Batman: Arkham City. Interview with Jamie Walker, Rocksteady

- Have you introduced any changes to the Combat system in Batman: Arkham City?

- Yes. We doubled the number of animations and moves for the game. You will find combat feeling completely different since the first game. However, it still has that lovely sense of simple control. Though, a lot was added to it. New gadgets can be used in combat. Catwoman will fight very unlike Batman. She is lightening fast.

Catwoman also has her own special gadgets and an unique upgrade chain in Batman: Arkham City. There is a really nice contrast in the combat system now allowing to feel how it has been evolving. There are moves, beatdowns, aerial attacks, sophisticated pulls and other sets of new actions.

- How were the enemies developed?

- The enemy types have been massively expanded. They are equipped with weapons, and they can pick up weapons too. With their big guns they make Batman’s life much more difficult. There are also a lot of encounters with larger enemies, and adversaries we have never even dreamt of making in the first game will appear in our new title.

- Has their AI improved in Batman: Arkham City?

- Asbolutely! The enemies are now fully aware of what Batman was doing in Arkham Asylum. They were defeated there. Now they come back and want to get their revenge. They think how to counter Batman’s actions. In Batman: Arkham City they can act together in groups and employ different tactics.

They can see you better, and some enemies use infrared vision to track your movement. You will have to completely rethink your approaches on taking out these bad guys. It has become a much tougher problem now.

- From what we know, the game contains around 436 Riddler challenges, and what are the puzzles like in general?

- Riddler in Batman: Arkham City game will really present you with more than four hundred of in-game challenges to break Batman. These challenges are mind-bending requiring you to bring out all of Batman’s abilities.

- Will we uncover any mini-games integrated into the gameplay of Batman: Arkham City?

- We have added a Cryptographic Sequencer. It is a new gadget as well, and it has many great uses. It can crack Riddler’s codes. Players will enjoy doing that in a simple and intuitive system. We have included many really great puzzles!

- So there won’t be any multiplayer, right?

- Batman: Arkham City is a single-player game. We wanted it to be the best Batman game possible. Yes, there are additional playable characters, but still it is single-player only.

- How can you describe your graphics engine of Batman: Arkham City?

- We are using the Unreal Engine 3 technology created by Epic Games. Though, we have added a lot of new our own special touches to this engine. We love working with Epic Games, and their products are great. All our technical engineers and artists at Rocksteady have really pushed the engine to where we needed to create a big open world city, to do our special, lighting, camera and cape effects. We upgraded the physics system, the water and pushed everything related to an open world game to the limit on all of the release platforms.

Read on further about the soundtrack and VOs for 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».