Summary - Official XBox Magazine(UK) Cover Story

Here is an exerpt from the cover story about Batman: Arkham Knight in the latest Official XBox Magazine(UK). Much of the info in the mag is what we already know, but it's good to know the OXM team's own impressions about the demo shown to them.

- From this opening reveal, it’s a near seamless transition from CG cinematic to gameplay.

- We can’t help but ogle the way the rain patters off Batman’s cape as he glides, or how the city lights twinkling through the rain bounce from the puddles collecting on the slickened streets.

- The act of getting around the city seems more effortless than before, thanks to Batman’s new suit and superior gadgets.

- Gotham City --  looks more vibrant and alive. It does look like a real city this time, and not a smaller, closed-off version of one that’s been left to rot. Gotham proper, the main setting for Arkham Knight, is a far more built-up and densely populated area than Arkham City.

- Once you’re fully into combat, things will feel familiar, but there are a few new systems being introduced to ensure that the classic Rocksteady combat still feels fresh. for example, when you’re countering, you can push the thumb stick in the direction of the thug attacking you, and Batman will throw him, rewarding you with double damage. You can also pick up and smash your victims into other enemies – if you’re fast enough.

- The Batmobile -- It’s a beast of a thing, looking a bit like a cross between the Tumbler of the Christopher Nolan Dark Knightfilms and the more classic-looking Batmobile models of old. The car itself can smash through pretty much any obstacle or material – from stone and steel to street lamps. It’s clear the team have spent a fair amount of time and effort on getting every aspect of the Batmobile just so, from the squeal of the tyres to the crack and burst of nitrous flames from the exhaust every time you use the car’s rechargable boost to accelerate. It’s also invulnerable to machinegun fire.

- While you’re inside the vehicle, there’s no world mini-map – a deliberate design choice, we’re told, as Rocksteady wants you to be paying attention to what’s going on around you, rather than using a map display to navigate. “We’ve done a lot of work to ensure that the information for the objectives is within the city,” Hill reassures us. You can, however, set waypoints, and tyre tracks will periodically appear on the ground to highlight the way ahead.

- Hill claims the game has been designed so that there wouldn’t be just one main storyline and a lot of optional side objectives. “The city is full of all these different, co-ordinated attacks by the various supervillains,” he says. “They’re all designed to push Batman to his limit. We wanted it to feel like there isn’t one key main path and [then] all these side missions; all of these different components and attacks by the supervillains have their own really interesting story that you can follow.”

- The developer isn’t talking about any other villains or characters at the moment, but it does concede that certain storylines begun or teased in Arkham City– such as hush’s ‘Identity Theft’ sidemissions or Azrael’s mysterious prophecy that “gotham will burn” – will likely be further explored and concluded in Arkham Knight.

- Barbara Gordon -- She’s just as feisty and razor-sharp as you’d expect her to be. There are some brief references to The Killing Joke during Babs and Bats’ back and forth.

- The Arkham Knight -- A figure stalks into view. He’s wearing a kind of robotic Batman-like cowl that covers his entire face, and there’s a stylised ‘A’ symbol emblazoned on his heavily armoured chest. There are shades of Prometheus and Wrath about him, even a touch of Jason Todd’s Red hood in the pseudo military get-up he wears.