Batman: Arkham City Preview

To start, this game is a sequel to the action-adventure game Batman: Arkham Asylum based on DC's comics Batman that was distributed for the Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows PC platfoms. Arkham city is very much like its predecessor: an action game that incorporates new elements such as stealth capabilities and predator tactics.

The story of Arkham city takes place one year after Arkham Asylum. The former warden of the asylum has taken credit for stopping the Joker and has used the notoriety to become the mayor of Gotham City. As a measure to hold inmates, and faced with the problem of not having enough facilities to do so, he decides to militarize a section of the city and allow private contractors to provide control. Batman, who maintains a vigil eye over the city, worries that the situation might get out of hand.

The game starts when two-face, an inmate seeking to elevate his status among the other villains of the city, devices a plan to execute Catwoman. Batman concludes that this event will cause general unrest and decides to enter Arkham City himself to avoid the execution.

It has been announced that all of the gadgets from Arkham Asylum will be present in Arkham city, and we will see new ones such as smoke bombs that Batman can use to sneak away and confuse the enemy, and a tracer device that can locate signals back to their sources.

As far as gameplay, the game will incorporate more puzzle elements, the use of "Detective Mode" which highlights enemy elements to perform forensic analysis at crime scenes and get more information that can be used to solve crimes. The "Detective Mode" will also allow access to a criminal database that tracks the major criminals across the city and is used to solve forensic puzzles. Rocksteady's art director has confirmed that the use of "Detective Mode" will be changed to "augmented reality mode" and that the feature of challenges from the riddler will be present but will require more effort to locate.

Arkham City Multiplayer Rumors

After the VGA trailer in 2010, the media was left to wonder about the multiplayer addition, and some rumors are starting to leak regarding this feature. The leaks have claimed that the game will support both multiplayer and co-op campaign game types, they also reveal that there is an incredible amount of detail has been given to the multiplayer mode to make it just as good as the single player mode.

The source, which rather remains anonymous, has commented: "Many people were petrified when they heard of the multiplayer, imagining some tacked on silly arena fighter, the development of which dwarfed our efforts on single player. They couldn't be more wrong". He also pointed at the influence that Red Dead Redemption Free Roam has had on the game : "It is perfect, you go around bust gangs and after you have left, everything resets, its ever going, then you have players who enter in, and they may be enemies, or friends, all the while random events will take place, such as a hanging, or what have you. It feels like a real world."

The source also pointed out that Batman Arkham City will have its own dedicated servers and that the multiplayer mode will ensure uniqueness of characters for every lobby. There will be the option to create private matches that will range between 1 and 12 players and also the capability of customizing the levels.

All in all it all sound very exciting. Stay tuned with the blog as more developments for this game surface, we will make sure to bring you the latest news on this title that is promising to be a hit for 2011.