By Jim Rossignol on December 13th, 2009 at 12:28 pm.
Yes, that Spike TV VGA event also revealed the sequel to Arkham Asylum. The trailer, which does feature The Joker once again, is below. Can they possibly do it a second time? Or was one visit to Arkham enough?
13/12/2009 at 12:39 AndrewC says:
Hey now, wasn’t Arkham at the end of a long country road in the first one? My continuity-nerd rages.
raaaah.
13/12/2009 at 12:45 Antsy says:
Arkham has moved?
14/12/2009 at 14:56 Daniel Klein says:
dot com
13/12/2009 at 12:45 St4ud3 says:
Actually the first Arkham was on an Island. This one seems to be in the city. Maybe it’s a branch of the original one, because there are so many insane people in Gotham :D
If they would use the old Arkham it wouldn’t really work, since you already explored everything on the island, but I’m looking forward to this one.
13/12/2009 at 12:59 westyfield says:
Yes, I was a bit worried that it would be more in the same location, thankfully those fears were soon dispelled. I’m looking forward to this one, here’s hoping for more amazing boss battles!
13/12/2009 at 12:47 EvaUnit02 says:
They haven’t released any gameplay footage yet but my money is on it being a mission pack sequel, which is always quite common with console sequels released within the same hardware cycle. Not that it’s a bad thing by any means, refined incarnations of in-place game mechanics and increased scope in game design on an existing can often be a good thing.
I’d like the equivalent of the Joker’s Challenges to seem less gamey and feel more embedded and subtle, as well as the overall stealth mechanics – oh, so many conveniently placed gargoyles. They were this game’s equivalent of exploding barrels.
13/12/2009 at 12:49 EvaUnit02 says:
*on an existing foundation
13/12/2009 at 12:54 Bhazor says:
Joker on life support ‘ey? Always thought he looked a bit pale.
I’m cautiously optimistic for this one. So long as it doesn’t go all sandbox on us now it’s in a city but instead stays as perfectly paced as the original I’ll be jolly chuffed.
13/12/2009 at 13:00 westyfield says:
Also, from the website shown at the end of the trailer, it seems that Two Face will be appearing in this one (at least, I think it’s him).
13/12/2009 at 13:08 Ian says:
Well the only thing I can really draw from it is that it seems to be in a different setting without going open-world, which is what I was hoping for. :)
13/12/2009 at 13:09 Bobsy says:
This is pretty much everything I wanted from a sequel. Not enough Catwoman though. That kind of goes without saying.
13/12/2009 at 16:05 Bhazor says:
Meh. Give me Roxy Rocket over Cat Woman any day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k58wihIiyR4
Roxy could be a fun Riddler style challange villain as well. Having to beat her time trials across a level or chase her across the rooftops, the pair of you bouncing off walls and weaving through gun fire. All whilst she masturbates furiously.
13/12/2009 at 23:59 Bobsy says:
Ah, kids’ telly.
13/12/2009 at 13:11 Hulk Hogan says:
fabulous1
the next dwarf fortres!
13/12/2009 at 13:21 TheBlackBandit says:
Yes, yes! I like the look of this… enjoyed the first tremendously.
13/12/2009 at 13:40 the_dancing_spy says:
Where’s Two Face on the website? Unless you’re referring to the We Need You poster… I think that may just be ripped.
But a different location means more Batman villains, so I’m happy for now. Wanted Penguin and Two Face in the last one.
13/12/2009 at 14:19 Bhazor says:
Well the ending of the first game mentions Two Face is doing something cheeky and Batman heads off to punch him in the face. So if this is a direct sequel I strongly suspect he’ll be a major villain in this one. Likewise I’d put money on Scarecrow and maybe Bane popping back up. All the other villains from the first are accounted for though Joker being outside says all you need to know about Arkham’s security.
13/12/2009 at 13:47 Sartoris says:
The game could benefit from a little more sanboxiness – but just a tad. Swooping around an open city at night, that would be delicious.
13/12/2009 at 13:51 Maus says:
Look at the hat, hand and shirt – it’s split straight down the middle. There’s scars and stripes on his left, and an unmarked shirt and hand to his right. It’s Two Face, alright.
It’s obviously not a branch of Arkham, but an Escape from New York-style “oh fuck the city’s gone mental, let’s just build a wall around it and let God sort ‘em out” job.
13/12/2009 at 13:54 Maus says:
And I’ll presume it’s only a portion of the city, or else Unreal Engine would break down and cry – it’s a separate area not unlike The Narrows from Batman Begins, presumably, now with a wall and guards around the outside.
Speaking of which, they just shut that bit of the city off near the movie’s end and you never hear about it again. Oh well, never mind. They were all poor anyway.
13/12/2009 at 14:03 Sam Crisp says:
So is Mark Hamill returning? I remember hearing somewhere that the first Arkham Asylum game was going to be his last time playing The Joker.
13/12/2009 at 16:35 Samm2 says:
I think it’s safe to think that he’s returning. He was hired for voicing this trailer just recently.
13/12/2009 at 15:16 JKjoker says:
i liked the first Batman AA a lot, it was my best game of 2009 (i doubt anything this month will top it) so im looking foward for this, i hope they are planning more enemy variety, actual boss fights (instead of boss cutscenes) and customization options for Batman (the first one just didnt have enough wonderful toys)
13/12/2009 at 15:47 TCM says:
Very nice, very nice indeed.
13/12/2009 at 16:38 Vinraith says:
I’m still hoping they’ll take the underlying atmosphere and (perhaps slightly more diversified) gameplay of AA and move it to a more open-world architecture. Linear action games don’t do much for me, no matter how well executed they are, but playing a game that actually felt like Batman and being able to make real choices about where to go, what to do, and how to do it would be incredible.
13/12/2009 at 18:27 Funky Badger says:
They already made that game, its called Crackdown.
13/12/2009 at 16:44 Wallace says:
As Maus mentioned above, it looks like it’s all gone a bit Escape from New York, which is probably the best thing they could have done without trying to stretch the mechanics of the game into something like GTA: Gotham.
13/12/2009 at 16:49 Adventurous Putty says:
Open city open city open city open city OPEN CITY GODDAMNIT
13/12/2009 at 17:16 Gabanski83 says:
No open city, please. Keep it tight, well paced and give it a decent story, like the first, and I’ll happily buy it.
Got AA in the recent Steam Xmas sale, and it’s magnificent. I’m upto Killer Croc’s lair, where it’s just starting to lose my interest a little, but it’s a fantastic game all the same.
13/12/2009 at 19:22 Escooler says:
I never got what the big deal with the first one was…just seemed like a solid platformer. No more fun than max payne 2 or something like that. I played about 7 or 8 hours hoping that something more would grab me, Liked thos scarecrow leveles but they were more really anything so special.
14/12/2009 at 06:20 The Tingler says:
You just suggested that Max Payne 2 wasn’t any good.
I command you to leave the internet right now. :)
14/12/2009 at 14:53 noerartnoe says:
Part of the “big deal” would be – I guess – that it’s the first Batman game in a looong time that was…well, not shit.
13/12/2009 at 21:32 Jahkaivah says:
Note to self: When naming a potential video game series remember that naming the series after a location can likely bite you in the butt when it comes to making sequels. Sticking with said location can proove difficult or contrived and departing from it makes the series a daft misnomer.
I’m guessing Baldur’s Gate and Monkey Island devs had the same trouble.
13/12/2009 at 21:35 Dominic White says:
Well, in this case they’ve not announced the title yet. So they can just name it ‘Batman: Subtitle As Appropriate’.
It’d be pretty dumb to call it Arkham Asylum 2, anyway.
13/12/2009 at 21:42 reginald says:
Arkham Asylum 2: This Time its for Reals: Ark Harder
13/12/2009 at 23:57 Psychopomp says:
More Metroidvania elements plz
14/12/2009 at 02:00 Rath says:
An appearance by Nightwing please, possibly in the form of co-op.
14/12/2009 at 06:33 The Tingler says:
There are three major Batman enemies besides Joker and Harley referenced in the trailer. Two-Face (on the website, and in the same poster that appears briefly in the video), The Penguin (the ruined Iceberg Lounge, owned by him and posterized in the first game), and Black Mask (the name ‘Sionis’ appears in the factory before we see Joker, Black Mask’s real surname).
The video appears to reference the popular story arc No Man’s Land, which a lot of fans were hoping would form a basis for the sequel – ruined areas of the city, gangs led by the major criminals (particularly Joker, Black Mask, Two-Face and Penguin).
Finally, the Arkham in Gotham bit seems taken from the Batman: Gotham Knight animated bridge between the two Nolan films, where the whole of the Narrows has been sealed off and turned into a temporary Arkham.
14/12/2009 at 11:09 Chaz says:
I think they should flip over to the style of the Adam West Batman for this next one. I mean where else could you use fantastic dialogue like this http://adamwest.tripod.com/b-lectur.htm ?
14/12/2009 at 21:40 Jacob says:
Why does everyone assume it’s in Arkham? Or an Asylum? It’s not even confirmed that Arkham Asylum 2 is the title, it’ll probably be Batman: Escape from Arkham or Batman: That Place With More Criminals or, what I’m hoping for Batman 2: Batman Continues. Then we can follow it up with Batman 3: The Search for Spock and Batman 4: The Quest for Peace.
I’m guessing it takes place in an area of the city and not Arkham. Also I agree with the people saying it references Two-Face, Penguin, and Black Mask. Frankly, I think that’s enough for boss fights, though I want more Mark Hamill. So maybe (and this is random spec) he’s still in prison and taunting Batman, inadvertently giving him clues.
15/12/2009 at 09:24 valentines day gift ideas says:
According to me this is the best batman game ever made. But this is not the reason that you should buy it. The quality is awesome with these modern gaming age. The game starts off with you escorting the joker back to his home away from home.
15/12/2009 at 19:06 godwin says:
When weighed against the rest of PC gaming and how far it had come, the first game felt rather lacking. My experience with it can be said to be pretty similar to that of Assassin’s Creed. It’s great for a few hours, but It’s just not fun when it eventually becomes a series of repetitive or unengaging tasks for the player to perform with mild variation.