In a none to surprising turn of events 2009's Batman: Arkham Asylum from Rock Steady games is getting a sequel, so far it's only been announced, but, they've given us a tasty little trailer over which to salivate over.
The trailer starts off with an Uncle Sam poster in a bill board which is torn away before we continue onto the same place as the last game ended, Arkham Asylum; we pan away from the gates to the sound of police sirens and what sounds like rioting and our suspicions are quickly confirmed as we see a Gotham City besieged by rioting citizens attacking each other on the streets, being thrown from windows, and cars burning in the street. We track one of the rioters round the corner who runs past the Iceberg lounge before finding ourselves in a Fun House, not before seeing some more Uncle Sam posters on the walls. Upon entering the Fun House we're confronted by a garish over sized clown mask on a chain before our eyes are diverted by a ride with the name Sionis above it. Unmistakable manic laughter starts in the background as we are raised up to another level in the Fun House where we catch the silhouette of Harley Quinn bending over to peck The Joker on the cheek. She walks off leaving the camera to pan round where we see The Joker laughing manically in a chair; a blood drip attached to his arm as the laughing turns to a deathly cough before finally a smug grin settles across his face as he watches Gotham burn through the window of the Fun House.
OK – So to disregard the obvious Joker & Harley Quinn connection to the new game what else do we see here?
Uncle Sam?
At the very start of the trailer as seen above we see a torn Uncle Sam poster attached to a billboard as the trailer buffers, but is it? The more observant amongst you will notice that the poster reads "We want you" rather than Uncle Sam's "I want you" slogan. Closer inspection reveals that the his left hand is not only holding a gun but it is appears to be red and scarred as well; Uncle Sam's face has been torn away so no details can be seen there and there also appears to be blood on his hat. This seems like a very real reference to Two Face appearing in the game.
Arkham Asylum
The first thing that is apparent is that Arkham Asylum is located within the Gotham City limits and no longer on an island as in the first game. This is backed up by the official games website URL http://www.arkhamhasmoved.com, so we can guess that after the events of the first game the Authorities saw fit to move it for some reason. Hard to guess why as it wasn't destroyed or damaged in any major way, but in comic book lore it's been rebuilt several times for different reasons so maybe this is something they've borrowed from there.
Rioting
The rioting Gotham isn't unlike a scenario also seen in the comics, back in 1998 Gotham City was hit by a massive earthquake as seen in the 'Cataclysm' story. This eventually left the US Government with no choice but to cut Gotham City off from the rest of the United States by blowing up the bridges which connected it to the main land. Gotham City was then declared a 'No Mans Land' (the title of 1999's year long story arc detailing these events). Just before the bridges were blown all the inmates from Arkham Asylum were set free by the administrator who saw it best to release them rather than watch them all starve or beat each to death while still in confinement.
