Batman: Arkham City. Interview with Jamie Walker, Rocksteady

- What is special about the in-game soundtrack?

- Our Audio Director has worked really hard on his part. The main composer of Batman: Arkham City is Nick Arundel. The score is written by him. It is a classical score shifting dynamically depending on what you are currently doing in the game. The music always changes reflecting all the memorable high-energy or stealthy moments. The soundtrack was recorded live with an orchestra in the UK in one of our studios.

It was an amazing session, and that is great to be able to hear the results in the game! Musicians have done a great job. You will find the soundtrack in the Collector’s Edition pack, and it is also available on iTunes. This music is a wonderful addition to enhance your game experience.

- In Batman: Arkham City have you worked with any of the voice-overs from the original game?

- When making our new game, we have worked with all our great voice talents we collaborated with on Batman: Arkham Asylum. Kevin Konroy speaks for Batman, and Mark Hamill – for The Joker. There are also some great new additions, especially, the female cast. Batman: Arkham City will be fully localized in Russia, so you will still hear all our great voice talents, but their dialogues will be supplied with Russian subtitles.

- What is the most special about the sequel for you?

- The gamers will see the Arkham City, which is a big new push for the line-up. It is fantastic! You will find different ways to play the game, because we have introduced new things to storytelling. Obviously, it is an open world game, but still we would like to retain the focus on its story. It would be exciting for you to see.

Riddler is back, and he is angry. He will do everything he can to take Batman down. So Riddler challenges present a massive new feature. Catwoman and Robin are playable in Batman: Arkham City. The Challenge Mode is back. 40 hours of entertainment are waiting for you, and there are some really big surprises ahead that we haven’t announced yet, but they could blow players away!

- What are the release dates for Batman: Arkham City?

- The game is coming out in Russia on the 21^st of October for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 in glorious 3D. The PC-version will come out in November also in glorious 3D and localized into Russian.

- Now it’s time for our short survey. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

- Making new great Batman games! I hope in Rocksteady we will keep on providing you with more brilliant entertainment!

- We do hope too! What picture do you have on your desktop?

- There I have a picture of my wife, my daughter and a Bobble Head Joker.

- What are your favorite video games of all time?

- I love Elite (1984), The Legend of Zelda (1986-2011), where the Majora’s Mask (2000) is my favorite title of all time. Also I will name Metroid (1986-2010). There are many others as well in different genres, including First Person Shooters (FPS) like the Counter-Strike (2000) or RPG, where I would pick The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2006). My favorite game series of all time would probably be Resident Evil (1996-2011).

Read on further to Watch the Video with the Developers of 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».