Batman: Arkham City is almost upon us. In just over a week's time gamers will finally get their hands on the follow up to what was undeniably the greatest Batman game of all time – Arkham Asylum – if not the greatest super hero game period. Yet even on the eve of its release, there's still so much we don't know about Rocksteady's sequel. The UK-based developer has maintained a decidedly stingy drip feed of info over the past twelve months – a few confirmed villains here, a couple of new gadgets there – all the while exuding a quiet confidence in the finished game and a respect for its fans. After all, nobody likes spoilers.

1.+Rocksteady's+Gotham+>+Christopher+Nolan's+Gotham

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2.+The+Riddler+is+a+physical+presence

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3.+Arkham+City's+story+is+much+darker

“ With+Arkham+Asylum+we+really+got+our+feet+wet,+but+for+Arkham+City+we're+swimming+an+entire+ocean.

4.+Hugo+Strange+is+Batman's+biggest+threat

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5.+Rocksteady+will+mess+with+your+head+(again)

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We recently sat down with Arkham City writer Paul Dini, who also provided the storyline of Arkham Asylum. Although you might not know him by name, it's very possible that you've enjoyed a lot of Dini's work over the past few decades given that he's contributed to everything from Transformers: Generation One to GI Joe, He-Man, Tiny Toons, Batman: The Animated Series, the list goes on. Dini was coy about the finer details of Arkham City, but we did manage to glean five reasons as to why it's going to blow Arkham Asylum out of the water.Christopher Nolan has made two incredible Batman films. There's no denying it. However, the strength of Nolan's interpretation of the Dark Knight lies with the complexity of the characters and the immense action set pieces, rather than with the world itself. Nolan's Gotham could basically be any contemporary North American city, whereas Rocksteady's Gotham is more in line with the dark metropolis featured in the comic books – all shadowy gothic architecture and neon hues. Dini agrees."I remember when I saw The Dark Knight movie and I was sitting there watching it and there actually came one or two places where I had trouble divorcing myself from the reality of the locations, because it was filmed in Chicago and I know that city quite well," explains Dini."When you're in a more fantastic universe such as that of Rocksteady's games, Gotham City only exists within the artist's vision. And I think that when you've got a world in which it's plausible to have a guy dressed as a giant bat and fight evil clowns and other nightmarish freaks, I think the world has to be visually a little more arresting than a regular world," concludes Dini.Dini describes the Gotham City featured in Rocksteady's game as being "an amalgam of east coast cities – the darkest parts of Boston and New York mixed with parts of London and Prague and given a slightly futuristic spin." This stylish mix of architectural influences makes even the simple act of grappling and gliding around the environment a visually thrilling experience.Edward Nigma's alter ego was responsible for the lion's share of Arkham Asylum's replayability – even though he wasn't a physical presence on the island his numerous Riddler trophies and cryptic clues for the hidden perspective-based question marks had players scouring all four corners of the Asylum in pursuit of 100 per cent completion.This time around The Riddler will actually be in the game world with you, so along with more of the aforementioned green-tinged Easter eggs to find, you'll also have to contend with the more physically threatening torture chambers that will test both your reflexes and puzzle-solving ability under pressure. We asked Dini what it was like writing for such a dementedly devious character like the Riddler."I just put myself into kind of a dark place and come up with riddles that are kind of weird and sick, but also riddles that are sort of realistic or twists on classic riddles that are sort of bent to reflect the Riddler's own skewed view of the world," explains Dini."That's the thing about writing for a lot of the villains is that as a writer you kind of have to put the best part of your own personality aside and instead focus on whatever little strange quirks you may have in your personality. I think I'm pretty good with the Riddler and the Joker in terms of figuring them out, but certainly once they're done they go back in the toy box – I don't really want to trot around everyday life inhabiting them," concludes Dini.Arkham Asylum's story wasn't exactly sunshine and lollipops, what with the playable nightmare sequences induced by Scarecrow's gas and the general creepiness of the various wings of the Asylum. Yet Arkham City is set to be darker still."But a lot of it is based around the dark humour we get when we play the characters off each other. I think there's definitely more of a sense in this one that with Arkham Asylum we really got our feet wet, but for Arkham City we're swimming an entire ocean," concludes Dini.If you're only a casual fan of Batman – maybe you've seen the films but never read the comics – then there's a strong chance that you've never even heard of mad scientist super villain Hugo Strange, the primary antagonist in Arkham City. So what made Rocksteady choose such a relatively obscure character to serve as your main rival this time around? Perhaps it was because more than any other criminal mastermind in Gotham City, Strange presents the biggest threat to Batman because he's the one arch rival who knows exactly who Batman is behind the mask."Hugo Strange is interesting in the sense that he's a master manipulator," says Dini. "He doesn't really engage Batman in any sort of physical way, his weapon is his mind and he's very incisive and clever, he reads people and sizes them up almost instantly.""Whereas a lot of the Batman villains are very clever, Hugo really does possess a threat in that he knows who Batman is on both sides of the mask," continues Dini. "He knows how to work both sides of Batman and Bruce Wayne's personality. So that gives him a big edge over Batman in an area where characters like Two-Face and the Riddler and the Joker don't have one. I mean Riddler might make guesses as to who is behind the mask but he doesn't really know, and I don't think Two-Face and the Joker really care – their fixation is based solely on Batman."Who needs super strength or a mastery of martial arts when you know Batman's biggest and most valuable secret? Just how Strange's psychological hold over Batman will play out in gameplay terms remains to be seen, but we imagine that Rocksteady will have some fun with it. Which brings us neatly to…One of the reasons Arkham Asylum was such an authentic Batman experience was that it didn't just focus on the martial arts and gadgets, but also the very fragile mental side of the Caped Crusader. In particular, the Scarecrow sections that cribbed from Hideo Kojima's playbook in terms of breaking down the fourth wall, and the playable flashbacks to Bruce Wayne's childhood. We ask Dini if there's more psychological torment in store for the Dark Knight (and the player) this time around."All I can say is that the game is loaded with surprises," teases Dini. "There's plenty of stuff that you won't see coming at all until it's too late and you're in the middle of it, and some of which I didn't even see coming because there were sections of the game that I had written early on that I thought we had abandoned and then I found out later hey, they actually put that in and made it work!""So yes, there's surprise upon surprise in the game, but other than that I can't say much more about it," concludes Dini.Nor would we want him to. We're dying to find out if Batman: Arkham City

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