Arkham City has to be one of the most hotly anticipated sequels shown at E3 2011 and we were able to spend some quality time with the game to experience its awesomeness firsthand. To start our tour off, we were shown an exclusive 15 minute gameplay session within a theater at Warner Bros.’ booth and then were allowed to play another 15-20 minutes of gameplay to test out the mechanics for ourselves.
He was just watching a little television…
The theater demo began by showing off the enormity of a small portion of the city as well as the easier traversal system introduced to allow Batman to easily get around the streets of Gotham. The developer actually said that the entire area of the game is about 5 times the size of that from Arkham Asylum. In order to explore this massive city, Batman has both old and new gadgets. Using his grappling hook, now Batman can not only easily scale giant vertical structures but can also perform a technique called Grapple Boosting, which essentially uses the momentum from the grapple to boost Batman through the sky. By coupling this with his ability to hover down with his cape, Batman can essentially travel around the city similarly to that of Just Cause 2.
Next in the demo, Batman walked up to a group of cats on a roof and tagged out to allow Catwoman to take over. As Catwoman, players experience the game in a similar fashion but there are also many differences that make her unique. For instance, when traveling around the city, her movement is a “more intimate” form of travel, as described by the developer, where she uses her whip to connect to buildings, then climbs up them quickly.
Because Catwoman has her own agenda, there are specific story elements and side quests developed just for her. For instance, she can work fragile alliances with some of Gotham’s criminals. In the demo, she had worked a deal with Poison Ivy where Ivy would breach the entrance to a safe provided that Catwoman retrieved a plant for her. After finishing the objective, you then have a choice to either do as you promised and give the plant to Poison Ivy, or destroy the plant.
Perimeter monitor this!
As for other aspects of the gameplay, Catwoman also features modified combat and other techniques. She can crawl on ceilings, as well as enter “thief mode” where she is able to spot items that she can steal from enemies. Showing off both of these skills, the demonstrator snuck around, stealing three key cards necessary to progress through a story portion of the game.
All in all, Batman: Arkham City looks to be an incredible sequel to 2009’s bestseller. Stay tuned to DigitalChumps for our detailed review.