So how did Eidos and WB decide to whet our appetite even more? By showing us another gameplay demo, of course. This time, it was all about showing off Batman's CSI skills, which should come as no surprise (he is the World's Greatest Detective, after all). Get the details after the break, and dust the brand-new screenshots below for fingerprints.
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In the level that Paul Crocker -- lead narrative designer for developer Rocksteady -- took us through, Batman had just escaped from the intensive care facility in Arkham, and he'd hooked up with Oracle via telelink to find out what was going on. He had her disable the defense mechanisms on the Batmobile so he could take out a group of goons trying to beat on it, in order to pry some information out of them. Except that, instead of prying, he actually beats the snot out of everyone and then does some actual detecting. Oddly, just before he got to this, he remarks out loud -- to no one in particular except you, the player -- that there's a supply of explosive gel in the Batmobile's trunk. Thanks, Batsy! He picked up the gel and then did some more detecting.
On to the actual Columbo work: Batman found Commissioner Gordon's pipe nearby, and wondered why he'd left it behind, since it was a gift from his daughter (and former Batgirl) Barbara. Turning on Detective Mode, we saw that Gordon had actually left Batman a trail of pipe tobacco (the Detective Mode HUD will even identify the type of tobacco strain for players ... it was Wild Country, just in case you need to know), so Batman had a Hansel and Gretel way to track him. Batman blazed his own trail inside with the aforementioned explosive gel, which he applied to things in a bat-formationt before detonating it. Nice self-branding, Batman. We get it: You're dark and mysterious, but do you really need to tag?
Once inside, Batman prowled around what appeared to be a records room inside the Arkham mansion (it looked fairly similar to the Silent Knight level). It came complete with bad guys on patrol and a couple of tied-up hostage guards in the middle. As in the previous Silent Knight video, he'd zipline up into the rafters and drop down stealthily as needed to take out the baddies. He can do this via batarang (he'll have access to what looks like several different models in the actual game, ranging from the triple batarang to a remote controlled one), by dropping right down onto them and knocking them out -- or by using explosive gel to plant traps. The enemy AI seems to be fairly intelligent and they're actually suspicious that something is going on. Players will have to work hard to stay out of sight if they want to pick them off one by one.
Our guide took out the guards in about seven minutes or so, stealth all the way, without being spotted by the goons. He switched into Detective Mode fairly often, and, while in it, Batman could hear the heartbeats of the controlling guards below, letting him know who was calm, nervous or panicked. As we've mentioned before, you players can drop into this vision mode at any time, but it's a little hard to navigate with it on. It's basically an X-ray vision view, making it hard to see the edges of walls, walkways and so on. It's best used in small doses. After the room was cleared out, Batman freed the hostages, and this part of the level ended.
Next, our tour guide dropped Bats down into the bowels of Arkham, and it was an open, free-flow combat experience that had nothing to do with looking for clues. He showed us how Batman can string attacks together and fight multiple enemies at once (here's a big hint: get good at blocking really early on). Halfway through the battle, a massive, mutant-looking brute burst through a wall -- that's bad news if Batman happens to get near him. However, players can scramble up his back God of War-style and "drive" him around while throttling his neck. He'll wildly swing his arms, helpfully taking out the bad guys with single swipes. Eventually, Bats subdued the behemoth and continued on his way.
We noticed a lot of nice flourishes during this demo, such as the screeches of bats that echo throughout the level when Batman zips up into hiding and the chattering little wind-up teeth that the Joker has left everywhere. (These serve as a type of "breadcrumb" trail in case players are unsure of where to go next.) Players can also spy the Wayne Enterprises building way off in the distance (see screenshot at the top of this post). It's a nice way of fully immersing players in Batman's environment and the Batman mythology. There also seems to be a healthy amount of variety in the enemy dialog, so you're not bombarded with "Hey, over here!" over and over. Nice stuff.
Detective Mode lets us use those X-ray Spex we desperately wanted at age 12, yet never actually received for Christmas. They're a handy way to check for hooligans around corners and, thanks to what we can only imagine is some sort of dangerous, radioactive technology, can actually see through several feet of rocks, wall, etc. It's oddly similar to the ARI interface that Jaden uses in Heavy Rain, but Batman's been around for some 70-odd years, so we're sure he thought of it first. We imagine they'll be hiding a lot of findables around the levels that you'll only be able to spot while in this mode.
It's clear Eidos and WBIE think they've got a winner on their hands (it's as "close to perfect" as they've ever come, remember?) We're praying it doesn't jump the shark at some point between now and its late August release by including Ace the Bat-Hound or Bat-Mite. Please save us from that fate, Rocksteady.
On to the actual Columbo work: Batman found Commissioner Gordon's pipe nearby, and wondered why he'd left it behind, since it was a gift from his daughter (and former Batgirl) Barbara. Turning on Detective Mode, we saw that Gordon had actually left Batman a trail of pipe tobacco (the Detective Mode HUD will even identify the type of tobacco strain for players ... it was Wild Country, just in case you need to know), so Batman had a Hansel and Gretel way to track him. Batman blazed his own trail inside with the aforementioned explosive gel, which he applied to things in a bat-formationt before detonating it. Nice self-branding, Batman. We get it: You're dark and mysterious, but do you really need to tag?
Once inside, Batman prowled around what appeared to be a records room inside the Arkham mansion (it looked fairly similar to the Silent Knight level). It came complete with bad guys on patrol and a couple of tied-up hostage guards in the middle. As in the previous Silent Knight video, he'd zipline up into the rafters and drop down stealthily as needed to take out the baddies. He can do this via batarang (he'll have access to what looks like several different models in the actual game, ranging from the triple batarang to a remote controlled one), by dropping right down onto them and knocking them out -- or by using explosive gel to plant traps. The enemy AI seems to be fairly intelligent and they're actually suspicious that something is going on. Players will have to work hard to stay out of sight if they want to pick them off one by one.
Our guide took out the guards in about seven minutes or so, stealth all the way, without being spotted by the goons. He switched into Detective Mode fairly often, and, while in it, Batman could hear the heartbeats of the controlling guards below, letting him know who was calm, nervous or panicked. As we've mentioned before, you players can drop into this vision mode at any time, but it's a little hard to navigate with it on. It's basically an X-ray vision view, making it hard to see the edges of walls, walkways and so on. It's best used in small doses. After the room was cleared out, Batman freed the hostages, and this part of the level ended.
Next, our tour guide dropped Bats down into the bowels of Arkham, and it was an open, free-flow combat experience that had nothing to do with looking for clues. He showed us how Batman can string attacks together and fight multiple enemies at once (here's a big hint: get good at blocking really early on). Halfway through the battle, a massive, mutant-looking brute burst through a wall -- that's bad news if Batman happens to get near him. However, players can scramble up his back God of War-style and "drive" him around while throttling his neck. He'll wildly swing his arms, helpfully taking out the bad guys with single swipes. Eventually, Bats subdued the behemoth and continued on his way.
We noticed a lot of nice flourishes during this demo, such as the screeches of bats that echo throughout the level when Batman zips up into hiding and the chattering little wind-up teeth that the Joker has left everywhere. (These serve as a type of "breadcrumb" trail in case players are unsure of where to go next.) Players can also spy the Wayne Enterprises building way off in the distance (see screenshot at the top of this post). It's a nice way of fully immersing players in Batman's environment and the Batman mythology. There also seems to be a healthy amount of variety in the enemy dialog, so you're not bombarded with "Hey, over here!" over and over. Nice stuff.
Detective Mode lets us use those X-ray Spex we desperately wanted at age 12, yet never actually received for Christmas. They're a handy way to check for hooligans around corners and, thanks to what we can only imagine is some sort of dangerous, radioactive technology, can actually see through several feet of rocks, wall, etc. It's oddly similar to the ARI interface that Jaden uses in Heavy Rain, but Batman's been around for some 70-odd years, so we're sure he thought of it first. We imagine they'll be hiding a lot of findables around the levels that you'll only be able to spot while in this mode.
It's clear Eidos and WBIE think they've got a winner on their hands (it's as "close to perfect" as they've ever come, remember?) We're praying it doesn't jump the shark at some point between now and its late August release by including Ace the Bat-Hound or Bat-Mite. Please save us from that fate, Rocksteady.
