14 DAY TRIAL // The upcoming Batman: Arkham City video game is set to feature not just the famous comic book hero but also many other characters from the franchise, including Catwoman or Robin, who have been modified by developer Rocksteady Studios to fit into the interactive experience.
Batman: Arkham City won't feature just the famous Dark Knight, but also a wide array of enemies, including Dr. Hugo Strange, The Riddler, Mr. Freeze or Two-Face, not to mention extra companions for Batman, like his sidekick, Robin, who will be playable in special Challenge Rooms in the game, as well as Catwoman, who's playable in certain parts of the story.
All these characters have been modified, however, to better fit into the dark and gritty experience delivered by the game, at least according to Rocksteady Game Marketing Director Dax Ginn, who talked about the changes made to such characters, describing the 'Rocksteady take' the studio implemented.
"The ‘Rocksteady take’ is a very good way of putting it because we’re given a lot of creative freedom to define the Arkham verse, as we call it," Ginn said. "That sums up our approach to character design: gritty and nasty, and with a tangible sense of threat in the game world."
Catwoman or Robin, although they look pretty different from their traditional comic book appearances, have been changed with a purpose, the Rocksteady executive revealed.
"Catwoman’s design is driven by the hostile atmosphere in Arkham City and her Catsuit has a military feel – if you look closely then you’ll see a very fine black and grey camouflage pattern, in keeping with her being very difficult to detect in the shadows," Ginn explained.
"Because Robin only appears in the challenge maps, our focus is on taking him in a direction not seen before. To fit in our world then he needs to be hard-hitting and have abilities that are approaching the potency of Batman’s, so he has a bow staff and shield, and he is an explosions specialist, with vision augmentation that allows him to identify explosives in the environment. Robin is a complex character and very different to Batman – it’s not a case that we’ve just reskinned him."
Batman: Arkham City will be out on October 18 in North America, and October 21 in Europe, for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.