Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/48986
Gaming n n n n When Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight exploded onto the cultural landscape in 2008, and Rock- steady Studios' Arkham Asylum arrived on its heels in 2009, the ground- breaking film and equally groundbreaking video game (still lauded by The Guinness Book of World Records as the "best superhero game ever") were a dynamic duo that set collective imaginations on fire, transcended genre, broke sales records, and established new, almost unreachably high standards for comic-book art in their respective mediums. Now, that dynamic duo is poised to return with a one- two punch that culminates with Nolan's Dark Knight Rises in 2012 and begins with Rocksteady's Batman: Arkham City, the eagerly awaited follow-up to Arkham Asylum that sold a staggering two million copies in its first three weeks alone. Written again by Paul Dini, directed by Sefton Hill, and art-directed by David Hego, the sequel eclipses the scope and scale of its predecessor in almost every way, lifting Batman out of the claustrophobic confines of Arkham Asylum and releasing him onto the mean streets of Gotham, an environment that's more than five times bigger. Scaling up the playing field meant scaling up the cast of villains and thugs—a population explosion that has the city overrun with almost every super-villain from the Batman mythos. As a result, Rocksteady had to adapt Batman's gameplay to the massive Gothic sprawl. They gave him a Power Dive to glide between buildings and the ability to chain attacks to contend with the relent- less gang assaults, sometimes comprising as many as 30 or more assailants—a far cry from the one-on-one combat of Arkham Asylum (see "Dark Matter," October 2009). The sequel is set one year after the original. Batman has foiled the Joker's plans to poison Gotham's water sup- ply with the zombie-making Titan chemical, but Quincy Sharp, former warden of Arkham Asylum, has taken credit for the collar. Parlaying his notoriety into a successful bid for mayor, Sharp's first act is to buy out a large section of the slum-infested North Gotham to house the burgeoning inmate population, creating a makeshift prison-city policed by a private military contractor called Tyger. To oversee the so-called Arkham City, Sharp hires psychotic psychiatrist Hugo Strange, who not only has a hidden agenda for the city, but also knows Batman's true identity, "leaving him vulnerable and exposed in a way he's never been before," says Hill. Surveying the open city from atop his gargoyle perch, watching from a distance as it factionalizes under each villain vying for rule, Bat- man is eventually forced into the city when Two-Face kidnaps Catwoman, his former love, and devises a plot to publicly execute her. Through it all, Batman tangles with Catwoman and allies with Robin to stop Gotham from descending into total chaos. 'Batman in Gotham' Feel Whether Batman's motivation is love or heroism, Rock- steady's primary motivation for relocating the Caped The game features a wide range of villains who roam the expansive playing field, including Two-Face. Crusader to Arkham City was to deliver, according to Hill, that "Batman in Gotham feeling." "That sensation of gliding through the streets of Gotham City as the Dark Knight was one of the key objec- tives we set for ourselves," says art director David Hego. "Moving the action out of the asylum and onto the streets was a huge creative and technical undertaking; Batman's navigation abilities needed to step up, providing an en- tirely new set of gameplay opportunities for the player. From an artistic perspective, the priority was to create a world suffused with a lot of realistic elements so it would feel believable but still uniquely Gotham." This uniquely Gotham feel borrows and expands on the architectural styles and atmosphere set in Arkham Asy- lum. Like before, crumbling Gothic and Victorian build- ings abound, where old-fashioned turrets, spires, and gargoyles clash with glaring splashes of neon signage. For Arkham City, however, art directors added flourishes from other architectural and art movements of the 20th century. "Of course, the architecture is reminiscent of Arkham Asylum for the simple fact that we wanted the world we created to remain consistent and logical," says Hego. "However, we expanded on the world architecturally, but- tressing it with new conceptual pillars. Gothic and Victo- rian-style structures are still present as the foundation and DNA of Gotham City and its dark feel. On top of these two strong styles, we've added Art Nouveau elements in the architecture and design. It's fascinating to explore real- world history and borrow elements to re-create piece by piece for our world." In addition to borrowing from real-world history, the team extracted visual threads from the early history of cin- ema and wove them into its dark, visual tapestry. "Another December 2011/January 2012 43