Batman: Arkham City. Interview with Jamie Walker, Rocksteady

- What’s the starting point of the plot for Batman: Arkham City?

- The starting point for us is the central promise of how we can make players feel like Batman. That is where we start from. With any choice we make we always come back to this central promise. When we choosing story pieces or characters all we come back to is like, for example, how Mr. Freeze is going to make you feel more like Batman? Basically, that is how we design the story and work with its ideas.

- What were your sources of inspiration?

- We take inspiration from everywhere: films, games, comics and new ideas. We always aim to tell an unique story. So our Arkhamverse is also an unique way of telling the story as well, because we have such an open world game. In Batman: Arkham City you will find new ways of our storytelling filled with characters and villains delivering you about 40 hours of entertainment.

- What is your opinion about Christopher Nolan’s Batman (2005-2012) movies franchise?

- It is awesome! We are really excited to watch Nolan’s films. I think, they are fantastic! His presentation of Batman is super realistic. That is what we enjoy doing as well in our games. This degree of realism and meaning is also very important for our game’s story. I am waiting for the new movie in his franchise coming out next year – The Dark Knight Rises (2012). Isn’t everyone doing the same? [Smiles]. We can’t wait to see it!

- What is the game world of Batman: Arkham City like?

- You might guess from our Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009) game that shutting down the Asylum would not go very well. Quincy Sharp, who previously was the warden of Arkham Asylum, gets promoted to become a Mayor of Gotham City. He has a great idea of walling up a section of Gotham to create a super prison for all of the worst criminals from Arkham Asylum and from the Blackgate Prison.

All the super villains are being put into one place. That is an idea with terrible consequences. It has taken around 18 future months, and now Batman comes to Arkham City. It is how the Batman: Arkham City game starts.

- How did you design this universe?

- Every city has a lot of variety in it. It was very important for us to give you a sense of adventures and exploration throughout this City. We never really wanted to create a huge space, because the levels of detail for our open world game were our top priority. Every alley, building or basement you go in has this great sense of a rich story presented in its details.

- Are there a lot of side quests in the main storyline of Batman: Arkham City?

- Yes, there are many really good side quests in the game. All of them come back to the central characters of Batman: Arkham City. Every side mission is important. They look like something Batman would do, they challenge him, and in the process you will get more chances to learn, who Batman is.

- How did you work on the in-game characters?

- There are so many villains in our new game! You will meet Mr. Freeze, Penguin, Calendar Man, Two-Face, Catwoman and Riddler (Zagadochnik in Russian). Everyone wants a piece of Batman! On the good side you have got Catwoman again. That is very interesting about her character. She walks this line kind of like Batman. They both share secret identities.

Read on further about the skills, gadgets and flying in the game Batman: Arkham City.

Batman: Arkham City

Batman: Arkham City:

A Third-person Action-Adventure game that delivers an authentic Dark Knight experience rooted in an original and engrossing story as well as a combination of melee combat, stealth, investigative and also speed-based challenge gameplay. A direct sequel to Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009), it features the full range of classic enemies seen in the previous game, in addition to Catwoman, who is a playable character and has her own storyline in the new release. Additional features include: a range of new gadgets, an increased number of possible melee opponents and a range of movement options for Batman that include leaping, sliding, gliding and the grapple hook.

Developed by Rocksteady Studios, it builds upon the intense, atmospheric foundation of its predecessor, sending players soaring into Arkham City, the new maximum security zone for all of Gotham City’s thugs, gangsters and even insane criminal masterminds. Batman: Arkham City features an unique combination of melee combat, stealth, investigative and speed-based challenge gameplay.

Set inside the heavily fortified walls of a sprawling district in the heart of Gotham City, this highly anticipated sequel introduces a brand-new story that draws together a new all-star cast of classic characters and murderous villains from the Batman universe, as well as a vast range of new and enhanced gameplay features to deliver the ultimate experience as the Dark Knight.

Key Game Features:

• Featured VO Talent. Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy reprise their roles as The Joker and Batman respectively;

• New Story. Five-time Emmy-Award-winner Paul Dini returns to pen a brand-new story for this title, taking gamers deep inside the diseased heart of Gotham;

• Additional Gadgets. Batman has access to new gadgets such as the Cryptographic Sequencer V2 and Smoke Pellets, as well as new functionality for existing gadgets that expand the range of Batman’s abilities without adding extra weight to his Utility Belt;

• Huge Cast of Characters. Players encounter numerous characters from the Batman universe, including Catwoman, Two-Face, Harley Quinn, Penguin, Hugo Strange, Victor Zsasz, Calendar Man, The Joker, The Riddler and other iconic characters of Batman: Arkham City yet to be revealed;

• Play as Catwoman. Catwoman is a fully playable character, who has her own storyline in the main game which is seamlessly interwoven with Batman’s story arc. Her navigation skills, combat moves and gadgetry have been specifically designed to deliver a fully featured and unique experience;

• Advanced FreeFlow Combat. Batman faces highly coordinated, simultaneous attacks from every direction as Arkham’s gangs bring heavy weapons and all-new AI to the fight, but Batman steps it up with twice the number of combat animations and double the range of attacks, counters and takedowns;

• Become the Dark Knight. Delivering a genuinely authentic Batman experience with advanced, compelling gameplay on every level: high-impact street brawls, nail-biting stealth, multifaceted forensic investigation, epic super-villain encounters and unexpected glimpses into Batman’s tortured psychology;

• Arkham Has Moved. Following the closure of Arkham Asylum and Blackgate prison, Gotham’s new mayor, Quincy Sharp ordered the relocation of all inmates to Arkham City – a sprawling new super-prison five times bigger than Arkham Island, enclosing a wide variety of industrial districts, iconic locations and Gotham landmarks.

Awards:

• GameScope: «Best Action at IgroMir 2011».