Batman: Arkham Asylum creator focused on quality over quantity, hasn't played BioShock

by Ben Gilbert on Oct 19th 2009 8:00PM

In a lengthy post-mortem with Gamasutra this week, Rocksteady Studios creative director Sefton Hill spoke his mind on a mess of topics regarding this summer's surprise hit, Batman: Arkham Asylum. "There are too many games out there that deliver lots of average content," Hill said when asked about the relative "tightness" of Batman in comparison with other games. Personal inspiration for the game's design came from places like Zelda and Metroid, two game series he's been a fan of "for years," as well as Silicon Knights' Eternal Darkness. And though Arkham's audio logs and "environment as a character" motif hearken back to 2007's BioShock, Hill claimed he's never played it. "It's on my list of games to get back into ... I can't say for me that was a big direct influence."

Truth be told, we're just scratching the surface of Gamasutra's thorough dissection of Batman -- a game we loved with all of our jaded, rancorous hearts -- so do yourself a favor and stroll through the entire five pages. Call it an afternoon treat! You deserve it, dearest Joystiq reader.

Batman: Arkham Asylum

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Tags: arkham-asylum, batman, batman-arkham-asylum, bioshock, eternal-darkness, gamasutra, metroid, Microsoft, pc, post-mortem, rocksteady, rocksteady-studios, sefton-hill, Xbox-360, zelda

Reader Comments (80)

Batman AA and Bioshock are some of the best games I've played.... of all time. OF 'ALL TIME.

This stuff needs to stop.

/hypocritical humor

your a jackass

Only three words in your post, and you still botched the grammar.

Your. Belonging to you. You possess this.
You're. You are. This describes a person.

They're different! Learn to speak english!

I'm sorry that you don't agree with me HUPEXTREME!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (sorry, that happens every time I type "EXTREME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"). Would you like to settle this over a grammar duel?

I win.

Lol, Black Mage, it would of been hysterical if you did the last "You're" spelt as "Your".
Hypocrisy for the win.

Das Boot @ Oct 18th 2009 11:02PM

YO BALLOON BOY, IM REALLY HAPPY FO YOU AND IMMA LET YOU FINISH, BUT ANNE FRANK HAD ONE OF THE BEST ATTIC HIDING SPOTS OF ALL TIME.

OF ALL TIME.

@ CheeziePotato

Yeah, that was part of teh joke.

Yo Batman

You're a good game and imma let you finish, but Bioshock is the greatests game OF ALL TIME! OF ALL TIME!!

Sidenote: I actually believe the above statement is true. ...Well probably a tie for greatest with OMF2097 and HL2.

Actually, batman Arkham Asylum is one of my best games of all time. And that's surprising to mo.

@CheeziePotato

Already read that one somewhere else, sorry.

Ah right you are, i'm just doing the Obama people. Besides me fail English, so me no speaka very well or right very well.

Saw this myself earlier today too, good read! Gotta love Batman AA.

If only they'd put time into testing the controls. Why would you make an analog button with a long range of motion a quick tap button? Or even better, I can guarantee your game isn't going to be as good as it could if you don't allow for control remapping. For the life of me, I can't understand why that isn't a standard option, as it makes ABSOLUTELY NO DIFFERENCE to the console which button you pressed. Don't get me wrong, the combat is really fun, but little things like a wildly swinging camera, mediocre aiming ability, and the aforementioned stupid quick batarang/batclaw controls (seemingly obvious problems to anyone who plays the game) leaves me baffled.

Sefton Hill did a remarkable job on Arkham Asylum. I hope they build on that title in the future. It's easily one of my favorite games this year, next to Brutal Legend and Uncharted 2. He needs to pick up a copy of Bioshock, though. It should be cheap now on any platform, it's fun, and has a great story. Hope Bioshock 2 is just as good, if not better than the first.

i didn't play BioShock either. i made it about 15 minutes into the demo and lost interest. just wasn't my thing.

It certainly isn't for everyone. It look me a couple of years to get into. I played the demo twice and had no interest in playing the full game until I played it at a buddy's house one night. I was visiting him out of town and he was working a double shift, which gave me plenty of time to brush up on game I had been missing out on. (He has an extensive collection. I, admittedly, only own a couple of games.) After an our of playing through, killing big daddies and listening to audio logs, I got hooked. Didn't put it down until I beat the game. That's a problem I have with videogames, unfortunately: When I find one I like, I don't put it down until I beat it, hence why I don't own many.

Err... *hour. Where's the editing feature on this site?

I beat the game twice so i could get the bad and good ending and I didn't care for it at all really. Everyone raved about how it was so immersive and the next step in emergent gameplay as well as furthering games as art. But to me it felt more like art trying to be a game and failing. The atmosphere and story was wonderful but the gameplay was completely the opposite of entertaining.

Totally agree with you, Wayne. I was surprised at how shallow the game was. I was expecting it to be similar to System Shock 2.

Visually, I thought Bioshock was fantastic, and the plasmids worked great, but the instant respawn and my ammo conserving neurosis made it slightly less appealing. Still a great game, though.

Wow. We should start a support group or something because I really thought i was the only person in videogaming world that didn't find Bioshock to be that good of a game. The demo got me hooked, but the actual game just didn't do it for me. Everything about the game is beautiful, but the gameplay ruined it for me.

First website were I've seen people write they didn't like Bioshock and didn't get downvoted immediately.

This man better be making more games.

Call me crazy, downvote me to oblivion, but I don't think the game is as great as others as, same for Fallout 3 for instance.

The game is sweet but way too short, and the game doesn't have replayability value to me. Granted, I did play on easy mode and should retry it on hard.

I'm hoping for many more challenge maps to come to the PC version, but looks like their coming to the console versions, unless I am wrong.

I'm glad I only paid $25 since I and my brother split up the cost since we're both PC gamers. No way I would pay $50 for the PC and $60 for console versions.

I am still excited for a sequel from the developers.

Anyone else agree with me? Please? ; )

Hey you're entitled to your opinion, though I never thought to compare Batman and Fallout 3, they have little in common IMO.

I mean that both games have received universal acclaim and I think they are decent, but not AAA titles.

Don't even get me started on fallout 3.

Batman certainly wasn't the greatest game of the year, but it was really impressive, especially for being a licensed game. I also think it helps a lot to actually be a huge Batman fan. If you're just mildly interested it wouldn't be nearly as satisfying to play.

I am a fan of Batman, especially the 1992 animated series. This game really got the Joker right, unlike the 2008 film, where everyone praises Heath's performance. He is NOT the Joker, he doesn't portray the character well at all, perhaps he got all the accolades because of his tragic death, I dunno.

Batman: AA is a no-brainer rental or $30 or less purchase, but as a full price purchase, not so sure.

Heh, with you on that RKN, Heath was over-rated as the joker, and did little to really capture how the character is. The animated batman series's Mark Hamil Joker,, and Tim Burton's Joker ala Jack Nicholson were the top of their respective form of media, plain and simple. (Hell, I was about ready to sock someone cause they kept saying Heath was a better joker because they personally loved him, and refused to look at the character's portrayal saying he's acting crazy so its all good heh)

As for this game though, I haven't played it yet, but I've been meaning too (Demon's Souls and Brutal Legend are seeking to change that though). I played the demo, and its the only Batman game to really get the stuff down, least from what I saw. My friend affirmed it for me though, so I'll take his word and try it eventually.

@RKN

THANK YOU. You have no idea how many times I've ranted about how wrong Heith's portrayal of the joker is. He plays a really compelling interesting character, but like you said, NOT the joker.

Go ahead and say Heath's not the joker. But praising Hammill's irritating performance as him is bleuck. Nicholson's was fine. And I do think Ledger's portrayal was the best.

This all boils down to opinion. It was obvious Nolan wasn't going to rip straight from the comics when he made Begins. I'm fine with his ADAPTATION of the work.

And I'm in the minority here when I say I hate Harley Quinn/TAS. The animated series is pretty good sometimes, but when they throw in Harley Quinn it goes to shit. Never liked that character, and she was the weak point of the recent game for me. Hamill's alright, but when people say he should have played the Joker in Nolan's film I get a big laugh. It wouldn't fit.

Discotheque,

I couldn't possibly disagree with you more.

And Heath Ledger wasn't getting the nominations and attention because he died (well the attention is a different story, my bad). He did deliver a great performance. Whether you liked how the character was interpreted or not. For what they were doing with the character, Heath did a great job. I think he's up there with Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal Lecter in terms of movie villains.

That's the thing though, I'm not doubting his performance or even the character he created. They were both great for what they were But it was an entirely new villian. Yea, he was crazy, but so are all super-villians. The only thing that Heith had in common with previous incarnations of the joker was make-up and a purple coat. Everything else was entirely new. That's not a new interpretation of a character, that's a completely different character. Both Jack Nicholson and Mark Hamill had their own interpretations of the Joker, while staying true to who the Joker was. Nolan just took an old name and wrote a new character for it.

Nah there was still alot of the Joker in him. See:

He was generally unpredictable. Also the interrogation scene, not to mention the final speech when he was hanging upside down. Those were all definite joker-ish stuff.

And seriously, the animated series' adaptation was better? I'm sorry my friend, but I got abit sick of all the joker's funhouse scenes and his lame musings with harley quinn. Let's just agree to disagree. And there is no true Joker in the end. There have been different incarnations. The original Joker ended up being alot more murderous and psycho than the recent ones.

Upredictable, not really. And yea, the "you and I are going to do this forever" line was pretty good, but that doesn't make up for everything else he says and does being completely unlike the Jokers of the past.

Hamills interpretation was far better. The "funhouse" stuff, and gag weapons just added to the character, none of that "I use a knife to see who people really are" nonsense. Crimes were deranged jokes, not social experiments. And Harley did nothing but improve the series. Hamill may have annoyed you, but he was a unique character with some flare who's actions, crimes, and personality all took root in who the character was. Ledger was a convincing psychopath who's performance was eerie but also generic, and played no homage to the characters roots.

The only thing that I will give Heath, is the hospital scene, as he strolls out, still in the nurse uniform, blows up part of the building, smacks the remote a few times which prompts the rest of the explosives to go off, making him jump and run off while still wearing high heels. That was the closest to the Joker character, besides the whole "Unmovable wall + unstoppable force" speech in the end (Honestly though, any batman fan could of wrote that without much thinking).

He did crazy damn well, but honestly was too "gangster" and lacked the sadistically ironic sense of humor the Joker character is known for.

Besides, might of just been me, but he seemed to lick his lips a little too much throughout the movie, did they use like strawberries for the lip makeup or somethin...? =P

"'...environment as a character' motif hearken back to 2007's Bioshock"... Come on, I know you referred to Metroid as an inspiration to the creator, but Bioshock is hardly the first game to build such great in-game atmosphere and backstory by making parts of the environment scan-able and offering different vision modes to enhance combat and exploration!

Jesus christ, Bioshock wasn't the first to do jack all. System Shock 2 used the audio log-for-backstory thing looooong before.

Oddly enough I liked Batman more than Bioshock, but maybe that's just me.

well, good third-person games are fewer and further between than first-person (particularly fps). for this reason, Batman AA was a bit fresher to me. not sure i'd say i liked it better than Bioshock, but i won't say i liked Bioshock more either.

The first half of Bioshock was amazing. I only played through the second half for the sake of finishing the game. Batman: Arkham Asylum was an amazing ride throughout. I do think it ended abruptly, and could have been a tad bit longer, but it is still an amazing experience.

Exactly! Bioshock lost a lot of steam in the final stretch. And not to mention that silly final boss.

I would agree with that. The last quarter the game weren't very fun. Starting with Point Prometheus, I grew tired of the game. There were a few things in the environment design that I liked in the final stages of the game, but overall, I didn't feel it was as good as the other 3/4 of the game.

I liked all of it, but I think Fort Frolic was the high point in the game, after that it kind of lost steam.

Final bosses just aren't what they used to be. Batman, Uncharted I and II, Gears 2, Halo 3, all have really mediocre finales. It's kind of sad really.

Great interview.

BAA is really so polished and tight, awesome game experience.

The combat has really ruined every other beat em up game for me, I think it's why I can't get into brutal legend. The fighting in Batman is just so fluid with the hit/counter/special combo system keeping a rhythm and racking up a sweet combo is so satisfying. When he says they focused on gameplay then graphics I know he's for real, even though the graphics are phenomenal as well.

Bioshock was a great playthrough experience, but I have no will to go through it a second time. Batman on the other hand, the combat is so enjoyable especially the stealth sections, it makes me want to go through it all over again.

They have the right idea but batman is no where near the quality it needs to be at for that type of game. Biggest problem I found is the game was too short and they didn't really put anything special in it. It was fun but there still a large amount of things that need fixing.

My only problems with Batman were
A: Not enough villains. I mean, they had plenty, but when I go to Arkham, and I pass by Freeze's cell, I expect him to DO something.
B: Damn non-lethal gadgets. I mean, what's the point in sniping a thug with a batarang if I have to run out from cover to knock him out MORE with my fist?

But getting the whole cast of the animated series back together? Totally makes up for it.

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Batman: Arkham Asylum creator focused on quality over quantity, hasn't played BioShock

Batman: Arkham Asylum

Reader Comments (80)

Posted: Oct 19th 2009 8:03PM Special Agent Steve said

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