VIDEO GAMES: Sefton Hill Reflects On BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY

VIDEO GAMES: Sefton Hill Reflects On BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY

Rocksteady's Game Director Sefton Hill sat down to look back on their release of Batman: Arkham City where he talked about the shocker ending and addressed whether or not the game is the middle act of a franchise.

By WaylonJones - Feb 09, 2012 07:02 AM EST
Filed Under: Video Games


Batman: Akrham City is still riding high after being released this past Fall and Game Director over at Rocksteady Sefton Hill sat down with CVG to look back on the roller coaster ride it was to make and distribute the game. Hill was asked if one of the pressures was to make the game multiplayer, "We did look at multiplayer early on and we looked at what it could actually bring to the table. We tried some ideas out but it always felt like it was just there as a requirement. If we did multiplayer then we wouldn't have been able to deliver the quality of game that people wanted - that we wanted. We would end up delivering two watered down products," said Hill. He also said that Warner Brothers was really good about not forcing them to do multiplayer in a market where multiplayer games rule.

One of the games more shocking twists was the ending revolving around The Joker. Hill said early on they knew how the game would end with SPOILERThe Joker dying, and that they would start the game off with him being sick. They also hit on the idea of The Joke infecting Batman early on as well saying, "we wanted the two of them having this kind of shared goal, but with diametrically opposed world views. We felt that gave a lot of opportunity to interact in interesting ways." Surprisingly enough DC was okay with them axing The Joker with Hill saying "It was never a case of them saying: 'you can't kill him,' it was more about whether we were only killing him for shock value." A stipulation on him dying though was it had to be his own downfall with it being clear that Batman did not kill him.

One of the more intriguing things from the sit down was when Hill was asked if Arkham City was the middle act of a larger franchise. As you remember last year Video Game Awards when accepting the award for Character of the Year The Joker was holding a script for Batman: Arkham World. Rocksteady quickly put the rumor to rest after sites ran with the info as it being a tease for the next game. When addressing the question of Arkham City being a middle act Hill didn't say much, but didn't didn't close the door on it either saying, "Er... Could be. It depends..."

For the rest of the interview where Hill talks about possible secrets that might not have been found yet in the game click HERE

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WaylonJones
Member Since 8/11/2010
Disney World addict, comic book fan & Film fanatic. I've written some things you might have read...probably not though.
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PsyGuy
PsyGuy - 2/9/2012, 7:54 AM
Awesome I hope they make a third and it could totally be online multiplayer without being "watered down".
CapedCrusader
CapedCrusader - 2/9/2012, 8:15 AM
I'd love to see a game with co-op, so we could get a Batman & Robin/Nightwing sort of deal.
TheGreenRanger
TheGreenRanger - 2/9/2012, 8:21 AM
Honestly, I hated AC. I took it back after I beat it. There was no distinguishing where you were in the city. Yeah the fighting style was cool, but ok so what? Give me something better!
ronnie42
ronnie42 - 2/9/2012, 8:25 AM
wtf killing the joker is how to kill a franchise.
Tainted87
Tainted87 - 2/9/2012, 8:25 AM
PsyBoy I wish I could delete your comment. Just playing, sort of.

I admit the game is extremely repetitive, but addicting. I suppose it could work well as an MMO, but you couldn't play as Batman. Also, what about the people who can't afford the connection, subscription, etc for an MMO.

Knights of the Old Republic for example. Fantastic game, completely earned its 2003 Game of the Year award, and it was in fact the first Xbox game I had ever played. It's second game, The Sith Lords, was given to another developer who may have enhanced the gameplay, but couldn't quite make the deadline. There's so much cut content sprinkled throughout the game and your party up and leaves you without explanation... had it been finished, it could have surpassed KOTOR.

Then 2011 comes around with "The Old Republic". This game is set 500 years after the events of The Sith Lords - it screams REBOOT. The established plot (story is more important than anything else, even the gameplay in this series) had left you with the mystery of your characters' fate from KOTOR and TSL something which only goes partially explained in the new game, which by the way (my point of all this) is an MMO. Critics defend it by saying the new setting is based off of the consequences of the previous games, but that's ambiguous at best.

I don't have the connection speed or the specs required to play that game, and so I'm missing out completely, but moral of the story IS....

We were robbed of a third game.
---

Arkham City alluded to a continuation with Hush. One problem with this (at least, going by the comics) is that Hush does not know Batman is Bruce Wayne, while Batman knows that Hush is Tommy Elliot. Hush has performed some dramatic plastic surgery on his face to make himself look like Bruce Wayne, albeit with a lot of patchwork that I guess we're supposed to assume will be given another makeover once he's left Arkham City. He also has operated on his vocal chords to try and match Wayne's voice (he's voiced by a raspy Kevin Conroy).



I suppose they wouldn't do a complete adaption of "Hush" anyway, so it'll be interesting to see what happens when Hush goes after the Wayne empire and eventually goes masquerading as Batman...
chaos91
chaos91 - 2/9/2012, 8:41 AM
i loved this game. i think they should do gotham city or something like that and follow on with hush. or maybe because clayface fell into the lazzurs pit after pretending to be joker all that time a split personaltiy thing could spawn. a joker persona with clayface powers could be produced, they did that in batman tas where robin finds a girl with some industructable guy following her and both of them turn out to be clayface. but then i suppose that could be shit if not handled well. either way im happy if they end on this game, but be batshit crazy happy if they do another
tomasocelot
tomasocelot - 2/9/2012, 8:54 AM
SPOILER DONT READ IF YOU DONT WANT TO KNOW :



joker didnt die. he leaves batman a voice mail at the end of the credits.
hoodedjester
hoodedjester - 2/9/2012, 9:02 AM
@ tomasocelot - um that voicemail was sent earlier in the game. You just happen to get it at the end of the game.

Arkham City is a fantastic game - playing it thru for my 3rd time. Beating the crap out of penguin and joker's thugs brings a smile to my face every time. I would love to see them make another Batman game and I would hate to see multiplayer. It's over done.
Boogie138
Boogie138 - 2/9/2012, 9:10 AM
fun game. wish all comic based games had so much love put into them. How can the batman games create a fun game that properly utilizes that character's world, but almost every comicbook movie game is sluggish, or poorly planed out, or a complete waste of time.

we need more film adaptaions to not feel like a cash in (even tho it is) and not have me feel like i'd rather be passing taco bell
hoodedjester
hoodedjester - 2/9/2012, 9:13 AM
@ Boogie138 - whole problem with movie adaptions is they are rushed. Arkham games work so well because they explore the richness of the comics and I prefer that over movie adaptions.

That and Rocksteady took their time and I would presume many of the staff who laboured on this game love and respect the character and his history. Wanna make a good game - take the time to do it right and give the fans a comic they can play.
Kurosaki
Kurosaki - 2/9/2012, 9:14 AM
I thought the game was solid. Not enough content for a gamer such as myself but I'm sure the next one will deliver even more. There is no question if they'll make another one or not. Of that I'm certain. The Joker is still alive!
WonderMoose
WonderMoose - 2/9/2012, 9:42 AM
SPOILER:

Did you guys notice how Batman barely reacts when Joker kills Talia but he can't even speak he's so affected by Joker's death? And then he leaves Talia's body in the ruined theater while he carries out the Joker's body. We've all suspected it but now we know. Batman is gay...just not for Robin.
Sanderman
Sanderman - 2/9/2012, 9:46 AM
A Gotham city one would be so awesome! Plenty of villians left that can take the mantle over joker. Fingers crossed
Tainted87
Tainted87 - 2/9/2012, 9:55 AM
@WonderMoose
Did you listen to any of Joker's voicemails?
At the very least then, watch this:
StephenJ
StephenJ - 2/9/2012, 10:02 AM
Make an Arkham city dlc for the hush story please. And include a campaign for the downloadable characters that people purchased
StephenJ
StephenJ - 2/9/2012, 10:04 AM
Hell throw in more villains too. Ill pay 20 bucks for a legit dlc. No more BS map packs!
SuperDan89
SuperDan89 - 2/9/2012, 11:09 AM
Of course its not the end, with 6 million copies shipped this is a big money maker for Rocksteady/WB Interactive Entertainment, thanks to AC it has boosted their revenues.

Plus remember Azrael's Prophecy?
batmanrises
batmanrises - 2/9/2012, 11:52 AM
An open world Gotham City game is the next logical step. I love what they've been doing with this series. And yes, a co-op mode would be killer.
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 2/9/2012, 12:07 PM
Did everyone forget about Harley's positive pregnancy test? i would think that would be a huge plot point for the next one.
soberchimera
soberchimera - 2/9/2012, 12:40 PM
Seems like a bit of a jump to call the third game Arkham World, they should go in order.
ARKHAM COUNTY
ARKHAM STATE
ARKHAM NATION
ARKHAM WORLD
spectrecls07
spectrecls07 - 2/9/2012, 1:22 PM
ive never heard of this game. is it on comodore?
13echo
13echo - 2/9/2012, 1:29 PM
Lazarus pit can bring anybody back to life....
TangerineAlfred
TangerineAlfred - 2/9/2012, 1:54 PM
LMFAO @ spectrecls07

Well played, my dear boy.
BatmanFTW
BatmanFTW - 2/9/2012, 2:00 PM
I think an Arkham "World" would be pretty cool, where the villains have all escaped and have taken over key global cities and Batman and friends has to go and take em down.
drfate
drfate - 2/9/2012, 2:48 PM
bring on Arkham Archipeligo! oh yeah, and Arkham County. how about Arkham Hell? They could explore more mystic aspects of Batman's world: Zatanna, The Demon Etrigan, Manbat, etc.
j1216
j1216 - 2/9/2012, 4:16 PM
hope they make a 3rd one they are the best games
Grady
Grady - 2/9/2012, 5:35 PM
I just wish Rocksteady would make a Superman game.
AUSSYACE
AUSSYACE - 2/10/2012, 3:35 AM
A third game is inevitable...
That's NOT Joker DEAD at the end you fools...
It's a clayface clone...
Boogie138
Boogie138 - 2/13/2012, 1:47 PM
@hoodedjester: tru dat

only movie tie in that i really remember being effctive was enter the matrix. game itself nothing too special, but story and the thought that went into it to really tie the game to the first film and the upcomming sequel was great

love or hate the series (or sequels) i really wish someone expanded that trend to change the nature of game tie-ins.
no one took the conecpt further or improved on it.

games becomming part of the mythos and treated as important canon is a great concept, and as a film fan, comic fan and gamer i do wish we had better cross pollinating between forms of media
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