Batman sandbox game

[Paulley]

Ok so i did post this in another topic but i thought the whole idea people were thinking needed its own thread.

A free roaming game where you play as Batman as you go off fighting crime across the streets of gotham.

If a sandbox Batman game was made by the lovely people that made this awesome game we are about to receive. How would you like it to look and what would you want to be able to do.

Transport
I would think that the city would be split up into many districts some featuring important locating GCPD, Wayne Tower etc and other locations like Wayne Manor/Batcave... as for getting around (and as much as you guys wont like this) i dont think the player should be in full control of the Batmobile/plane.. more like you swing back to the car you get in and you select the district/location you want to head to, then the car drives there blurry fast dodging all the people and gets you there in one piece.

Also say your at the cave you get in the plane then you choose a district and the plane flies there dropping you out (and when you want to go you grapple back into it and choose the next location.)

Maybe the only thing you could fully control would be the Batboat, traveling round the waters of Gotham.... lets face it having missiles and machine guns on your car/plane arent really gonna work in this sorta game or the sort of enemies he is taking on.

Gameplay

At night, you go out as Batman, stop muggings/robberies, play the mission, collection evidence/information, Interrogate low lifes (with force :P) and your other standard sanbox stuff.

from example

You may be wandering round the city and suddenly seen the bat signal in the clouds.

You call for the batplane and make your way to the part of the city where the police station is at then you glide down to its roof top where you meet Gordon.. starting cut scene where he tells you there have been two bodies found both killed with the same m/o but found in two locations.. you go to the location of one of the bodies and the game becomes CSI you look over the crime scene and collect evidence then...

During the day, you play as Bruce Wayne.. you walk about the mansion and train your fighting skills (new combo upgrades and stats etc) you choose to go to Wayne Tower and much like the earlier stuff you see yourself get driven by Alfred to the tower where you talk to Lucius Fox about new gadgets (Upgrades and new tech etc).. most importantly this is the time where you go into the batcave and analyze the information you gained as Batman and use your Detective Skills to solve the murders etc.

Then you go out and deliver brutal vengeance... i mean incapacitate the guilty parties and hand them over to authorities.

Design

Night time Gotham is absent of most ppl, very empty looking place with only the stragglers the late workers and the criminals.

While in the day time its full of ppl everythings bright as you get driven to the tower etc.

You really want it to show that as soon as it gets dark, it gets dark.. much like bruce in the mansion compared to bruce in the cave... it would be like as soon as the lights dim the whole city and everyone in it becomes darker and more depraved and psychotic including Bruce.

Story

Id love the idea of downloadable episodes, You get new plots to keep the storyline going and going. however for this that would mean noone could die which would not be too much a problem for the villains as bats doesnt kill but i would have liked to have been able to fail a mission and carried on and live with consequences.. but that would involve Batman failing so i guess thats out of character.

Anyway, id like to see the stories be very involve your racing against time to stop bombing using your detective skills to track down the bomber and his targets. You really using your time on the Batcomputer to go over all the info you collected as Bats.

Stories that revolve around Bruce Wayne sometimes more than Bats.. having a sabotage plot happening to Wayne Industries. Aswell as your "he's been kidnapped", "They have escaped prison", and "[badguy] plans to..." stories.


---

im sure there is more things to build on with this type of game.. but thats the base id start thinking with

[The Comedian]

Yeah it's been discussed plenty of times. I think it could be done properly with endless options especially with a rogue gallery and a territory patrolling.

PS: Welcome to the forums

[Turn and Face the Strange]

Nice!!! That would be really cool!

[batman4747]

lol I think I was the first one to make a thread about a open world batman game http://forums.eidosgames.com/showthread.php?t=87797

[Paulley]

Yeah it's been discussed plenty of times. I think it could be done properly with endless options especially with a rogue gallery and a territory patrolling.

PS: Welcome to the forums

Thanxs. lol yes i see, i should have used the search button more effectively :p

But its nice to pitch ideas for one in a single place... and it would be nice to hear some more ideas

[Turn and Face the Strange]

Thanxs. lol yes i see, i should have used the search button more effectively :p

But its nice to pitch ideas for one in a single place... and it would be nice to hear some more ideas

QUESTION about the Batmobile use:
Do you select a destination from a list ("GCPD") etc, or do you place a waypoint on a map? Because I think a list of locations would be restrictive, while you could place a destination waypoint anywhere on a map.

[Zhim]

So, a Batman rpg? Sounds cool!

[Demmalition1]

Great idea! Bookmarked for future reference.

[artyfin]

I would love to see a game like this. I made a thread about it ages ago. Lets hope Rocksteady have been listening :P If done properly, it could turn out to be a mega game.

[Paulley]

QUESTION about the Batmobile use:
Do you select a destination from a list ("GCPD") etc, or do you place a waypoint on a map? Because I think a list of locations would be restrictive, while you could place a destination waypoint anywhere on a map.

Well i was thinking more along the lines of choosing a district (Central Gotham, East Coast, Business District etc etc) then grappling to where you want but i like your idea of selecting player made waypoint in such locations.. say like you pin a point for the car to stop one building away from GCPD then grapple to the top of that building and glide down to GCPD's rooftop.. sneaking up on Gordon to give it that Batman stealth feels... ooh fun.

[Turn and Face the Strange]

Well i was thinking more along the lines of choosing a district (Central Gotham, East Coast, Business District etc etc) then grappling to where you want but i like your idea of selecting player made waypoint in such locations.. say like you pin a point for the car to stop one building away from GCPD then grapple to the top of that building and glide down to GCPD's rooftop.. sneaking up on Gordon to give it that Batman stealth feels... ooh fun.

I always wondered how Batman disappeared from the GCPD roof... What, does he do a runner off the edge when Gordon sneezes, or what?

[vicsage]

I sent emails long ago to companies like Sony and Microsoft with suggestions for a Batman RPG.

Your idea is cool, but I suggest that rather than simply play as Batman (which is what everyone wants to do), you choose to become either a hero, villain, or just a vigilante.

If you choose to be a "villain," you start at the bottom as a thug and join the gang of whichever Batman enemy you fancy (Joker, Two-Face, Penguin, etc.) As you carry out missions and defend against Batman when he shows up, your rank increases and you get the option of personal bodyguard to the boss. You'll eventually be able to become the villain and upgrade your vehicles to pull heists and commit crimes.

If you choose to be a "hero," you start at the bottom as an assistant to either Oracle, Nighwing, Robin, etc. and carry out special missions for them. As you complete these missions, the tasks become increasingly harder and the threat level grows. Finally, (if you so choose) you can be trained by Nightwing, Black Canary, or Batman and become their protege. Eventually you'll rise to an independent level and choose whether to fight for good...or just become a vigilante outside of the law doing your own thing.

Gotham City and all it's surrounding districts should be vast. The amount of villains should also be limitless (which wouldn't be hard considering Batman's massive rogues gallery).

[scarecrow29]

I'd like a game like Spiderman 2. Free roaming, and you had to go to specific places to start a mission. Obviously there are so many possibilities with Gotham, so play could be virtually endless. I do hope, though, that they'd include some lesser used villains like Black Mask, etc. Each villain could "own" a section of Gotham, like Crackdown or GTA, and you'd have to defeat them all to advance. Also, hopefully Batman wouldn't be the only character playable. Either way, if there even is a sequel, I'd say we're AT LEAST 4 years away from it. Why, oh why must games take so long to make?

[Demmalition1]

another great idea.

For the o.p. I think that IF a m.p. mode were added in a second to fourth player could jump in and choose a character like nightwing, robin, or (idk who else) and play with Batman at anytime in/out kinda like Warhawk. The game adjusts the difficulty on the fly to accomidate the change in players.

[E.Nygma]

Not sure about that.... some free-roaming games just end up getting very repetitive, or with an unsatisfying story. A Batman free-roaming game should need a LOT of work to end up being good.

[DiamondBlade]

Ok so i did post this in another topic but i thought the whole idea people were thinking needed its own thread.

A free roaming game where you play as Batman as you go off fighting crime across the streets of gotham.

If a sandbox Batman game was made by the lovely people that made this awesome game we are about to receive. How would you like it to look and what would you want to be able to do.

Transport
I would think that the city would be split up into many districts some featuring important locating GCPD, Wayne Tower etc and other locations like Wayne Manor/Batcave... as for getting around (and as much as you guys wont like this) i dont think the player should be in full control of the Batmobile/plane.. more like you swing back to the car you get in and you select the district/location you want to head to, then the car drives there blurry fast dodging all the people and gets you there in one piece.

Also say your at the cave you get in the plane then you choose a district and the plane flies there dropping you out (and when you want to go you grapple back into it and choose the next location.)

Maybe the only thing you could fully control would be the Batboat, traveling round the waters of Gotham.... lets face it having missiles and machine guns on your car/plane arent really gonna work in this sorta game or the sort of enemies he is taking on.

Gameplay

At night, you go out as Batman, stop muggings/robberies, play the mission, collection evidence/information, Interrogate low lifes (with force :P) and your other standard sanbox stuff.

from example

You may be wandering round the city and suddenly seen the bat signal in the clouds.

You call for the batplane and make your way to the part of the city where the police station is at then you glide down to its roof top where you meet Gordon.. starting cut scene where he tells you there have been two bodies found both killed with the same m/o but found in two locations.. you go to the location of one of the bodies and the game becomes CSI you look over the crime scene and collect evidence then...


For locomotion, the player should be given the choice whether to use Batman's transport accesories manually or be "teleported" from one location to another, GTA (taxi)-style, if the player will be forced to use the "teleporting" method, the whole esscence of free-roam gameplay would go away.

I agree.

As cool as it would be, it seems too complicated for just a side mission. Although, one thing that - in my opinion - could work, is having a Bat-Signal to appear on the mini-map whenever a side mission is available, and allowing the player to choose whether to engage in it or not (yes, Spider-Man games style). Instead of just a spot in a certain color, the point on the map (not the mini-map) which the player has to go to for the mission to be activated should appear as a Bat-Sign in the sky.

I dislike this idea. Batman is a martial artist with detective skills, not a detective with martial art skills. Therefore, while I agree that there should be a focus on the detective aspect of the character in the spoken game, I don't think it has to be as large as that on the fighting and action aspect.

Oh, and welcome to the forums!

PS-The Dark Knight was an action video game loosely based on the film of the same name. The game was unofficially announced in the summer of 2007 to be developed by Pandemic Studios as an open world Batman game.
From Wikipedia. That game was cancelled, of course.

[Turn and Face the Strange]

I sent emails long ago to companies like Sony and Microsoft with suggestions for a Batman RPG.

Your idea is cool, but I suggest that rather than simply play as Batman (which is what everyone wants to do), you choose to become either a hero, villain, or just a vigilante.

If you choose to be a "villain," you start at the bottom as a thug and join the gang of whichever Batman enemy you fancy (Joker, Two-Face, Penguin, etc.) As you carry out missions and defend against Batman when he shows up, your rank increases and you get the option of personal bodyguard to the boss. You'll eventually be able to become the villain and upgrade your vehicles to pull heists and commit crimes.

If you choose to be a "hero," you start at the bottom as an assistant to either Oracle, Nighwing, Robin, etc. and carry out special missions for them. As you complete these missions, the tasks become increasingly harder and the threat level grows. Finally, (if you so choose) you can be trained by Nightwing, Black Canary, or Batman and become their protege. Eventually you'll rise to an independent level and choose whether to fight for good...or just become a vigilante outside of the law doing your own thing.

Gotham City and all it's surrounding districts should be vast. The amount of villains should also be limitless (which wouldn't be hard considering Batman's massive rogues gallery).

I agree with this. This combined in some ways with the OP's idea would make for an awesome batman game.

[Turn and Face the Strange]

I dislike this idea. Batman is a martial artist with detective skills, not a detective with martial art skills. Therefore, while I agree that there should be a focus on the detective aspect of the character in the spoken game, I don't think it has to be as large as that on the fighting and action aspect.

But Batman's the "World's Greatest Detective", and was originally created as just that - a sleuth (like a mentally-stable Rorschach). At first, his only gadgets were a torch, skeleton key and ninja hook/rope for climbing into windows. Sure, he's trained in every martial art in existance, but he's also trained compeltely in every aspect of fornesic analysis and criminology.

[tsp]

Good ideas here, although I would ideally like to control the Bat-vehicles (or at least the Batmobile).

[tsp]

I'd like a game like Spiderman 2. Free roaming, and you had to go to specific places to start a mission. Obviously there are so many possibilities with Gotham, so play could be virtually endless. I do hope, though, that they'd include some lesser used villains like Black Mask, etc. Each villain could "own" a section of Gotham, like Crackdown or GTA, and you'd have to defeat them all to advance. Also, hopefully Batman wouldn't be the only character playable. Either way, if there even is a sequel, I'd say we're AT LEAST 4 years away from it. Why, oh why must games take so long to make?


Using these hidden gem characters and assigning parts of Gotham to each rogue could be a VERY interesting idea and a great way to organize the city and the experience.

[Ahasverus]

The Dark Knight game was intended to be a sandbox; they didn't have enough time to finish it :( But there's a good part, the game became "The Saboteur" an excelent game to be relased in december, a sandbox made in paris with a very cool presentation ;) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Saboteur_(2009_video_game)

[GibsonSGBat]

erm, dont mean to sound rude...But we do have Arkham Asylum in the pipeline lol

[vulcanraven213]

A sandbox game for Batman wouldnt work the same as it did for Spiderman. These character are story driven, first and foremost most people want a good story. This makes the game need to be more linear and focused so the story unfolds in a specific way. Im for venturing around Gotham to stop different villains and such, but a sandbox to me gets boring real quick. It just wouldnt work, most things sound good in theory but when you actually try and execute it, it just doesnt work sometimes. Sandbox games to me are just prepetitive and boring after a while. I'll take a dynamic linear story over that anyday of the month. This would be a failed venture IMO.

[SirRoscoe]

A sandbox game for Batman wouldnt work the same as it did for Spiderman. These character are story driven, first and foremost most people want a good story. This makes the game need to be more linear and focused so the story unfolds in a specific way. Im for venturing around Gotham to stop different villains and such, but a sandbox to me gets boring real quick. It just wouldnt work, most things sound good in theory but when you actually try and execute it, it just doesnt work sometimes. Sandbox games to me are just prepetitive and boring after a while. I'll take a dynamic linear story over that anyday of the month. This would be a failed venture IMO.

That's probably the biggest challenge in creating a sandbox Batman game. Will the story be compelling enough to drive the open worldness of the game? What will be the setting? How will you execute it? Just having Batman drive around and stop criminals and villians will get repetitive QUICK, and will be hard to keep the gamer's interest. The 2nd biggest challenge is the technical aspect. They will essentially have to take all the gameplay aspects of Arkham Asylum (the silent predator, the free-flow combat, the detective mode) and apply that to a sandbox style game. And such a task is easier said than done, especially when you have hundreds of buildings to render, and make them navigatable for Batman.

I believe the majority of people only want a open-world Batman game solely on the transportation (admit it, the 1st thing a majority of people will do is drive the Batmobile around the city). That's what drives a lotta gamers to desire GTA Batman, easily forgetting the technical challenges that have to be overcome to make such a game as memorable as Arkham Asylum.

Oh and by the way, a big NO to controlling alter egos in gameplay. They NEVER work. It didn't work for either Spider-Man or the Hulk, and it sure won't work for Batman. People don't want to play as Bruce Wayne to see the day to day operations at Wayne Ent., they want to be Batman and bruise criminals left and right.

[HarlenQuinn]

^^^ this equals win

[Ahasverus]

IN reply to vulcan: I would love it. Not everyone thinks like you ;)

[Paulley]

lol yea i mean it would have to be a very small aspect of the game.. think Christian Bale meeting Morgan Freeman to discuss new gadgets and at home doing pushups with Michale Caine... and in the batcave being a detective.

-

Maybe its just me put i would rather have a game focused on Batman being a actual detective rather than walking around beating people up.. thats why id think this is the only super-hero sandbox that good keep interest.

Especially if new liner stories were released as downloads.. official well through out stories and crimes... plus, if possible, open mission making... imagine you set up your own crime.. yes it would only be text passed character interaction (unless you recorded the voices too lol) but just think how awesome it would be to release these missions into the world and having all these games trying to solve your crime.

--

Driving ingame for some reason i think would cause more hassle and problems but you are right that instant teleport would ruin the feel.. so i think the car/plane should be AI controlled.. you direct it more than drive it.

---

On the detective theme again.. you know those scenes in the film/tv/comics where Bruce/Bats is there sat infront of the Batcomputer the light of the screen illuminating him with his hand on his chin putting the pieces together.. just imagine how immersed in it you would feel as both you and your Caped Crusader lean in towards your screens hands on chins finally finding the match on the DNA or comparing that Bullet taken from the second body.

[SirRoscoe]

lol yea i mean it would have to be a very small aspect of the game.. think Christian Bale meeting Morgan Freeman to discuss new gadgets and at home doing pushups with Michale Caine... and in the batcave being a detective.

-

Maybe its just me put i would rather have a game focused on Batman being a actual detective rather than walking around beating people up.. thats why id think this is the only super-hero sandbox that good keep interest.

Especially if new liner stories were released as downloads.. official well through out stories and crimes... plus, if possible, open mission making... imagine you set up your own crime.. yes it would only be text passed character interaction (unless you recorded the voices too lol) but just think how awesome it would be to release these missions into the world and having all these games trying to solve your crime.

--

Driving ingame for some reason i think would cause more hassle and problems but you are right that instant teleport would ruin the feel.. so i think the car/plane should be AI controlled.. you direct it more than drive it.

---

On the detective theme again.. you know those scenes in the film/tv/comics where Bruce/Bats is there sat infront of the Batcomputer the light of the screen illuminating him with his hand on his chin putting the pieces together.. just imagine how immersed in it you would feel as both you and your Caped Crusader lean in towards your screens hands on chins finally finding the match on the DNA or comparing that Bullet taken from the second body.

No. No. No. Just no. You think walking around in some building discussing gadgets to someone would hold anyone's interest in a game? They want to USE the gadget. In real time. NOT waste time on a cut-scene discussing the weapon. And you think it's good that the game focus mainly on being a detective? And how would it be applied in real-time gameplay? What Arkham Asylum does right is equally focusing on the many aspects of Batman: the detective, the fighter, the predator. And you want to remove the driving aspect? That would defeat the whole purpose of the sandbox concept. It would be utterly useless to have an open world Batman game and you can't navigate the famous Bat-vehicles.

[Paulley]

No. No. No. Just no. You think walking around in some building discussing gadgets to someone would hold anyone's interest in a game? They want to USE the gadget. In real time. NOT waste time on a cut-scene discussing the weapon. And you think it's good that the game focus mainly on being a detective? And how would it be applied in real-time gameplay? What Arkham Asylum does right is equally focusing on the many aspects of Batman: the detective, the fighter, the predator. And you want to remove the driving aspect? That would defeat the whole purpose of the sandbox concept. It would be utterly useless to have an open world Batman game and you can't navigate the famous Bat-vehicles.

Lol if you read my earlier post i meant the those bits as a way incorporating the upgrade and practice parts into game play...

Navigate yes.. drive like a loon into every civilian on the streets no..

and damn right i want proper detective work... not following floating dna and tabacco signs ;).

Batman goes to crime scenes collects evidence, strikes fear and interrogates people, solves mystery and beats up bad guy... im not saying the whole game should be like that but it would be good to have some depth to mindless combat..

Really the best idea would be having these missions being solve-able by different routes... Maybe you enjoy the Greatest Detective part of Batman so you look to go in this direction theres blood on broken glass outside the window.. someone watched the murder you get a hit on your bat-computer its a thug of [blah] who works at [blah] you go and interrogate him... maybe you say nah i dont like having to over think and analyze if i beat up and interrogate every thug in the general area sooner or later ill find him.


--

If i wanted a non thinking flying round beating up everybody game id go for Superman: Metropolis

[SirRoscoe]

Lol if you read my earlier post i meant the those bits as a way incorporating the upgrade and practice parts into game play...

Navigate yes.. drive like a loon into every civilian on the streets no..

and damn right i want proper detective work... not following floating dna and tabacco signs ;).

Batman goes to crime scenes collects evidence, strikes fear and interrogates people, solves mystery and beats up bad guy... im not saying the whole game should be like that but it would be good to have some depth to mindless combat..

Really the best idea would be having these missions being solve-able by different routes... Maybe you enjoy the Greatest Detective part of Batman so you look to go in this direction theres blood on broken glass outside the window.. someone watched the murder you get a hit on your bat-computer its a thug of [blah] who works at [blah] you go and interrogate him... maybe you say nah i dont like having to over think and analyze if i beat up and interrogate every thug in the general area sooner or later ill find him.


--

If i wanted a non thinking flying round beating up everybody game id go for Superman: Metropolis

What you just described as detective work isn't that much different from what's offered in the game. And that scenario suggests some aspects of linearity (how else would you progress?) And as far as pedestrians go when it comes to driving, have you played any Midnight Club games?

[Rebreather#62]

I'd like it if there was a more Metroid Prime like free roaming where you could unlock or find reasons to go to different places throughout Gotham. You could have Wayne manor/Batcave/various mini-batcaves be a central hub and go to different places from there. Like if you found evidence that incriminated the Penguin at a mafia boss's hideout, you could get access to his club and sneak around there while still retaining a similar set up to the Arkham Asylum game.

One thing I don't like about super hero video games is that the secret identity is always ignored. Sure some people like Bruce Banner and Clark Kent wouldn't be fun in games, but they are part of what draws people into the characters. I don't think its that all secret identities wouldn't be fun, so much as, the way that they've been handled has been bad. I'm insanely excited for Arkham Asylum, but it won't ever be the perfect Batman game for me, no matter how good it is, simply because Bruce isn't in it.

Bruce isn't like Clark Kent, where he is simply acting like a nobody. Bruce could be fun if done correctly. Having him train at the mansion could be cool. I think it'd be cool to use Bruce to help get access to different things info, evidence, technology, and places. Bruce often uses people so personally I think it'd be cool if there were a social link system like in the later Persona games, where you could get to know people and get benefits and an interesting story for doing so. After you gain people's trust you could use them to get evidence and lead you to going to different places and advancing the story.

[SirRoscoe]

I'd like it if there was a more Metroid Prime like free roaming where you could unlock or find reasons to go to different places throughout Gotham. You could have Wayne manor/Batcave/various mini-batcaves be a central hub and go to different places from there. Like if you found evidence that incriminated the Penguin at a mafia boss's hideout, you could get access to his club and sneak around there while still retaining a similar set up to the Arkham Asylum game.

One thing I don't like about super hero video games is that the secret identity is always ignored. Sure some people like Bruce Banner and Clark Kent wouldn't be fun in games, but they are part of what draws people into the characters. I don't think its that all secret identities wouldn't be fun, so much as, the way that they've been handled has been bad. I'm insanely excited for Arkham Asylum, but it won't ever be the perfect Batman game for me, no matter how good it is, simply because Bruce isn't in it.

Bruce isn't like Clark Kent, where he is simply acting like a nobody. Bruce could be fun if done correctly. Having him train at the mansion could be cool. I think it'd be cool to use Bruce to help get access to different things info, evidence, technology, and places. Bruce often uses people so personally I think it'd be cool if there were a social link system like in the later Persona games, where you could get to know people and get benefits and an interesting story for doing so. After you gain people's trust you could use them to get evidence and lead you to going to different places and advancing the story.

That's a good idea about the Batcave and other hubs around Gotham. And I also agree with the Penguin set-up. No doubt the set up in his hideout and multiple hideouts around Gotham will be smaller compared to Arkham Asylum. But one of the bigger challenges is translating this game's gameplay into a whole city and do it seamlessly.

I may have to differ on the alter ego though. The main problem with that is even though we the gamer know Bruce is Batman, in the game itself the rest of the world sees Bruce as Bruce. And thus, limited to the public persona that Bruce shows. The training aspect is probably the only scenario that we can show off Bruce as he really is, and it's only an aeshetic change. And that's also why that social system won't work as well. Gaining trust as Bruce then gaining evidence as Batman, see where it ruins the purpose of a hidden identity?

[Pushtrak]

I sent emails long ago to companies like Sony and Microsoft with suggestions for a Batman RPG.
Neither of those would make such a game with their own studios. One of them might publish such a game.
Your idea is cool, but I suggest that rather than simply play as Batman (which is what everyone wants to do), you choose to become either a hero, villain, or just a vigilante.
With such a path, you could make it more an RPG than just stat based (which isn't an RPG). However, that wouldn't draw as many people, as people would want to play as Batman, obviously.

Were it a case your idea were to become reality, it'd be a great game. Would take ages for such a game to be developed, and thats even if its not that long a game.
IEach villain could "own" a section of Gotham, like Crackdown or GTA, and you'd have to defeat them all to advance.
I like it.
Also, hopefully Batman wouldn't be the only character playable.
I don't like it.
For the o.p. I think that IF a m.p. mode were added in a second to fourth player could jump in and choose a character like nightwing, robin, or (idk who else) and play with Batman
No thanks.
The Dark Knight game was intended to be a sandbox; they didn't have enough time to finish it :(
That particular studio had no experience working on sandbox games, and were having serious problems with the development. Article (http://kotaku.com/5132660/why-pandemics-batman-game-was-canned-and-how-it-killed-pandemic-au).
A sandbox game for Batman wouldnt work the same as it did for Spiderman. These character are story driven, first and foremost most people want a good story.
You can have both. Case in point, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. Don't think Oblivion, its story was very weak compared to Morrowind.
They will essentially have to take all the gameplay aspects of Arkham Asylum (the silent predator, the free-flow combat, the detective mode) and apply that to a sandbox style game.
Indeed, it'd require a completely different approach to those aspects. Level design would be considered to integrate with those questions, for example.
I believe the majority of people only want a open-world Batman game solely on the transportation (admit it, the 1st thing a majority of people will do is drive the Batmobile around the city). That's what drives a lotta gamers to desire GTA Batman, easily forgetting the technical challenges that have to be overcome to make such a game as memorable as Arkham Asylum.
I think driving around in the batmobile would be awesome. Trying to create an engine that'd be good for driving sections, predator gameplay, detective gameplay... I think there aren't many developers who can take a bite that big and make it work. I mentioned already (in another thread), to stick to the driving point that games that have small driving sections usually have terrible driving sections. The engine just doesn't really work with them.
Oh and by the way, a big NO to controlling alter egos in gameplay. They NEVER work. It didn't work for either Spider-Man or the Hulk, and it sure won't work for Batman. People don't want to play as Bruce Wayne to see the day to day operations at Wayne Ent., they want to be Batman and bruise criminals left and right.
I actually think it would be interesting to have a part of the game where you have to play as Bruce Wayne. I don't think such a feature should be so prolific in the title, but it'd be cool to integrate it in some way.
and damn right i want proper detective work... not following floating dna and tabacco signs ;).
In the absence of being able to go to the batcave, that works fine.
Really the best idea would be having these missions being solve-able by different routes...
Yeah, I like that kind of approach. It gives replay value to a game.

[Rebreather#62]

I don't, because there have been times when Bruce has used people to say too much, and then go as Bats and bust them. I also didn't mean it to be that for every place you would need Bruce, but more like some you use Bruce to get a better edge on someone and some Bats goes out and does what he do.

[chadam813]

Ok to start off it is a great idea BUT I wouldn't want a batman game like this, i think we have seen this too much, spiderman 2 and 3 after the story is done it gets beyond boring and tiring. I like the idea but no I wouldn't like it, ill just get bored of it, unlike with batman arkham asylum, I love it its so fun and I won't get bored besides too many games out there get old within the first few days especially when they include a superhero into a sandbox style game, ill stick with arkham asylum, and for those who won't believe me not getting bored of Batman arkham asylum, just look at Batman Begins on the ps2 I still love that game and its not a sandbox.

[Nemesis296]

This idea is a really great one, but it would have to be executed so carefully and with such great care, that it is almost too unrealistic to think about. Open world games are tough because they almost have to be repetitive. Think about Spider-man 2. (I won't even touch Spider-man 3...that game was a disgrace to all superhero games...) It had a decent story, and allowed you to go anywhere in New York City. You could even goto the Statue of Liberty with enough time and patience. Anyways, this game got so old so fast because the missions you helped people out with to get your "completion" rating up were just the same old same old missions. Fight these guys...this woman has gotten her purse stolen! etc etc. It was fun at first, but got old for me really quickly. The thing I had most fun with was just swinging around the city, and then climbing to the top of the tallest building and seeing how fast I could smash into the ground, or see how close I could come to not dying...I think my speed record was 203 miles per hour.

Anyways, the point is this Batman game would be a huge task. You're talking about having vehicles that can be driven at a moment's notice, not only on the ground, but air and sea too. That adds a lot more complexity to it just with that; not to mention that you'll be looking for the stealth mechanic of Arkham Asylum, which in a big scale city scenario wouldn't really work too well.

It's a good idea, but it would need a LOT of thought...that's why it would take at least 4 years to make ;)

[daklog]

lots of great ideas by paulley and others in here, and i agree with him about the detective stuff, tbh it looks pretty simple in arkham asylum, and it would be cool for a game to go a bit more in depth with it... to the guy who thought batman wasn't much of a detective... why the hell do you think he's called the worlds greatest detective?? his mind matches his body, both extremely fierce and trained to the peak

[ForkInSocket]

Couple of quick thoughts:


Time of day, NPC's:

I just can't see Batman brushing past pedestrians during the day, he draws too much attention, and he's not exactly going to sign autographs. I think the vast majority of the game has to take place at night, or in dark/isolated locations to make sense.

Pedestrians aren't much of a problem for the Batmobile at night, and it can be kept off sidewalks with natural traffic barriers.

Batmobile, quick transport:

The Batmobile could be both driven manually, and on autopilot using waypoints (like the GTA Taxis) but with a twist: Since the Batmobile can pilot itself anyway, Batman would be free to control the gadgets. These autopilot trips could trigger an occasional Spy Hunter type minigame through Gotham: destroying villian barriers, grappeling lightposts for hard turns, dropping smoke or road spikes to counter pursuers, etc. The mechanic could be used for any of the vehicles. When Batman is driving manually, no gadgets, no combat, no potshots at pedestrians or buildings for no reason. Simple.

Crime:

Crime should be plentiful, with Batman attempting to reduce crime levels by fighting thugs running missions throughout areas of Gotham proper, like Infamous, Saboteur, etc. When I think Batman, I think dark alleys, slums, bridges, and rooftops, industrial areas. This is where Batman would spend a lot of his time away from the main story.

Archvillains:

The villians would control various territory in Gotham: Freeze in some sort of chemical plant, Firefly in a steel factory, Penguin at the zoo, Riddler takes over a library, Ivy at the arboretum, etc. Not very creative, just an illustration. These would be huge areas that are either locked, or suicidal to assault at the wrong time, and represent major plot points in the game.

Enemy NPC's, Bat signal:

Mini-boss villains could be randomly generated (a la Diablo/Uncharted) at any time during the game. These would be challenging fights, and unlike the common thugs and punks, you'd respond to the Bat signal to confront these. They could be used to give you some additional gameplay even after the main story has completed while you collect the remaining clues/riddles/evidence you missed.

Wayne Manor/Tower:

Bruce shouldn't spend much time in Wayne Manor, but it would be fun to explore. Maybe as a repository for trophies and achievements. I like the way Lara Croft's mansion was handled in Tomb Raider: Legend, perhaps there are some ideas that can be gleaned from that game.

Assaults on Wayne Manor and Wayne Tower would also be cool. It would be fun to defend the home turf. Perhaps even a couple of fist fights as Bruce Wayne. I have to say though, I wouldn't want to play an entire game set in either one of them. Too confining.

Batcave:

The Batcave would be the place to go to review crime levels and hotspots (which could be color coded by enemy strength), to look over current and future objectives, research and develop new weapons and examine evidence.

I'd like to see frequent visits to Gordon as well, perhaps to answer the random bat signals.


This is just what I would like to see, it could be a nightmare to implement with polish, I don't know. I think with a Batman: Arkham Asylum-style sandbox game much of the gameplay would have to involve collecting evidence and speaking with witnesses and characters, maybe even solving some puzzles, to feel like you weren't just fighting all the time (like inFamous). It's not GTA4, you're not Nico Bellic, you don't need new clothes, and you're not taking skanks on dates for variety. The filler content has to come from somewhere. I'd love to see Rocksteady pull it off, but it's a tall order.

At least Paul Dini agrees with us:

CBR: After this experience, are there other aspects of Batman’s world you would like to see a game built around?

Paul Dini: Oh sure. After being trapped for a hellish night on Arkham Island, it would be fun to let Batman stretch his “wings” a little. Gotham is a huge arena and we could take him anywhere in the city --- or maybe everywhere in the city. That would be a challenge!

[Paulley]

This idea is a really great one, but it would have to be executed so carefully and with such great care, that it is almost too unrealistic to think about.

Very true. You could spend years just thinking through ideas for a title like this.

Couple of quick thoughts:
I just can't see Batman brushing past pedestrians during the day, he draws too much attention, and he's not exactly going to sign autographs. I think the vast majority of the game has to take place at night, or in dark/isolated locations to make sense.


Thats where i see the idea of Bruce Wayne coming in.. you walk about your manor and batcave during the day... treating it like Lara Crofts and doing all your upgrades and achievements... then down in the cave you walk up to your Batsuit in the glass case then suddenly its night time and your batmobile is whizzing you off to your selected location.

---

I would like the idea of it becoming a "B:AA clone" when you enter certain areas.. i.e. you enter a supposedly abandoned warehouse a you find your having to pick off Two-Faces goons etc..

Even the mechanics used in B:AA the grappling and gliding could work as you go building to building.

And yes id want Gordon to call me in to look at a crime scene just to add variety and something different that no other sandox game could really do.

You have gotta give credit to Rocksteady they are trying there damnedest to incorporate all these aspects in such a restrictive situation. By the looks of it there gonna pull it off and hopefully this will be the start of Superhero games being taken seriously and not just god awful tie-ins.

[ForkInSocket]

Thats where i see the idea of Bruce Wayne coming in.. you walk about your manor and batcave during the day... treating it like Lara Crofts and doing all your upgrades and achievements... then down in the cave you walk up to your Batsuit in the glass case then suddenly its night time and your batmobile is whizzing you off to your selected location.

---

I would like the idea of it becoming a "B:AA clone" when you enter certain areas.. i.e. you enter a supposedly abandoned warehouse a you find your having to pick off Two-Faces goons etc..

Even the mechanics used in B:AA the grappling and gliding could work as you go building to building.

And yes id want Gordon to call me in to look at a crime scene just to add variety and something different that no other sandox game could really do.

You have gotta give credit to Rocksteady they are trying there damnedest to incorporate all these aspects in such a restrictive situation. By the looks of it there gonna pull it off and hopefully this will be the start of Superhero games being taken seriously and not just god awful tie-ins.

I just don't think there's enough content when you play as Wayne. I'm assuming daytime's duration would be dramatically shortened to compensate, but even so, what would Wayne be doing during this time? He runs a corporation, not much to do there. He's already trained in Arkham, so I doubt he'd need to be sparring or training with dummies for any real reason.

If he's doing detective work, he's probably in the Batcave, and daytime is completely irrelevant in there. I suppose he could sit in the Manor and monitor the news or something, but I dunno...

You just can't have endless night, I know that much. What's brilliant about B:AA is that they have a location suitable to a wide variety of enemies and settings, as well as being large enough to allow a functional free-roaming component. Because it is technically just one isolated location, you don't have to worry about breaks in action, and how logical it is for Batman to be outdoors beating up thugs during the day.

But I'm probably giving this too much thought....

[Rebreather#62]

What's with people acting like Batman never goes out during the day. Of course his usual work hours are at night, but does anyone seriously think that if some big crime happened during the day, that Bruce wouldn't suit up and go out?

Bruce, if done properly, could be a fun and important part of a game. Personally I don't ever want going to work to be the sole secret identity game play. For Bats, I 'd like to be using people for my advantage, making people believe Bruce isn't Batman, creating gadgets, seeing Lucius for new equipment, and training and doing stuff at Wayne manor sounds excellent. People need to stop limiting their imaginations to playing as Bruce as being just going to work. Even at work there could be some corrupt businessmen/women that gets Batman pointed in the right direction in solving a case if Bruce buttered him/her up enough (example for my idea)

One thing I think would be cool is if you could donate money to Gotham as Bruce to repair buildings, improve schools, and other charitable acts to make Gotham a better place. It could be cool to see the progress of your Gotham as you play as Batman. Like some dirty run down part of town becoming a booming lively place.

[DropkickDisco]

i'm not really a fan of open-world games, the content rarely feels developed enough on its own

i'd rather have a focused game

[Nemesis296]

i'm not really a fan of open-world games, the content rarely feels developed enough on its own

i'd rather have a focused game

I kinda agree with this in Batman's case. Open world games are very difficult to pull off because of the sheer amount of content that needs to be in the game, and the way that the environment has to be handled; characters interaction with each other, and with Batman and villains, plus the ability for Batman to scale buildings. The idea is just turning more and more into Spider-man. While the idea of using Gotham City sounds awesome, I think it will take way too much effort to pull it off to the point where everyone will say it's the "next best thing" if you know what I'm saying. This game (B:AA) took 3 years for Eidos/Rocksteady to make, and it is focusing on Arkham Island by itself. Imagine how much longer it would take to take everything in this game, and add it to the entirety of Gotham City, complete with vehicles, Bruce Wayne interaction, building your own gadgets and having random assignments pop up all over the city.

Don't take this the wrong way, but don't be surprised if a game like that, as awesome as it would sound, never gets developed. It would take 10 years, and most companies would not spend that much time on a video game. Unless it was to make more money than all of their other titles combined, it wouldn't be worth the investment. And these days, you can see just how picky people can get, the game would never sell; plus the predecessors of open world games is completely against the idea. I think Infamous was the first open-world game that was of any success in the past 5 years...(I don't really count GTA as open-world because you can't really go ANYWHERE, you are limited to a bunch of different places that you can interact with including the mayhem of driving cars and killing people :lol:)

If you can find a company that was willing to invest in the idea, I'll definitely play it though :)

[Pushtrak]

I kinda agree with this in Batman's case. Open world games are very difficult to pull off because of the sheer amount of content that needs to be in the game, and the way that the environment has to be handled; characters interaction with each other, and with Batman and villains, plus the ability for Batman to scale buildings. The idea is just turning more and more into Spider-man.
Or Crackdown. Have you played that? I'm assuming not. Check this out (http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/crackdown-review).

[SirRoscoe]

I don't know about 10 years making a game like this, but 4 years sounds more like it. It all really depends on the size of the development staff and how well they're focused to the common goal. And the idea of creating a GTA Batman game is a very lofty goal. Not to mention a lot of people will STILL be skeptical (even with the success of Arkham Asylum). Perhaps a problem with a sandbox Batman game is...well, the daytime aspect. How do you handle it? If you're going to do Bruce Wayne, how do you keep him as compelling to play as his alter ego? I speak for a lot of gamers that I don't want to waste any time playing Bruce Wayne: CEO in a game about the world's greatest crime-fighter. Anything beyond training is asking for a little too much. Is it too much of a stretch that we have a permanent night time setting? Those are questions to ask when creating such an open game as this. And I guess that's why Rocksteady went with the Arkham Asyum setting, so they can avoid trying to incorporate things that may water down the pacing of this game, and focus on the things that really define Batman.

[Paulley]

One thing I think would be cool is if you could donate money to Gotham as Bruce to repair buildings, improve schools, and other charitable acts to make Gotham a better place. It could be cool to see the progress of your Gotham as you play as Batman. Like some dirty run down part of town becoming a booming lively place.

I like that.. once you have cleared a territory of the villain.. you invest money into it and make it a better.. kinda like in saboteur after you clear out the German's everything becomes in colour.

--

Yea Bruce bit should be scaled down to nearly nothing... this isnt 24 you dont have to control the character 24/7.. but being him briefly would be nice.. and with the option to get your batsuit on at will forcing it to become sundown.. means ppl dont get stuck as him for any length of time.
---

Most likely this game would never be made.... but then again i never thought a decent batman game would ever be made

[MCREF]

Rocksteady started out wanting to do an open world environment and if they decide to go back to it, who am I to complain about it? I think a Batman sandbox game would be very beneficial. The story flows (Criminals escaping from Arkham), it fits the character (Batman patrols Gotham), and it just overall works in concept as a follow up. I think people are getting a bit carried away with the open world suggestions, I'll give you naysayers that, but ultimately this is where I see a sequel going not because it's where I think the franchise needs to go but it's really the only place it can go. Arkham's like a vacation. Well.... for us anyway. It's great, but you gotta go home sometime and home for Batman whatever way you look at it is Gotham. If it's too difficult, then they should go linear but the fact remains that Gotham is naturally the next step.

[Kingblivious]

I see that as a risky experiment for developers. The sandbox design would probably make it a bit difficult to be stealthy, if not done right. Though, I'd love to play one executed correctly.

[SolidSnake_123]

I think it would be so risky,

[Navonod]

To solve the day time problem you could just make it like batman: No Mans Land, it'd also give you an objective of getting controll of all the zones controlled by criminal gangs

[vulcanraven213]

None of this sounds fun, it just sounds boring. -yawns-

[Mr_Scarecrow_Goes_To_Town]

Ok so i did post this in another topic but i thought the whole idea people were thinking needed its own thread.

A free roaming game where you play as Batman as you go off fighting crime across the streets of gotham.

If a sandbox Batman game was made by the lovely people that made this awesome game we are about to receive. How would you like it to look and what would you want to be able to do.

Transport
I would think that the city would be split up into many districts some featuring important locating GCPD, Wayne Tower etc and other locations like Wayne Manor/Batcave... as for getting around (and as much as you guys wont like this) i dont think the player should be in full control of the Batmobile/plane.. more like you swing back to the car you get in and you select the district/location you want to head to, then the car drives there blurry fast dodging all the people and gets you there in one piece.

Also say your at the cave you get in the plane then you choose a district and the plane flies there dropping you out (and when you want to go you grapple back into it and choose the next location.)

Maybe the only thing you could fully control would be the Batboat, traveling round the waters of Gotham.... lets face it having missiles and machine guns on your car/plane arent really gonna work in this sorta game or the sort of enemies he is taking on.

Gameplay

At night, you go out as Batman, stop muggings/robberies, play the mission, collection evidence/information, Interrogate low lifes (with force :P) and your other standard sanbox stuff.

from example

You may be wandering round the city and suddenly seen the bat signal in the clouds.

You call for the batplane and make your way to the part of the city where the police station is at then you glide down to its roof top where you meet Gordon.. starting cut scene where he tells you there have been two bodies found both killed with the same m/o but found in two locations.. you go to the location of one of the bodies and the game becomes CSI you look over the crime scene and collect evidence then...

During the day, you play as Bruce Wayne.. you walk about the mansion and train your fighting skills (new combo upgrades and stats etc) you choose to go to Wayne Tower and much like the earlier stuff you see yourself get driven by Alfred to the tower where you talk to Lucius Fox about new gadgets (Upgrades and new tech etc).. most importantly this is the time where you go into the batcave and analyze the information you gained as Batman and use your Detective Skills to solve the murders etc.

Then you go out and deliver brutal vengeance... i mean incapacitate the guilty parties and hand them over to authorities.

Design

Night time Gotham is absent of most ppl, very empty looking place with only the stragglers the late workers and the criminals.

While in the day time its full of ppl everythings bright as you get driven to the tower etc.

You really want it to show that as soon as it gets dark, it gets dark.. much like bruce in the mansion compared to bruce in the cave... it would be like as soon as the lights dim the whole city and everyone in it becomes darker and more depraved and psychotic including Bruce.

Story

Id love the idea of downloadable episodes, You get new plots to keep the storyline going and going. however for this that would mean noone could die which would not be too much a problem for the villains as bats doesnt kill but i would have liked to have been able to fail a mission and carried on and live with consequences.. but that would involve Batman failing so i guess thats out of character.

Anyway, id like to see the stories be very involve your racing against time to stop bombing using your detective skills to track down the bomber and his targets. You really using your time on the Batcomputer to go over all the info you collected as Bats.

Stories that revolve around Bruce Wayne sometimes more than Bats.. having a sabotage plot happening to Wayne Industries. Aswell as your "he's been kidnapped", "They have escaped prison", and "[badguy] plans to..." stories.


---

im sure there is more things to build on with this type of game.. but thats the base id start thinking with

I like the idea, however, I would suggest a sequel set after AA that deals with the blown up Gotham and how Batman must reclaim Gotham from the escaped rogues from Arkham, each having their own territory. And Paul Dini has to come back, along with Kevin Conroy.

[SirRoscoe]

To solve the day time problem you could just make it like batman: No Mans Land, it'd also give you an objective of getting controll of all the zones controlled by criminal gangs

Only if we can get Two-Face, Penguin, and Black Mask vying (sp) for territory. And we can have Luthor as a final Boss :D

[ohkay]

Walking around Wayne Manor like in the Tomb Raider games (Croft Manor) could be cool...

[door noob]

Walking around Wayne Manor like in the Tomb Raider games (Croft Manor) could be cool...

And the cave, and seceral other notable locations.:D

[T-Perry]

Well you guys do know there was already a free roaming batman game for Playstation one right? Batman & Robin. Its always been my favorite game of all time (until arkham) It had a huge map and was 100% free roaming, do what you want gameplay. 75% of what people are suggesting in this forum, you could do in that game. Ill defend it until the cows come home because nobody has given it the time it needs liek i have, so the controls are ridiculously easy for me and I can make it look pretty good.

[Turn and Face the Strange]

Well you guys do know there was already a free roaming batman game for Playstation one right? Batman & Robin. Its always been my favorite game of all time (until arkham) It had a huge map and was 100% free roaming, do what you want gameplay. 75% of what people are suggesting in this forum, you could do in that game. Ill defend it until the cows come home because nobody has given it the time it needs liek i have, so the controls are ridiculously easy for me and I can make it look pretty good.

If they could do a surprisingly superb sandbox game on the PS ONE, why not a blatantly brilliant Batman game on the PS3/360?

(I adore alliteration, always)

[metalhead_dave]

I like the idea, however, I would suggest a sequel set after AA that deals with the blown up Gotham and how Batman must reclaim Gotham from the escaped rogues from Arkham, each having their own territory. And Paul Dini has to come back, along with Kevin Conroy.

Did you just give out spoilers? Namely the end? I hope to god you didn't!

[Paulley]

Yes i have been thinking about the territory thing.

i would be good to have to mange the crime rate in Gotham.. say it was split up into 5 or so districts/territories each with there own main gangs, the more you patrol and fight crime in an area the lower the rate of crime.

However, the more you patrol one district the less attention you are giving to the others and crime rates will soar, when they reach a certain level a super villain will break out of Arkham / Blackgate and take control of that territory's gang. forcing you too oust out that crime lord before you can really lower the crime rate in that area.

--

Features of this would be

That it gives the lesser villains, i.e. Scarface, and the ones that are more about the money; Penguin etc, more of a purpose in the game.

The rate of crime will effect the look of the city.. the higher the crime the more run down it looks.. the lower the crime the more Wayne is able to donate and restore an area.

As Bats you could visit Gordon and get him to delegate more of the GCPDs cops to an area.. either to help you or to manage an area your too busy to patrol.

the fringe of areas could get in to gang wars.

im sure there is more.

--

Also in regards to the crime lords thing i wouldnt want each territory to have only one place that the boss is hold up in... i think each location should have a variety (6 or so) fully explorable locations/buildings, excluding already explorable Bat-centric locations (Wayne Manor, Batcave, Wayne Tower, GCPD), and have the crimelord end up in any of these locations so it isnt easy to find the boss and take him down. Though it would be nice if some of these location have a higher probability that a specific criminal will use it (i.e. a msg comes up on your Bat computer screen, after you realize you have neglected an area of Gotham, that the Penguin is free/escaped.. but you notice that the territory has the Gotham Zoo located in it.. and the Detective in you thinks aha i got the little bastard.. maybe he's there maybe he's not but its the best goddamn place to start)