All Articles: Batman: Arkham City

Batman and Catwoman won’t be the only playable characters in this October’s Batman: Arkham City. Robin, The Boy Wonder, will be swinging into the game as well.

Gamers who pre-order Batman: Arkham City from Best Buy (on the PC, PS3 or Xbox 360) will receive exclusive access to the Tim Drake Robin Pack. WB Games had this to say about Robin:

“Robin will come complete with his own unique gadgets and special moves, and will be playable in all challenge maps in the game, as well as two additional challenge maps that are included with the pack – Black Mask Hideout and Freight Train Escape. The pack will also contain a bonus Red Robin character skin.”

So it looks like it’ll work exactly the same as the Joker Challenge Maps that were included with the GameStop pre-order of Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has unveiled the official box art for Batman: Arkham City. Continuing the whitewashed aesthetic that has been the game’s trademark since it was announced, the cover shows Batman ready to dispense some Gotham City justice on some poor soul’s face. And he’s got the bloody knuckles to prove it. If you want a closer look at the box art, just click on the image to your left.

Batman: Arkham City will be released for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on October 18. A Wii U version is also in the works.

We all knew that Catwoman would be appearing in this Fall’s Batman: Arkham City, but Rocksteady has now told GameSpot that the femme fatale feline-phile will also be a playable character in the game’s single-player story.

As you might expect from Selina Kyle, her attacks are more acrobatic and graceful than Batman’s. She’ll wield her trademark whip and a bolo for ranged attacks as well as razor sharp claws on her gloves.

Check it all out in the trailer above. And remember, today’s word of the day is “slinky.” You’ll understand why after you watch the video.

Sefton Hill, the game director of Batman: Arkham City at Rocksteady, recently talked to The Guardian about the game. During the lengthy interview, Hill discussed the Arkham City’s narrative and revealed a few details about the game’s length:

“It takes over 25 hours to complete the main stories in Batman: Arkham City. To keep players engaged for this length of time, not only do the characters and the story need to progress, but the core mechanics of the game they are playing need to change and adapt as well.”

He also mentions that there’s at least 15 hours of side quest content to this dark sequel. Yes, Arkham City is loaded with over 40 hours of gameplay; which is much more than its predecessor.

Batman: Arkham City will be relased for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 October 21.

Bad news, Batfans.

Arleen Sorkin will not be voicing Harley Quinn in Batman: Arkham City. Sorkin, who was actually the inspiration for Quinn’s apperance on “Batman: The Animated Series,” has been replaced, for unspecified reasons, by prolific voice actress Tara Strong.

While there’s definitely some disappointment in losing Sorkin, Strong has quite a history with the various Bat-cartoons as well:

• She played Barbara Gordon (AKA Batgirl) on “Batman: The Animated Series”;
• She voiced The Huntress on “Batman: The Brave and the Bold”;
• She stepped into the shoes of Vicky Vale on “The Batman”;
• And she had a small part as a Shock Trooper from Apokolips in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse.

To further assuage fan’s fears, the Batman: Arkham City Community Manager recently sat down with Strong to discuss her thoughts on Harley Quinn and the voiceover process.

And it sounds like the character is in good hands.

The Riddler served a challenging purpose in Batman: Arkham Asylum, hiding riddles all over the premises and daring Batman to try and solve them. All you heard of him, though, were tape recordings. It now looks like Riddler will be getting some face time in the sequel, Batman: Arkham City. Rocksteady released a couple screen shots portraying Edward Nigma, and you can see them after the break. (more…)