Asylum sold about 4 million copies (plus PC sales + piracy) as a three-platform game and became the Most Critically Acclaimed Superhero Game Ever (Guinness World Record, just edging out MvC2) with countless awards... and comic publishers are ecstatic if a book can break 100K!
That kind of exposure, quality experience, and positive press is why properties like Batman are going to out live us all and be there to be enjoyed by our children and our children's children. There's almost no question that City will do just as well (if not certainly better) than Asylum... but I wonder if the buzz and critical response could ever live up to the expectation? I think a big factor in terms of Asylum's critical success is simply how much of a surprise it was (even Forbes predicted a turnaround based on Asylum). It came from a relatively unknown developer and despite putting plenty of preview material out there, the long history of decidedly bad licensed superhero games meant even the most diehard fans managed their expectations. So when Asylum was actually a quality title, it was a stunner... particularly in an industry where surprises are hard to come by (just consider the sheer saturation of videogame net news). Add the license factor- who hasn't wanted to be Batman on some level at some point?!- and you've got a killer critical success!
So with their past success they're going to have a larger scope, a bigger budget, more marketing support, more merchandising tie-ins... can they trump expectations? Part of what made Asylum so great was how well it worked inside its limitations. A seasoned game designer or player might just start to see the seams but by and large you'd play that and want for nothing... it's just about the total Batman experience in the context of that story- the gadgets, the violence, the detective work, the characters, the mood, and the voices... even Bat-Icons like the Signal, the Cave, the Mobile, the Plane... all make appearances. But with City, the world is larger and so the expectations are higher.
I think Babs hit a big one on the head... transportation. She mentioned, specifically, the Batmobile, but you could just as easily want to see the Batcycle or even Batplane in some contexts. But when you're covering a city as opposed to a single facility, you can't just confine the Bat to being a pedestrian. With city sprawl you get rooftops and if they can capture that plausible feeling of rooftop patrol and travel, it will be a huge win (I'm not talking free roaming mind you, but a controlled experience that- even for a moment- makes you believe that Batman actually gets around on rooftops) similar to the web-swinging of Spider-Man 2. I have faith in the new bosses and the return of old elements. I want new gadgets too, but how to apply them to a city environment as opposed to a more intimate level (which follows the classic Metroid - items are keys mechanic)? I expect good surprises there too.
Story might be an issue. In Asylum, Batman was essentially trapped in there with them (of course, not, he could escape by jet or his satellite caves) explaining the one-man show. In a story that threatens the city, where all the villains are crawling out of the woodwork, and that takes place more or less in the DCU proper... how does Batman justify not calling for help- if not the JLA then the Bat Family (and Oracle's Birds)? I would really love to see, or at least get nods, to more supporting characters (I'd go nuts if the Birds of Prey or Superman showed up... but I suspect the non-comic reader would enjoy that and simply have their suspension of disbelief hurt by that)... I have a really odd desire to see Leslie Thompkins, who's a wonderfully real and grounded character for whom Batman has a real emotional attachment to providing real stakes (without bringing more spandex to the party or random anonymous citizens... or worse yet, one-off disposable love interests).
This might just be addressed by the introduction of Catwoman who provides just enough help so that Batman isn't looking for Nightwing or Robin just yet. I hope if we get to play as Catwoman that it is as much a power-fantasy fulfillment using her side character as it is Batman's main. You want her to be agile, stealthy, have the whip, maybe a bit of wall-crawling type action... basically, make sure she's damn cool and not a chore to use until you get back to Batman.
So psyched about the business and brand potential, cautious about the critical response, and absolutely excited to play the actual thing (and buy the DC Direct figures).
Log in to comment