The Penguin
The next thing we see is the thug running past the Iceberg Lounge which is a trendy nightclub for Gotham's Elite, owned and run by one Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot aka The Penguin. The Penguin is known to use the nightclub as a front for his illicit dealings, many of the clubs patrons unaware of the dealings happening in the background. Is the Penguin likely to appear in this new game? The nightclub would certainly suggest as such.
Clown Mask
The Clown Mask may at first seem like a reference to The Joker, but it's the next bit directly after that - that interests us as well, the name Sionis above the fairground ride; Sionis is the real name of Gotham gangster Black Mask, full name Roman Sionis who was born to wealthy parents not unlike the Batman himself. Although in the comics Roman wears a Black Mask, (hence the name) it wouldn't be the first time Rock Steady have taken certain liberties with the characters dress, both Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy from the first game didn't appear in there standard comic book fare. The history of both the Sionis and Wayne families have intermixed over the years which led to the Sionis family becoming hostile towards the Waynes, this was later fuelled when Bruce Wayne offered to buy out Roman Sionis's failed family company under the provision that Bruce Wayne be able to install his own board of directors. From there Roman went on to seek revenge against Bruce Wayne by kidnapping members of the Wayne board of directors under the guise of Black Mask, this getting the attention of the Batman at the same time. It wouldn't be to hard a stretch of the imagination to believe that Black Mask was going to show up in this game.
Harley Quinn
Where there is manic Joker laughter, his ever faithful assistant Harley Quinn isn't going to be far behind. Harley Quinn is seen in the trailer tending to the Joker as explosions rock Gotham City. No surprise then that she should be included in this game as she had quite the role to play in the original Arkham Asylum game and is generally a cohort of The Joker where ever he decides to act out his evil and mischievous deeds.
The Joker
Batman's arch rival, The Joker, of course he was going to be in this game; Only all might not be as it seems, he isn't looking to good as his laughs turn briefly to a cough, and what is with the drip he's got in his arm? Looks like blood to us suggesting that The Joker is ill in some way, could this be another reference to a Batman story? In an event that preceded the 'Cataclysm' and 'No Mans Land' events, another major story that happened in the Batman comics was an event known as 'Contagion' which ran in 1996 and detailed the events of a deadly virus set loose on Gotham City. Though, this was loosed by the Order of St. Dumas and not The Joker, it did lead in directly to the 'No Mans Land' story, again, it's not hard to imagine a reworking of this tale woven into the new game.
Of course, all of that is just pure speculation and only what has been shown, it's going to be a while before we learn more from official channels on what this game is going to offer us, but one things for sure, a new Batman game after the success of the first one could be a huge hit. If you aren't familiar with it then you can read our review right here or you can download demos on all major formats to check out the game for yourself.
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. What does it hint to exactly? Well, lets take a look and see...
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?(1)
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(2)
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 URLhttp://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(3)
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.
The Penguin(4)
The next thing we see is the thug running past the Iceberg Lounge which is a trendy nightclub for Gotham's Elite, owned and run by one Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot aka The Penguin. The Penguin is known to use the nightclub as a front for his illicit dealings, many of the clubs patrons unaware of the dealings happening in the background. Is the Penguin likely to appear in this new game? The nightclub would certainly suggest as such.
Clown Mask(5)
The Clown Mask may at first seem like a reference to The Joker, but it’s the next bit directly after that, that interests us as well, the name Sionis above the fairground ride (6); Sionis is the real name of Gotham gangster Black Mask, full name Roman Sionis who was born to wealthy parents not unlike the Batman himself. Although in the comics Roman wears a Black Mask, (hence the name) it wouldn’t be the first time Rock Steady have taken certain liberties with the characters dress, both Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy from the first game didn’t appear in there standard comic book fare. The history of both the Sionis and Wayne families have intermixed over the years which led to the Sionis family becoming hostile towards the Waynes, this was later fuelled when Bruce Wayne offered to buy out Roman Sionis’s failed family company under the provision that Bruce Wayne be able to install his own board of directors. From there Roman went on to seek revenge against Bruce Wayne by kidnapping members of the Wayne board of directors under the guise of Black Mask, this getting the attention of the Batman at the same time. It wouldn’t be to hard a stretch of the imagination to believe that Black Mask was going to show up in this game.
Harley Quinn(7)
Where there is manic Joker laughter, his ever faithful assistant isn’t going to be far behind; Harley Quinn is seen in the trailer tending to the Joker as explosions rock Gotham City. No surprise then that she should be included in this game as she had quite the role to play in the original game and is a general cohort of The Joker.
The Joker(8)
Batman’s arch rival, The Joker, of course he was going to be in this game; Only all might not be as it seems, he isn’t looking to good as his laughs turn briefly to a cough, and what is with the drip he’s got in his arm? Looks like blood to us suggesting that The Joker is ill in some way, could this be another reference to a Batman story? In an event that preceded the 'Cataclysm' and 'No Mans Land' events, another major story that happened in the Batman comics was an event known as 'Contagion' which ran in 1996 and detailed the events of a deadly virus set loose on Gotham City. Though, this was loosed by the Order of St. Dumas and not The Joker, it did lead in directly to the 'No Mans Land' story, again, it’s not hard to imagine a reworking of this tale woven into the new game.
Of course, all of that is just pure speculation and only what has been shown, it’s going to be a while before we learn more from official channels on what this game is going to offer us, but one things for sure, a new Batman game after the success of the first one could be a huge hit. If you aren’t familiar with it then you can read our review right here or you can download demos on all major formats to check out the game for yourself.
