Home Gaming Every villain in Batman: Arkham Knight has an ‘ugly side’

Every villain in Batman: Arkham Knight has an ‘ugly side’

3 min read
16

I'LL SAY!

The Batman: Arkham games have been about more than just dressing up in spandex and spanking thugs and leaving them crippled for life by a lunatic with too much money and lingering mental issues. It’s been about applying that train of thought to their bosses as well. Batman may be a tad bit unhinged in the Arkham games, but his foes are even nastier. And that’s all a part of their initial design, which shows off the darker side of this rogues gallery.

“We work in many different areas together and I think the strength of our colleagues at DC Comics in terms of character design has had a major impact on the way we tackle such designs,” Rocksteady Senior Marketing Producer and rather nice guy in person Dax Ginn said to IGN NL.

Our characters are deliberately rather coarse and ugly. For example, the interpretation of Penguin is a gross man. There’s an ugly side to a lot of our characters and I think that’s been a feature of the Arkham series. They are not neat; they all have secrets and hidden agendas, and that makes them such interesting characters. Partnering with DC means that if we have a feeling in the area of gameplay for a character, we can talk to them how to develop such a character – how, in other words, history shows.

That’s a design ethos which lent itself quite well to characters who weren’t even present in the first game, Arkham Asylum. Villains such as the mystery-spewing menace known as the Riddler:

Take the Riddler as an example. Riddler was not even physically in Arkham Asylum, but he had such a presence in the game when we went to him as a character design for Arkham City, it was fascinating to create it visually. If you look at it, you’ll feel like you already know him. The things he does, is reflected in his looks and appearance. It is a technically useful character, he is under the lubrication, always wears glasses and has a hammer and wrench with him. The gameplay that goes with it, also focuses on those things.

Having the opportunity to share a table with DC Comics and have a creative discussion with them, provides a significant increase in the quality of the character design. They have so much experience and such a rich history that the cooperation with them much quality achieved.

As for the Batmobile, a lot has been said about Batman’s use of a decidedly deadlier vehicle. One that uses all manner of lethal and non-lethal ammo to take down the forces of the Arkham Knight. But it’s all part of the plan Ginn said, as the precision nature of the beast allows Batman to use his free-flow combat style in combination with the weapons of that vehicle to minimise damage and save Gotham:

Our goal with the battle mode was to develop a style of fighting that was very influenced by the free flow system, but in the Batmobile.

You know, when you fight with 25 to 30 guests and Batman is in the middle to turn them off one by one. When you are in battle mode, you have the same kind of feeling. You are surrounded by tanks, but you can attack with precision.We have already said quite early that the tanks and flying drones are unmanned. The destruction of Batman therefore comes down to defending his city, which he has sworn to do. So the destruction of Arkham Knight military force within the basic principles of Batman defending Gotham City.

All I can say is that if I had a Batmobile, I’d apply that freeform combat to chasing away car guards.

Last Updated: March 19, 2015

16 Comments

  1. Catwoman has an ugly side? LIES!

    Reply

    • Loftus

      March 19, 2015 at 13:54

      Catch her on a certain week of the month and you’ll find her ugly side real fast!

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        March 19, 2015 at 14:00

        *Throws catnip – it’s super effective

        Reply

        • CuddlesaurusRex

          March 19, 2015 at 14:01

          I dunno man, catnip makes my cat go bat shit crazy.

          Reply

          • Admiral Chief

            March 19, 2015 at 14:31

            Wonder if the Batmobile will be able to shoot bat sh!t

          • CuddlesaurusRex

            March 19, 2015 at 14:38

            A guano cannon?! That is a must have!

        • Loftus

          March 19, 2015 at 14:02

          That might work for the cat side of her, but not the woman side.

          *Throws chocolate covered catnip*

          Reply

          • CuddlesaurusRex

            March 19, 2015 at 14:04

            That sounds like a business opportunity right there.

  2. CuddlesaurusRex

    March 19, 2015 at 13:53

    I really hope this is better than Origins.

    Reply

    • Francois Knoetze

      March 20, 2015 at 09:37

      it will be. Origins wasn’t developed by Rocksteady

      Reply

      • CuddlesaurusRex

        March 20, 2015 at 10:17

        This is true. And I must say, it does look pretty epic so far.

        Reply

  3. Jonah Cash

    March 19, 2015 at 13:57

    I can’t even read this article… I just want the game sooooo bad!!!

    Reply

  4. Ryanza

    March 19, 2015 at 13:59

    I have noticed for awhile now, whenever there is a Witcher article, a Batman article will follow.
    I wondered if the Witcher 3 delay was about being closer to the Batman release. 2 of the biggest games of the year being released close to each other, in the news close to each other, if you see Witcher 3 you will see Batman, if you see Batman you will see Witcher 3.

    Just makes me wonder. More people know about the Witcher than ever before. A lot of people haven’t even played the previous Witcher games but they sure do know about The Witcher 3. CD Projekt RED sure did work their ass off to get to this point.
    Batman has just been a household name since the 60’s.

    Reply

    • Bordon

      March 19, 2015 at 23:53

      WB publishes both that is why 🙂

      Reply

      • Ryanza

        March 20, 2015 at 10:52

        So you telling me that Lazygamer.net choosing to post Witcher 3 and Batman articles close together is because WB is publishing Batman and publishing Witcher 3 in North America. I always knew Lazygamer.net were sell outs, doing the bid of WB.
        Just to understand. After Wither 3 won Most Anticipated Game for 2015 against Batman, again real close, it was WB that decided to delay Witcher 3 because they are publishing Witcher 3 in North America and now releasing the Witcher 3 close to Batman because WB is publishing Batman.

        I wonder what Bandai Namco, who is publishing the Witcher 3 in Europe, had to say.

        Reply

  5. WitWolfy

    March 19, 2015 at 14:13

    Interesting…

    Reply

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