Batman: Arkham Asylum 2 To Move Away From Arkham?

15 Dec 2009 at 12:07:48 by Andy Alderson

The sequel to Batman: Arkham Asylum may not be set in the titular institution.

Speaking to UK mag PC Zone (via CVG), Rocksteady’s senior gameplay programmer Paul Denning hinted that the dev team may move the sequel away from Arkham Asylum.

“I think you're probably right in that it's almost run its course," said Denning when asked about the game’s setting.

"We did pick a selection of buildings that we thought would fit the [original] game well. You could quite easily point out that there are various things that you wouldn't usually find in an asylum especially on an island that's supposedly self-contained.

"So, you could always expand that out and there are games in the past that have gone down that route. But I think you're right. Gotham itself is a fantastically realised fictional city and there are so many places that would be probably be ideal for gameplay and great to explore."

The first teaser for the sequel debuted at the VGAs at the weekend and although the video suggests a setting outside of Arkham Asylum (with criminals apparently running amok on the streets of Gotham), Denning stressed that we shouldn’t expect an open world game.

"I think sandbox games that do that well are so hard to realise," he said.

"GTA is obviously a fantastic example of one that gets it right but there are so many that get it wrong and I think you have to be so careful when you take that route.

"I think if Arkham Asylum had been that kind of game I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have been as good."

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