So I've been on media blackout for awhile now and I realize I haven't decided which version to get. When Arkham Asylum came out, the PS3 version ended up being the better version both in content and in performance. Does anyone know if there is anything like that this year? I'm only considering the 360 version now because my PS3 has gotten pretty loud but I'll put up with that if there's exclusive content or a performance quality difference.

I remember comparing the demos for Arkham Asylum on both 360 and PS3 and they were damn-near identical, save for the 360's usual crushing of the black levels.
 

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
untitled-2gor3.jpg


And now the waiting game. I think I'll play through Arkham Asylum again when I'm done with Rage.
 

Varth

Member
JohngPR said:
Would you say that the difficulty on hard is on par with Arkham Asylum or is it harder?

I found Hard actually a bit harder than AA, even with the attack warning on. That coming from one who enjoyed and completed all the challenges in AA. But mind, that's true only if you try to play each fight for maximum points. If you just try to survive taking it easy and just using counters it's not *that* different.

Doomrider said:
You guys sound so dispassionate about it ;_; I would be really interested to hear a very small, personal comment from you, if at all possible...? No? Well, that's fine too. By the way, did any of you play the PS3 version?

LOL @ dispassionate. There was almost a brawl to get the code here. It's just that I feel free to comment only stuff that already came out and wasn't in the NDA.

I played the PS3 version, btw. No real performance issue to mention. Each one of the small graphical niggles is coming from the UE.
 
Adam J. said:
I remember comparing the demos for Arkham Asylum on both 360 and PS3 and they were damn-near identical, save for the 360's usual crushing of the black levels.

I think both Lens of Truth and Digital Foundry gave a slight edge to the PS3 but both were pretty close. I'm mostly worried about exclusive content. Anything like that this time around?
 

Jintor

Member
Varth said:
LOL @ dispassionate. There was almost a brawl to get the code here. It's just that I feel free to comment only stuff that already came out and wasn't in the NDA.

I traded a goddamn press trip to Japan for it, man

I went last year
 

Vice

Member
FantasticMrFoxdie said:
Random thought: Would anyone like to see Rocksteady make a Superman game? lol

I think it could work pretty well. Emphasize the order you do things in and how you do them rather than what you do and it could be challenging without making Superman look like a chump.
 
having played through the game, can you explain to us how the Arkham City's play structure will pan out? Alot of people assume that it's city structure will lend more to a Grand Theft Auto format than the more Metroid inspired format used in Arkham Asylum. I personally feel that the potential for a more Zelda-like formula could work just as well for this game, without stretching itself out thin like sandbox games such as GTA, Crackdown, or Infamous.

For months, Rocksteady has been claiming that this game would be 5 times the size of Arkham Island, yet the only layout of the city that they've shown so far have been basically a few fixed city blocks within the area. (i.e. Monarch Theatre, Steele Mill, Courthouse, etc.) Basically the equivelant of Times Square in terms of scale. At best, Arkham City's urban layout seems more on par with Arkham Island (north -- the site of Arkham Mansion and Botanical Gardens) in terms of its size. How much is this "five times" is truth, and how much of it is pure hyperbole? When I watched a testing out the demo in August, one of the RS marketing reps who guided the player along gave him the same company line response of being over five times the length of Arkham AsYLUM. Mind you, that this wasn't Dax Jinn or Sarah Wellocks, and that the rep seemed somewhat distant and uninterested. He sounded American, and I highly doubt that he even played through the game, but he sounded like he was sticking to a straight company line, regardless of whether or not they accurately reflected the final product.

On a technical note, can you tell us if Arkham City's loading time will take a hit this time around? One of the best things I loved about Arkham Asylum was the minimal use of load screens. Having played through all the Metal Gear Solid games, I was really disappointed in MGS4's reliance of these accursed install screens in between acts, not to mention the 10 second load screens whenever I would cross from one area of an act to another. It really disrupted the mood for me, and was a game breaker too, having not had to deal with this in the previous 3 games. Given the claims and ambitions of Rocksteady for Arkham City, did you experience anything in the game that immediately tipped you off on what compromises had to be made on the part of the developers?
 

Jintor

Member
It's still Metroid style, but with a 'hub world' that is Arkham City. And it really is... well, big. Maybe half the size of about half of Vice City? I don't know about 5 times the size of Arkham Island, but it's pretty damn big. When they say it's somewhere between a linear world and an open world, they're not kidding around, that's exactly how it felt.

Umm, I wouldn't call it GTA style because GTA usually has the missions taking place in the open world itself, whereas Arkham City is more Zelda-styled 'dungeons' or levels or Metroid areas.

As for loading, the only loading that bugged me was taking like 15 seconds to restart on death because (playing through on Hard) there were a few fights where I would just die over and over again. One particular fight took me as near as I can tell about two hours to complete, because I was a stubborn bastard who didn't want to go bug off and get some upgrades and come back. I only ran into one or two instances of loading while in the open world itself, though there are momentary loads when you move between doors and things.
 

Bumhead

Banned
My only concern with Arkham City is the distribution of the criminal characters. I've largely been on a media blackout for the game but have obviously seen there's been a LOT of character reveals. I thought part of Arkham Asylums charm was that it created such a tight experience with the handful of characters it dealt with, rather than trying to shoehorn too much in. I'm a little concerned that Arkham City is going to lose focus by throwing in too many characters.

Open question for anyone who has played the game, and answers can be as in depth or as simple as you like (I'd accept a Yes or No), but does Arkham City have any pacing issues or throw in too many characters, leaving many of them feeling under used or bit part characters?
 

Micerider

Member
And now the side-question tagging along :

Are there any villains that are well-developped enough to feel a close "bond" as with Joker during AA?
 
I only ran into one or two instances of loading while in the open world itself, though there are momentary loads when you move between doors and things.

Were they anything like the horribly annoying load screens in MGS4? Not the install screens, but the load screen when you moved from one area to another. Or were they more like the 3 second load screens whenever you would enter into the buildings in Arkham Asylum? I can certainly live with the latter.

From a gameplay standpoint, would you say that this game takes a step forward in the series like Metroid Prime, God of War 2, Gears of War 2, Resident Evil 4 etc.., or was it something of a disappointment like Metal Gear Solid 2 and 4 were, in that they fizzled out towards the end . For example, Arsenal Gear and Outer Haven were heavily elaborated upon in MGS2 and MGS4, but were never actually given much to interact with the way that games should be. They weren't fun to play, and as a gamer, it felt like a door was slammed in my face in that respect, whereas a game like Resident Evil 4, what you saw was what you got -- a village, a countryside, a castle, and a military island, all interactive to the player with well thought out level design. I never got that with MGS2 or MGS4 -- whose ambition seemed to at times outstrip all of their discipline from a level design standpoint. I never got that feeling while playing through Arkham Asylum. The only area that I felt I was being deprived of exploring was Gotham City itself, but I realized that it was Arkham Island that was AA's showpiece and not Gotham City, so it didn't really bother me in that regard -- especially knowing in the back of my mind that such ground could be covered once a sequel was greenlighted.

I really have high hopes for this game, and as an old school gamer, am very encouraged to hear that Arkham City will retain the Metroid style exploration formula that its predecessor used rather than the sandbox open world structure used by Rockstar. Given Arkham City's urban landscape, it would have been so tempting for other game studios to have tried to turn this into another GTA clone. Everything I have seen about this game looks so epic, it's hard to wait patiently for October 18 to come along.

Also, Jinto, and you don't actually have to answer this, but do you suppose that the Wayne Tech Tower seen in both Arkham Asylum and Arkham City will be the Mount Doom/Baradur Tower in this series, once a third game is commissioned? I'm not a clairvuoyant, but it would seem that an Arkham game set in Gotham City itself would be the next logical stop in the series, much as Mount Olympus was seen as the final frontier within the God of War series.
 

Jintor

Member
Micerider said:
And now the side-question tagging along :

Are there any villains that are well-developped enough to feel a close "bond" as with Joker during AA?

Yes.

crackhead_bob said:
Were they anything like the horribly annoying load screens in MGS4? Not the install screens, but the load screen when you moved from one area to another. Or were they more like the 3 second load screens whenever you would enter into the buildings in Arkham Asylum? I can certainly live with the latter.

The latter, apart from the death loading.

I really have high hopes for this game, and as an old school gamer, am very encouraged to hear that Arkham City will retain the Metroid style exploration formula that its predecessor used rather than the sandbox open world structure used by Rockstar. Given Arkham City's urban landscape, it would have been so tempting for other game studios to have tried to turn this into another GTA clone. Everything I have seen about this game looks so epic, it's hard to wait patiently for October 18 to come along.

Hold up a second. It's not total metroidvania because in general parts of the city aren't locked until you get new abilities. You can access most of the city straight off the bat (no pun intended). There's only a limited part of that city you won't have access to until later in the game, or just Riddler puzzles you can't solve until later, that kind of thing.

I probably shouldn't answer the middle bit.
 

legend166

Member
Jintor said:
Hold up a second. It's not total metroidvania because in general parts of the city aren't locked until you get new abilities. You can access most of the city straight off the bat (no pun intended). There's only a limited part of that city you won't have access to until later in the game, or just Riddler puzzles you can't solve until later, that kind of thing.

That's incredibly disappointing.
 
I probably shouldn't answer the middle bit.


Sorry. I'll paraphrase. Does the game hype to death anything that they don't intend on delivering like in Metal Gear Solid 2? MGS2 hyped Arsenal Gear so much that you would have expected an epic Death Star confrontation in the end. I hate when games build up epic scenarios that they don't ever deliver on. If Arkham City spent 80% of their story elaborating on a vast ocean city, a nuclear power plant, I would hope that there would be a tangible payoff in the very end. Did you get that sense after completing Arkham City, or were they off the mark in some regard?
 

Varth

Member
Micerider said:
Are there any villains that are well-developped enough to feel a close "bond" as with Joker during AA?

A couple spring to mind. Absolutely loved the RS interpretation of those characters. Wouldn't be surprised if it gets adopted in the comics soon.
 

Jintor

Member
Varth said:
A couple spring to mind. Absolutely loved the RS interpretation of those characters. Wouldn't be surprised if it gets adopted in the comics soon.

Rocksteady have definitely done a beautiful job adopting what was good about previous adaptations (see: the Joker and Harley, which are almost perfect animated Joker and Harley... well, not that that was in doubt with Paul Dini on the case) and in forging their own versions of the characters.
 

monome

Member
ChocolateCupcakes said:
Nope. Superman is pretty boring.


He's not.
And a game ala Crackdown/Prototype/Infamous could match the style of the rebooted Action Comics starring young Superman.
 

Sn4ke_911

If I ever post something in Japanese which I don't understand, please BAN me.
THE GODDAMN BATMAN >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> sups
 
to be fair Batman > everyone

but I think Superman gets a bum rap, he's an awesome character. He's just not been represented too well in games really (and films the only good one was Superman 1! in 70s).

I would love a good Superman game.
 

Jintor

Member
It's just the balancing the power levels dealy. The new Action Comics supes looks decently underpowered. He's more Superboy than Superman, but looks fun to play. I
 
Jintor said:
And it really is... well, big. Maybe half the size of about half of Vice City? I don't know about 5 times the size of Arkham Island, but it's pretty damn big..

I think of it as being 5 times the size of the island i.e all of the outside maps, rather than all of that and the building/cave/underground sections added. Would you agree?

I would imagine there are less, or smaller indoor sections, making the game look bigger.
 
Im not sure about a rocksteady Superman game.

He is too powerfull unless kryptonite is conveniently present.
(but then seriously thats what his bloody super breath is for, to blow it out the way without getting near)
 

Mulligan

Banned
monome said:
He's not.
And a game ala Crackdown/Prototype/Infamous could match the style of the rebooted Action Comics starring young Superman.
He is. A smallville era superman game could be kind of cool but imo the superman villains are boring too.
 

Easy_D

never left the stone age
Pre-ordered this sucker for PC on Zavvi today! Was going to do it on TheHut but my credit card was declined..!? Possibly due to everyone trying to order it. Not like it cost more on Zavvi though, so all's well in the world. Can't wait to bust some heads. I sorta feel that with the city-setting it's kind of a revival of the beat'em up genre, oh it will be glorious.

SalsaShark said:
Second playthrough: main game + all the riddles

5BRpf.png


that was last year i think, i had already done 100 percent everything on the game on a retail PC version, but i played through it again when it was cheap on Steam and i ended up getting all the riddles again.
Wait what? 17 hours? I played it like.. 1.5 times and I'm at 40ish hours
And I promise I don't suck at the game
 
Anasui Kishibe said:
I'd rather a Daredevil game by Rocksteady
Would be cool but obviously it won't happen due to the ownership issues.

I would like to see Marvel partner with a strong/motivated developer and make a semi-open world Daredevil game that shamelessly rips off Mirror's Edge.

(And I was thinking this long before the shameless ripoff of Mirror's Edge in the new Spider-Man movie trailer.)
 

RoboPlato

I'd be in the dick
Is there any way to get the Earth One costume in the US? I like the look of that even more than the standard costume.
 
Mulligan said:
He is. A smallville era superman game could be kind of cool but imo the superman villains are boring too.
That's what I was thinking. They could have him slowly develop his power throughout the game. There's a lot of lore they could delve into such as the Fortress of Solitude, Brainiac, Lex Luthor, his kryptonian background, Doomsday, Darkseid, etc. They could base it upon the TV show(not quite though because I know the TV show through a lot of uncanon things into the show). Lex Luthor and Brainiac in particular the way the Smallville TV show handled it would make them very interesting villains/archenemies.
 
Wait what? 17 hours? I played it like.. 1.5 times and I'm at 40ish hours
And I promise I don't suck at the game

I completed the game in 11 hours, but didn't do many of the things it seems like the challenge rooms etc.
 
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