@Mr_Mustache
It wasn't unplayable, but it was pretty bad next to the 360 version which I played a lot of. I was very disappointed, considering they put forth great effort into everything else.

I don't get what this name game is. 2.5D for all versions of just 3DS one? Sorry I'm at work and can't check shit out well. Also trying to conserve r data for once in my life. If its ANYTHING near the quality of AA, I'm all over this. Wii U and/or PC version for me.

Console Game Details:
Story

- Takes place on Christmas Eve
- Years before the previous two games
- Mob boss Black Mask will give a fortune for Batman’s head
- Top assassins and supervillains from the DC Comics universe are out to get Batman
- Cops on the take from the mob join the manhunt as well
- Batman needs to outsmart his enemies, find out why Black Mask wants him dead, and prove to what good cops that he’s on their side


General

- Porting Arkham City to Wii U let the team get familiar with Unreal 3
- Doing a prequel lets the team carve a unique territory if Rockstar were to move the Arkham timeline ahead down the road
- Rocksteady’s project is tightly under wraps
- Younger Batman also “gives us the opportunity to refresh things a bit”
- Combat system still in place
- Will have “new layers, new opportunities, and new tactics”
- New enemy types
- Batman not as finely honed as in the previous games
- Won’t control the Batwing directly
- Batwing will figure into story sequences and acts as a universe-appropriate form of fast travel
- Has the traditional predator mode in which players swing from perch to perch, glide kick, string guys upside-down, etc.
- New remote claw that is like the grappler in Just Cause 2
- Batman targets two objects and fires out a claw
- This hooks into the first object and launches another claw and rope to the second object
- Can then pull the two objects together
- Use this to knock enemies together, slam heavy objects into foes, string objects or people under a perch
- Can string up an explosive barrel under a perch, lure enemies with a sonic batarang, then cut the rope with a normal batarang, dropping the explosive on their heads
- Team knows Black Mask isn’t the most popular villain
- Old Gotham is only half of the game world
- Another new entire area is across the bridge called New Gotham
- New Gotham is classier and has much taller skyscrapers
- New zone doubles the size of the game world
- Players can dismantle the hacked tower network
- Towers emit a jamming signal that prevents the Batwing from flying into the area, meaning no fast travel
- It also halts Batman’s sensors from placing points of interest on the map
- Taking down the towers are varied and require all of Batman’s navigation, puzzle solving, and combat skills
- Some can be taken down quickly, others must be returned to later with an upgrade
- “Crime in Progress”: ex – saving some cops from a group of thugs, rescuing a snitch from being tossed off a roof
- Activities give Batman a chance for experience point bonuses
- Completing side quests also contributes to the GCPD’s understanding and appreciation of Batman
- They will begin to know Batman and which side he stands on based on how much you take on the optional missions
- Most Wanted system gives players a chance to go after villains outside of the core storyline
- These optional side missions can be tackled when you discover them
- Many optional missions offer upgrades
- Batman’s butler Alfred may notice that he had a tough time in that situation and give him a new gadget
- Dark Knight system is slightly more behind the scenes, though it’s still important
- Dark Knight system provides a lengthy string of tasks that slowly goes up in difficulty as the game progresses
- The team wants to avoid boring tutorials while still training players to be masters of predator and combat systems
- Complete a certain number of counters or silent takedowns to receive XP rewards or a specific upgrade
- Dark Knight system doesn’t replace challenge mode
- Team wants to make challenges more meaningful

Game demo

- Takes place about an hour into the game
- Batman is perched above Jezebel plaza
- Black Mask’s assassins have stirred up the local thugs
- No towering walls keeping villains in check and many citizens call Arkham City home since there isn’t a prison
- Amusement Mile hasn’t been flooded
- Batman is looking to find out why Black Mask is trying to kill him
- Batman decides to go to the party to track down Penguin, who hears about everything
- Eventually, Penguin gives some intel on a murder at Lacey Towers
- Claw grips Batman’s ankle and drags him out of the room before he can finish his questioning
- Batman reaches for the door, but his arm is stomped by a mysterious figure
- Batman ends up suspended upside-down from the rafters
- Deathstroke circles Batman with a drawn sword
- Batman blocks and disarms Deathstroke, using the sword to cut himself free
- Thanks to Penguin’s tip, Batman goes to Lacey Towers
- The cops say it’s a double homicide
- One victim is supposedly Black Mask
- Inside the apartment, Batman sees Black Mask’s girlfriend strung up on a chandelier
- Black Mask’s assumed body is laying face up across the room
- Batman goes into first-person detective vision to examine the situation

Handheld Game Details:
- Warner Bros. wanted to have a 2.5D-style Arkham game in the style of Metroidvania
- The company chose Armature because the studio was familiar with that style of game
- Takes place after the end of Origins
- Set on the isolated island at the Blackgate Penitentiary
- Prison uprising has occurred
- Intro level in Gotham
- Batman goes to Blackgate in order to put a stop to the riot
- 2D animatics with full voices tell the story
- Batman moves through a side-scrolling game world
- He’ll pick up near gear and take on enemies along the way
- Interconnected passages and prison secrets
- Not focused on leveling up abilities like the console games
- Instead, it stays true to the subgenre’s formula
- All of Batman’s improvements came through gear pick-ups and upgrades
- Team wanted to give players more of a sense of collection
- Mostly set along a 2D plane
- Takes full advantage of the visual three-dimensionality of the environments
- Explore, fight, and interact with the foreground abnd background
- Can grapple up to gargoyles on a background balcony while a crowd of armed inmates pass by
- Enemies will go after Batman from all angles
- Go to the foreground or background to tackle a designed foe
- Combat similar to the console Batman games
- Button taps to attack, counter, and use gear are in place
- Freeflow combat system
- Built from the ground up
- Batarang: stun enemies or hit distant objects
- Line launcher: cross wide gaps
- Explosive gel variation: shoot from a launcher onto spots around the screen
- This lets you get involved with entertaining takedowns such as dropping a chandelier on enemies from above
- More gadgets will also be in the game
- Has a version of the predator mode
- Game has a few more layers of feedback
- Ex: can see the sightlines of enemies
- This lets you know if enemies can see you or not
- Same kind of vantage points, floor grates, silent takedowns, glide kicks, weapon use, and breakable walls as in the console games
- Game is split into various sections
- Each can be accessed once you figure out a way inside
- No save rooms
- Modern checkpoint system
- Can manually save whenever you desire
- Can defeat the bosses in any order if you find out where you want to go
- “We don’t want you to break the game, but if you can exploit it in a certain way that we haven’t thought of, that’s awesome. So it’s conceivable the players will have abilities that don’t necessarily jibe that great with the boss. We’ve taken some cues from other games where if you have a particular item against a boss, you’ll just rip them a new one, but we don’t tell you what that item is”
- Will have detective mode
- Tap a button and the screen fades into a digitized overlay with detailed info
- Green enemies: enemies haven’t seen you
- Red enemies: enemies are onto your location
- Move a reticle around the screen to focus Batman’s attention
- Can use this to uncover secrets
- Uncover clues and analyze dangerous situations in detective mode

Credit to the appropriate NeoGAF threads.

Xbob42 said:

Say what? The game chugged along at like 12 FPS.

That is patently false.

@Deerock69



Despite it being an exaggeration the Wii U version's framerate is clearly the most unstable. In the above video it ranges anywhere from 40 down to 20 and that's just during cinematics.

EDIT: Gameplay comparison tells the same story.

@carlosrox

I..like Deerock up here, I just don't know what to say to that. Maybe I didn't "see" it because I was going from Wii to Wii U? People claiming the game as unplayable or "chuggy" are just bonkers. Hyperbolic Hyperbole.

"Disappointed?" It was one of the best games I've ever played, haha!! Golly..

@Stephen

I feel like I was reading that in the wrong order. Either way, I'm slightly more hyped about this. Black Mask being the "big guy" is OK, even if he isn't really all that awesome, but at least it's not Joker-the Third!!! like I feared might happen with this series. Though the "DC Universe" part didn't sit very well with me, Batman only villains in a Batman game!

Also pretty cool if they actually deliver on the side-quests hunt for other villains not in the main story. But we'll see how that all goes down.

Also will need to see why Black Mask has a hit on Batman yet cops don't know what side he is on. Hopefully we get more JIM GORDON out of this!

Also likely kills any hope for Robin =/

@Mr_Mustache
Disappointed compared to the smoother running 360 version, yeah. Doesn't mean the game isn't awesome or that it was unplayable though. For me though it spoiled it. I really wanted to play it again, and maybe I still will, but the choppiness was a big turn off.

Yes, its a given that it was a rushed port to make the Wii U launch. So what if the framerate fluctuates a little? Hasn't made it unplayable in the slightest, and now the 3 games are getting equal dev time. We've all seen what a dedicated group can do with LESS time on the Wii U, now that we've seen what somebody like Criterion can do with Need for Speed. And it just so happens, the group that handled the Arkham City port are in charge of this game. So now they're working on the Wii U with some experience under their belt. There's absolutely ZERO reasons for Wii U owners to not look forward to this title with a smidge of anticipation.

Here are some screens of the 3DS version:









Looks pretty decent, IMO.

@carlosrox

*sigh*, I don't know man. The whole thing is coming off a little...Elitist. I UNDERSTAND what you're saying, but I don't think its anything to pitch a fit over. And framerate; I work in TV where frames are EVERYTHING, and these videos that Steve put up look almost the same to me. 24 vs. 30 is, haha, its not much.

Also, keep in mind I still play NES semi-regularly. No slowdown anywhere like that, haha.

I don't see how being disappointed in a late, worse running port is elitist. I expected it to run as good as the 360 version, if not better. What's elitist about that? It's a completely fair criticism.

The new game sounds awesome already though.

@GameDadGrant Too be honest I was hoping for a bit of a more cartoon style for the 3DS game, but I guess this makes sense.

I wasn't that intrigued until I read the details in @Stephen's post. Some of that stuff sounds awesome.

Zero said:

@GameDadGrant Too be honest I was hoping for a bit of a more cartoon style for the 3DS game, but I guess this makes sense.

I was hoping that too...I'm not sure those screens will look so good in the 3DS's low resolution.

No Rocksteady? A little worrying but it should still be good. I still need to play Arkham City though, sitting in my Steam library currently doing nothing.

NOTHING!

I'm a excited, but also a little cautious given that it's not Rocksteady making the game, making me think it's WB wanted to make a quick cash-in.

Playing Mark of the Ninja at the moment - if they can make Batman's stealth sections like that game, then it could be awesome.

Look, I'm just as happy as the next guy to see former Retro people start their own company and get some press. But, while the three dudes (plus a couple others that came along later) might be talented, having been key to the Metroid: Prime series, let's not forget the importance that Nintendo played as an overseer. My sense was always that Retro had the technological chops that Nintendo lacked internally at the time, but Nintendo still had a pretty big influence from a design, gameplay and mechanics perspective. I want Armature to be a new Retro, but I'll not get my hopes too high.

I don't think for a moment that they will be a "new Retro", but it's a decent set of people to have to make your 2.5D metroid-like game.

So what's this about a demo? Is this the demo that was shown or do they mean a demo for the public? I'd love a demo.

@carlosrox

This info was taken from the latest Game Informer. Presumably this is from a demo shown to them.