Rocksteady has a good thing going with the Batman Arkham series, with 2009’s hit title, Batman: Arkham Asylum, and the shortly upcoming, Batman: Arkham City, which is already getting strong praise from reviewers.

Of course, we’ve been wondering how long this franchise will continue, and if we will have a third Arkham game, and more after that. Rocksteady has vaguely said that the series will continue as long as there are stories to tell in it.

“I think as long as we’re still enjoying it and as long as we feel we can contribute to the Batman universe,” Rocksteady’s Dax Ginn told CVG. “That’s how it feels. There’s some amazing stuff going on with Batman all around the world at the moment and we feel as though we’re making our own little contribution in the form of the Arkham-verse.

“So as long as we’ve got stories to tell,” he concluded. “So long as we feel we can do that and do that really well.”

“There’s no other character that’s as awesome as Batman who’s got such an incredible rogues gallery, who’s got such and amazing structure for gameplay,” Ginn explained. “All it takes is to give a guy an assault rifle and it changes the entire nature of combat.

“So you can put Batman up against 30 thugs in the street and just cane them and feel like a total don but as soon as one of them’s got a shotgun you have to rethink what you do. That’s really rare for a superhero and we really love using the facets of his personality to create gameplay out of that.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future but right now I feel like we’re in a real sweet spot with the games that we’re making, the opportunities that we have so I don’t really want that to change.”

Stay tuned, we’ll keep you updated.

Official PlayStation Magazine Australia has reviewed Batman: Arkham City, and in their final verdict, they’ve given the Dark Knight’s latest outing an astounding 10/10. “Batman: Arkham City is not only the best superhero game ever made, it’s one of the best games ever made full-stop,” the review says, showering praise upon Rocksteady’s sequel to the awesome 2009 action title.

“It takes the already superlative original and gloriously expands on it,” the review continues. “It’s a deeper game, more complex, more inventive, more mature. It brings the caped crusader’s world to life better than any comic, movie or television show before it.”

The final breakdown of the game, as given in the magazine, is as follows:

Presentation: Endlessly creative, perfectly moody, and technically flawless. This is Epic’s Unreal engine pushed to its absolute limit.

Sound: Alternatively foreboding and frantic, the game’s orchestral soundtrack matches the on-sccreen action perfectly. Voice acting is brilliant.

Controls: Complex and initially overwhelming but also logical and responsive. It’ll take a while to get used to them, but once you do it feels perfectly natural flinging Batman around.

Replay Value: Immense. A massive main quest, dozens of side missions, Riddler challenges, secondary game modes, and DLC will keep most people occupied for months.

VERDICT: We can’t imagine how a superhero game could be better than this. Absolutely sublime.

That was certainly unexpected. This looks great.

Stay tuned to GB, we’ll keep you updated.

[ArkhamCity.co.uk]

Rocksteady has released a new trailer for Batman: Arkham City that focuses on The Joker and his assistant/girlfriend/whatever she is, Harley Quinn. The video shows Batman gliding through Arkham City, beating bad guys to pulp, being beaten by a guy wielding a large hammer, and Joker and Harley wreaking havoc as usual.

Arkham City is looking awesome from everything shown so far, but those of you who’re planning to play it on the PC will be disappointed, because its PC release date has been pushed back to November.

Rocksteady says they’re just fine tuning the game on the PC, and that fans should be patient. The game, they say, will be worth the wait.

On the PS3 and Xbox 360, the game will release in October as planned. Stay tuned for more info.

The Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, however, will release on October 21 as planned.

Robin packs are being offered as free pre-order exclusives to those who pre-order the game from Gamestation and GAME stores. So you might want to do that, if you live in UK, because’s Robin’s looking pretty good in the game.

Achievements for Arkham City were also recently revealed. You can read the full list of Achievements here, but tread carefully, because there might be some story spoilers.

Stay tuned, we’ll have more updates for you soon.

Warner Bros DC Entertainment today confirmed that Robin will be a fully playable character in the challenge mode in Batman: Arkham City.  The Tim Drake Robin pack is currently available exclusively to those who pre-order the game from GAME and gamestation stores.

Robin will come complete with his own unique gadgets and special moves, and will be playable in all challenge maps in the game, as well as two additional challenge maps that are included with the pack – Black Mask Hideout and Freight Train Escape.  The pack will also contain a bonus Red Robin character skin.

Game releases in October for the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3. A Wii U release is also planned.

The full Achievements list for Arkham City was revealed earlier today.

Rocksteady have revealed the full Achievements list for their upcoming Batman: Arkham City. It’s given below- beware, it may contain a few spoilers to the story and the game content.

I’m Batman (10) – Become the Bat
Acid Bath (10) – Save the damsel, but is she in distress?
Savior (10) – Save the medical volunteers
Chimney Sweep (10) – There is only one way in
One Armed Bandit (10) – Hammer the point home
Communication Breakdown (10) – Clear the airwaves
Gladiator (10) – Last man standing
Wrecking Ball (25) – Stop the unstoppable
Lost And Found (10) – Uncover the secret of Arkham City
Sand Storm (25) – We are legion
Hide And Seek (25) – A deadly game of hide and seek
Ghost Train (25) – Fight for survival
Freefall (25) – Don’t look down
Exit Stage Right (50) – All the world is a stage
Forensic Expert (10) – Collect enough evidence to locate the gun for hire
Contract Terminated (25) – Stop the contract operative
Serial Killer (25) – Track down the serial killer
Mystery Stalker (15) – Reveal the mystery watcher
Distress Flare (5) – Answer the call for help
Broken Toys (25) – Destroy it all
Ring Ring (5) – Answer a ringing phone
Dial Z For Murder (25) – Stop the phone booth killer
Stop the Clock (15) – Time is running out
Bargaining Chip (15) – Reunite the separated couple
AR Knight (25) – Complete all augmented reality training exercises
Fully Loaded (10) – Collect all of Batman’s gadgets and upgrades
Aggravated Assault (10) – Stop all assaults in Arkham City
IQ Test (10) – Solve the first riddle
Conundrum (20) – Rescue the first hostage from Riddler
Mastermind (20) – Rescue the second hostage from Riddler
Puzzler (30) – Rescue the third hostage from Riddler
Intellectual (30) – Rescue the fourth hostage from Riddler
Brainteaser (40) – Rescue the fifth hostage from Riddler
Genius (50) – Rescue all the hostages from Riddler
Bronze Revenge (10) – Obtain 24 medals on the original Arkham City ranked maps (as Batman)
Silver Revenge (20) – Obtain 48 medals on the original Arkham City ranked maps (as Batman)
Gold Revenge (40) – Obtain all 72 medals on the original Arkham City ranked maps (as Batman)
Campaign Bronze (10) – Obtain 24 medals on the original Arkham City ranked maps (as Batman)
Campaign Silver (20) – Obtain 72 medals on the original Arkham City campaigns (as Batman)
Campaign Gold (40) – Obtain all 108 medals on the original Arkham City campaigns (as Batman)
Flawless Freeflow Fighter 2.0 (5) – Complete one combat challenge without taking damage (any character)
Twice Nightly (75) – Complete New Game Plus
Gotham Base Jumper (5) – Jump off the tallest building in Arkham City and glide for 1 minute without touching the ground
Pay Your Respects (5) – A moment of remembrance
Story Teller (10) – Have 12 murderous dates with Calendar Man
Catch (5) – Find someone to play remote Batarang catch with
50x Combo (5) – Complete a combo of 50 moves (any play mode, any character)
Perfect Freeflow 2.0 (5) – Perform a perfect combo including all of Batman’s combat moves (any play mode)
Gadget Attack (5) – Use 5 different Quickfire gadgets in one fight (any play mode)
Perfect Knight: Day 2 (75) – Main Story, Side Missions, Upgrades, Collectables, New Game Plus and Riddlers Revenge (as Batman)

[OXM]

Rocksteady’s Dax Ginn told GameTrailers at PAX that once you finish Arkham City, you will unlock a “New Game +” mode, in which you can play the entire game with your old gadgets and upgrades and whatnots.

“When you finish the main story mode, you can then restart that with all of the gadgets and all of the upgrades you got in that first playthrough,” he said.

“But you’re going to need them in the second playthrough because all of the enemy configurations have changed. All of the assistance you get in combat with those blue lightning bolts coming up against guys who are about to hit you, they’re gone. So you have to read their animations coming in.

“That’s why we really wanted to drive home the replayability with Batman: Arkham City – taking those gadgets back into the streets, delivering justice a second time around. Really asking, ‘Are you the Dark Knight? Have you got what it takes?’”

Arkham City releases this October on the PS3, PC and Xbox 360. A WiiU release is also planned.

The BBFC has rated Batman: Arkham City, due for release in October, and has given it a rating of 15+, citing strong violence.

The game features 165 minutes of cutscenes, that is 2 hours 45 minutes of cutscenes in a 40 hour long game. The game looks pretty good, and we can’t wait for its release.

Arkham City is due for release in October for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. A Wii U release in 2012 is also planned.

Rocksteady Studios said that they’re once considered adding Kinect support to their upcoming game Batman: Arkham City.

“We’re always interested in new technology,” said Sefton Hill, Rocksteady Studios co-founder in an interview with OXM. However, Rocksteady ultimately decided against the decision.

 “We looked at different motion-control systems – but we wanted to focus on a more traditional control scheme.”

Stay tuned to GB for more updates.

Apparently, the two have temporarily put aside their difference to fight against Hugo Strange, a common enemy. “Bane may be an ally on this outing, but he can still accidentally bust you up when he’s lost in the moment during his enthusiastic ram attack.”

Strange alliance, this is, but it has been seen before in the Batman comics.

Stay tuned, we’ll keep you updated.