CNN Examines The Buzz Building For Batman
CNN takes a look at Batman: Arkham Asylum and why the game seems to be getting better, different buzz than past Batman titles.
To put it simply, it’s because the game promises to take the best bits of what you love about the Caped Crusader and weave them into a single experience.
“This is the Batman movie I would have liked to have written,” said Paul Dini, the Emmy-winning TV writer who penned Batman: Arkham Asylum. “This is him with all the good stuff.”
Dini started from a clean slate in writing the plot, not connecting it to any existing storyline. It’s a story Dini is sure gamers will like.
“Nobody loves a good Batman story more than I do,” he said.
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Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)
@cutmaclass:
If that were the case, why was Dark Knight cancelled, and this one still in the pipelines? Nolan's films are fun, but stealthy gameplay, detective work, and gadgets make a better Batman game than whatever action-fest they had planned for Dark Knight.
May be the only good Batman game!
Aaron Petrey
@misc.insanity: Because they average person definitely knows who Paul Dini is. This game isn't a nerd-exclusive thing; it's a media hype machine. A hype machine that came into existence thanks to how well Nolan's films did commercially and otherwise.
cutmaclass
@Kobun: I'd agree with you on this one. It was really good for being based on the cartoon, and it wins for style, but the old Sunsoft one was damned fun and had very little to do with the movie.
Also, both were goddam HARD.
Jennacide
@misc.insanity: Exactly right. Nolan's films were decent (though the handling of Ra's Al Ghul was bad.), but it's the strong connection to the classic animated series.
Jennacide
@excel_excel: Actually I think it has been confirmed that penguin/Mr. Cobblepot will be in the third movie.
@SeemantiCursor: Want to see Riddler, as the guy brought in to figure out who Batman is for the cops, Catwoman as the love interest, and The Ventriloquist as the new head of the mob to show just how desperate they've gotten. Ventriloquist would be a pretty good challenge for whoever plays the role.
Jogfrog
Paul Fucking Dini!!!
rich8606
This looks to be like the definitive Batman game! Finally! I'll be pre-ordering Bat Gear Solid: Bat Eater soon!!!!
The game looks iffy. The combat looks slow stiff and repetitive. And the other bits involving stealth seem shallow, formulaic and automated.
The story also seems okay but more like an overlong episode of the old animated series.
billysan
Paul Dini is great, the story won't disappoint. I just have to see more on the "sneaking" aspects. That will make or break the game.
@misc.insanity: THIS.
Not too long ago I bought the complete sets of Batman:TAS and Superman:TAS and fell in love with the Timm-Diniverse all over again. Those two did so much for Batman that it isn't even funny. To me, their Batman is the definitive Batman, and I'd say it is for a lot of other people as well.
Getting Paul Dini behind a Batman game based on the Timm-Dini Batman with the majority of the old cast intact warrants me buying it. I don't care if the gameplay ends up sucking either, because I have faith that I'm going to get a good story out of the man who wrote Heart of Ice.
unruly
@excel_excel:
One of my friends was a little b**ch about this the other one loved it. I myself find his Joker voice amazing and am relieved he is working on him in this game.
HolySmokesIveBeenBanned
@excel_excel: I thought they had the funeral for Dent in The Dark Knight to maintain his reputation. That he didn't actually die, and we can presume he was being sent to Arkham. They just pretended he was dead to preserve the idea of someone other than Batman being the hope for justice in Gotham along, with blaming Batman for the deaths Two Face caused. Much like how they faked Gordon's death.
Batman was nowhere near dead despite falling from the same height, so I get the feeling that Dent was simply knocked out.
It doesn't make much sense for Two Face to die with A) the intense grudge he now has against Batman for coming to his rescue rather than Rachel's - not to mention should he find out there was some connection between Batman and Rachel (though never Bruce, obviously) and B) the Joker's 'Ace in the hole' speech set Two Face up as being far too important to the overall dynamic of the city, as he should be and already was (as Dent).
Bergerac
@cutmaclass:
Because (judging by the previews and especially the trailers) the game doesn't have enough merits of its own? Sure, Nolan's movies helped (and were certainly magnificent in themselves), but that's neither here nor there. Great Batman movies do not ensure great Batman games.
@Placentasaurus: Agreed. I'm a latecomer to Batman comics having started burning through them a couple of years ago, but Arkham Asylum just isn't interesting to me. It's reads like a NIN insert to me.
@oldboy313: It's a nice platformer but plays really slow and is based far too heavily on existing episodes for it to seem fresh. The graphics nailed the look from the show, but I just didn't find it as fun as the Sunsoft NES game.
Ooh CNN. Haven't tuned in to them since their coverage of Georgia.
†FunkBrothaDeeâ€
@ReconToaster.: dead space with M&KB was excellent. for brawlers like this, though, i usually go with a controller.
but for anything that involves aiming - i go back to the trusty mouse. ;)
curly haired boy
@Nightshift Nurse:
You see I don't know about this. I would have called the joker dull and ridiculous before TDK, not being a huge fan of Batman in general (and not helped in that regard by the turgid older films).
I like to hope that its possible to have the same sort of luck with penguin or riddler (or any other baddie) as we did with the joker.
I agree with this 100%. Nolan has taken the batman films in a much more realistic direction and showing the origins, or at the very least, baseline motivations, for all the villans. Clayface, Poison Ivy, and Bane are too much, I think. Black Mask would be good, as he never wanted Batman, he wanted Bruce Wayne dead. Also, The Riddler, The Penguin (weirdo deformed arms dealer, what?!), and Catwoman would be great choices for the third film. We'll just have to all wait and see.
SeemantiCursor
@misc.insanity: You hit the nail on the head. All of these things plus, what looks to be solid, gameplay are key reasons to be excited about Arkham Asylum.
@excel_excel:
He's talking about joel schumacher, the guy who was involved in making the film
aquajolt52
@Alex_Mexico:
After that Halle Berry debacle, don't expect one for a very, VERY long time.
Squirrelbot3000
@cutmaclass: Dude. You know why people are so excited for this game? Paul Dini. Kevin Conroy. Mark Hamill. Nolan's films are good, but he doesn't have a thing to do with why I'm getting this.
I'm highly skeptical about this game's quality.
Do people wanna know why this game's so popular? Really? Because it's all thanks to Nolan's films. People realized Batman could be good again. Nolan's films are the only reason this game got a second-look.
cutmaclass
@-MasterDex-:
Yeah, I'm also considering FINALLY forcing myself to purchase an Xbox gamepad for my controller for this particular title. It just doesn't look like it's made with Mouse&keyboard in mind.
Then again, I thought that about Deadspace as well, and it felt just fine...
ReconToaster.
the graphics and the combat sequences look amazing. I hope the story is good as well.
@Nightshift Nurse: I cant believe no one has mentioned Catwoman.
I would love to see Nolan's version of a gritty and realistic Catwoman.
After all, Nolan might have hinted at it in Batman Begins when Morgan Freeman gives Bruce the new suit and says it wont rip against dogs but not cats.
@excel_excel: I don't know if the characters need necessarily be (overly) dark. But the new films are (by super-hero standards at least) fairly grounded.
No one thus far has had any genuine "super-powers" and even the over the top mad science has been kept to a minimum.
I think even a villain like Clayface would prove problematic as his type of augmentation might be too stark of a contrast to the more realistic presentation of Scarecrow and The Joker as more identifiably human psychotics with drugs, knives, or guns.
@HolySmokesIveBeenBanned: As long as we can edit our own psts, then I don't mind any errors on Kotaku's part.
Really looking forward to the game. Hopefully the PC version will be up to snuff and I can enjoy it fully.
-MasterDex-
@excel_excel: The comic has great art, but the story is honestly pretty bad. It's barely there, and what is there is incredibly pretentious. But the art is AMAZING.
@Massiah: This is it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkham_Asylum:_A_Serious_House_on_Serious_Earth#Critical_reaction_and_legacy
It's a great read and hopefully dini has payed it's arkham some homage.
-MasterDex-
@rogue32: I read that as gay oldman... I know, I know, but it sounded funny in my head.
Cratilo
@Nightshift Nurse: Clayface I think would be a great one because of how dark that character was. Oh god....Riddler....not Jim Carrey's finest hour
@misc.insanity:
Bleh, I try to embed a video and the comment system goes all screwy on me. Sorry folks.
@excel_excel: I dunno, Poison Ivy seems a little too cartoonish to be a good fit for the new Batman films.
Of course I've never followed the comics closely, so I wouldn't even begin to know who to suggest as a villain.
And other already used classics like Penguin or The Riddler seem a touch too dull or ridiculous.
@misc.insanity:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNaDZIrxh-0
@misc.insanity:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNaDZIrxh-0
@misc.insanity: Will do cheers!
@HolySmokesIveBeenBanned: Technically he did but...actually wait they had a funeral didn't they? fuck!
@excel_excel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNaDZIrxh-0
@excel_He means Joel Schumacher :) The director lol. He did publically apologise for batman and robin though. I can't see why people complained. Batman was everywhere at that point. The animated series for me at least left me not really needing another movie.excel:
persocom
@excel_excel:
Did(n't) he die?
(Two Face)
HolySmokesIveBeenBanned
@(Zombie) Kermad: I'd like to see Volition do an open world Batman.
@excel_excel: Arkham Asylum is by far my favorite Batman comic (except for perhaps Year One). You and Massiah are in for a real treat. Just make sure you get the anniversary edition with the original script included, because there's no way that you'll catch all of the references and symbolism in the book.
@misc.insanity: I presume you mean shca...swha....Arnold, I presume you mean Arnold.
ICE TO SEE YOU
@excel_excel:
I'd like to see Nolan's take on Mr. Freeze. He was a really great character in TAS, ad plus, he needs to be redeemed after what Schumacher did to him.
The fact that CNN happens to be a part of Time Warner is just one of those weird coincidences...
endaround
@Massiah: Good point actually I guess I was so mesmirised by the whole transformation thing...he was so awesome!
Bane and Ivy would work really good. I'd like to see Clayface as well
@excel_excel: I'm more stoked about Kevin Conroy as Bats, especially after Christian Bale's impression of talking gravel in The Dark Knight.
@EnigmaNemesis: Wuuuuur Aaarggh. Grrrrrhuuurrrrr.
Ahem. I mean thanks for posting this. Good stuff.
@excel_excel: I don't think that we'd get the same performance from Aaron in a 3rd movie. Two Face would be a very 1d character (in terms of motivations, etc.), since his transformation was complete in TDK.
I think that Bane & Poison Ivy would fit pretty well into CN's vision of the IP.
@excel_excel: It appears to take them a bit to edt their mess-ups.
HolySmokesIveBeenBanned
@EnigmaNemesis: Don't you remember how long t took some days! A whole hour!
@EnigmaNemesis: Lol you win.
@excel_excel: That is unique. Interesting, I'll keep this on my radar.
@excel_excel:
I don't really thnk it takes that long to be honest.
@rogue32: I hope they do it with Two Face. Aaron Eckhart's protrayal is simply too fantastic to leave behind.
@HolySmokesIveBeenBanned: It takes a whle
@oldboy313:
You win this time.
HolySmokesIveBeenBanned
@EnigmaNemesis:
I do wondr exactly how long Kotaku takes to write an article... 5...6 minutes tops?
HolySmokesIveBeenBanned
No way it can beat this...
@Massiah: Agreed, the TAS voices are a huge turn on towards this game.
Atomsk88
@silasthemariner:
Your assumptions are spot on Sherlock!
HolySmokesIveBeenBanned
on a side note - a third batman film was confirmed by gary oldman at SDCC.
rogue32
@excel_excel:
I see what you did thre!
@excel_excel: I assume "wrte" was intentional.
silasthemariner
@excel_excel:
:D
HolySmokesIveBeenBanned
@HolySmokesIveBeenBanned: dude, not cool. It takes time for the staff to wrte quality stuff
I'll believe its good when I play it. I tried the demo at Gamestop and the fighting seemed umm...a bit repetitive and simple. Still, I've got my fingers crossed that the demo isn't indicative of the whole experience.
SPELLING FAIL.
In the title nonetheless!
HolySmokesIveBeenBanned
@Massiah: Mark Hamill as the Joker pretty much sealed the deal for me.
@excel_excel: Haven't heard about the comic. I am interested in that now.
People get very bonded to characters in media, especially when those characters have movies. That's why movie-games used to sound intriguing, but then we realized they always suck.
An independent Batman game gives us the connection to a movie character we've bonded with, but separates away from the "movie game" stigma.
vwllss.
It definitely looks like a quality product. I expect it to get average reviews, though. The single selling point, for me, is Harley Quinn. Also, the animated series voices = win.
A licensed game not tied to a film usually means it's at least half decent. I have high hopes for this.
"This is him with all the good stuff."
And hopefully less of what is in the vid above!
Preordering this soon. Can't wait for it! must check out the Arkham Asylum comic too, I've heard good things about it.
I was a bit worried following that rumour about the reviews from Eidos but I'm hoping for what looks to be a great love letter to batman fans in videogame form
Next on the list should be an open world Batman. But not from Pandemic, because they suck at open world now.
IM NOT WEARING HOCKEY PADS!!! can't wait for this game!