"I am Batman!"

Also who is going to have time for anything in October?

can't fuckin wait

Sounds awesome to me.

Thank god. Today has been a shitty day for video game news...

How many are spent in a room alone with Harley Quinn, that's what I wanna know.

Only 40 hours? I demand at least 60+ for a game to be considered worthwhile.


Also, I am so getting this game.

as a hardcore Batman fanboy who follows the comics like religion, and as a gamer who found Arkham Asylum to be a Grade A game even if you were to change the characters and settings, i am PSYCHED.

(P.S. Bruce Wayne forever! Dick Grayson never!)

lets hope the extra time is deserved and not just filler

But how many disc will the Xbox 360 version come in and can we start putting single disced games in multiple disc boxes to make them seem important and shiney like during the PSX era?

Awesome! Games aren't nearly long enough these days. 40+ hours should be a perfect time waster.

I'm wet for this game.

That's pretty amazing. My only gripe with Arkham Asylum was that I was enjoying it so much I wished it had gone on longer. 40 hours is up at RPG length. Can't wait.

So on board with this

That's because it's an open world game and those are always a waste of 20 hours because you spend most of the time just driving from mission to mission and they fill up between missions with arbitrary fetch quests and busy work. This seems to go against everything that makes the first arkham assylum good (short but focused on fun) I don't see how you guys can be excited about this.

this game is going to be so awesome

@llort: excited cause I don't believe Rocksteady will pull that. Everything they've said about the world, points to making it interesting and not boring. I can't find my gi that had the last preview but I believe one of the quotes was "something is happening around every corner and in every alleyway".

"We have around 15 hours of story that's off the main path." Doesn't sound like 40 hours total, instead, 15 of the reported 25 hours being devoted to side-missions.

Hell, I love the sound of 40 hours, though!

@llort I'm with you. "Open World" may spell disaster here. Crossing my fingers it doesn't end up as GTBatman.

@llort het
Have you even been following this title?

1) Driving from mission to mission? What? I'm going to give you some credit and assume you meant traveling in general, to which I say Rocksteady has said that Arkham City is a very condensed city where getting from point A to point B won't be anymore of a hassle than in Arkham Asylum.

2) What gives you any idea that the mission structure will stray from Arkham Asylum? Because it's open world? That somehow completely turns it into fetch quests and busy work? What kind of logic is that? That's like saying something is bread, therefore it must always be this type of bread with this type of breads characteristics.

Have a little faith. Sheez. Everything the team has been saying all over the internet and print from day one has echoed all the fears they KNOW people will have over this game going open world (or rather, more open) and they have promised time and time again that they will not stray from the Metroidvania roots that Arkham Asylum had. Making Arkham City open world doesn't suddenly inherently change the entire game.

And in Arkham Asylum the main campaign was short, the extra bullshit was nothing but a fetch quest. A fun one but a fetch quest nonetheless. This 40-hour count includes all the extra crap. If all you want is the main campaign it's there too, and there is nothing to suggest it's at all as bad you expect it to be. And if what you're complaining about is the bonus stuff, in Arkham Asylum that was ALL fetch quests and busy work, so what are you complaining about? Just have a little faith and barring that you kick me in the face when the game comes out and I'm totally wrong and you're totally right. In the meantime though, c'mon.

@Jay Boc

Read the whole article.

"It takes over 25 hours to complete the main stories in Batman: Arkham City"

"The side missions in Batman: Arkham City are a good example. We have around 15 hours of story that's off the main path."


25 + 15 = 40

So long as the quality is good throughout, having more is nice. Just don't make it a Castelvania where you've got maybe three hours of rewarding gameplay and twenty hours of dull bullshit. One of the things I loved most about Enslaved was that despite "only" being about six and a half hours long, none of it felt like filler and it stayed enjoyable enough throughout my second and even third play throughs. I can finish RE3 in under two hours but I've played it twenty times over because every part of it is great. Grand Theft Auto 4 was very long but I didn't even finish it once because it just bored the piss out of me.

Quality > quantity, folks. Every time. Length doesn't mean shit if the game isn't good enough in the first place.

@xzyliac

I guess I am being overly negative, but Arkham assylum was nothing but setpiece after setpiece, no real filler conten at all. I'm pretty sure that's physcially impossible to keep going for 40 hours. Im just afraid there's going to be at least some missions which involve running around the city searching for 5 Xs before you can advance the plot, or I have nightmares from assasins creed where you have to walk from mission to mission (because you reminded me no batmobile) and are perpetually being harrased by enemies

*impossible to keep going for 25 hours

I guess because that's the length of the campaign. Side missions are totally okay even if they are fetch quests

You DO NOT fuck with Xzyliac when it comes to this game.

I love how the comments ALWAYS start of positively and then some grumpy arsehole starts off the downward spiral. Wah wah wah the bouquet of this wine isnt adequite.

I just hope this doesn't get delayed. It's easily one of my most anticipated games this year, and I want it sooooooooooooooo badly.

I just hope we don't have to fight the same two types of enemies throughout that 40 hours of content.

Did the first games really take people 20 hours? Remember were talking Dev Hype-time so I doubt it will really last you 40 hours. I imagine it will still be a great game.

YES! More delicious Arkham madness to pleasure myself with!

I cannot wait for October to get here!!!!

I don't remember how long just beating the first one took, but I know that between the story, the challenges, and the riddler bullshit I completed, I spent a good 30 to 40 hours with the first game. And I enjoyed every fucking minute of it.

Cannot wait to play this game. Easily my most anticipated title this year.

I don't remember how long just beating the first one took, but I know that between the story, the challenges, and the riddler bullshit I completed, I spent a good 30 to 40 hours with the first game. And I enjoyed every fucking minute of it.

Cannot wait to play this game. Easily my most anticipated title this year.

yes.

I would love for it to be 40 hours but IGN did run a quote that said the main campaign can be completed in as few as 8 hours if you're a real champ. They took that to mean that the 15 is part of the 25. Just saying that this might not be completely accurate and that Shane Saiyan shouldn't be a dick to Jay Boc who did read the article.

You can tell Rocksteady cares about the franchise and their customers satisfaction. Refreshing in today's environment where most devs devs are shorting their games, deliberately leaving content out only to charge you for it later. Charging you $10 for a 108kb download to unlock something you already paid for once. It appears some developers still believe in quality and content. Not figuring out ways to charge us more for less.

Based on the source interview, the logical conclusion is 40 hours total. If that's the case then what I want to know is how it will be possible to complete the supposed 25 hour campaign in 8 hours?

Cannot wait to smash Two-Face's head in!

Oh no... I already dumped enough time into AA and it wasn't even that long of a game.

@brod

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/116/1168990p1.html

The quote they reference: "You'll be able to complete the main Batman: Arkham City campaign missions in eight hours if you rush through it like a "ninja" QA tester."

Obviously, people are going to want to take their time and enjoy/explore but I don't see how something that takes a pro 8 hours will take an experienced gamer an additional 17. Just trying to provide some additional info that I read.

@llort het
I wouldn't fret mate. Rocksteady seems pretty in tune with all the usual open world gripes. And yeah, Assassin's Creed Syndrome is certainly a thing to fear but I don't think the chances of that happening are too good. Not from what they've been saying.

@mrandydixon
I likez da batmenz. What can I say?

Hope it's true, Arkham Asylum was a bit short for me as it took me at least 3 days to complete.

Loved the first one and was sorry when it finished so more hours will be fantastic as long they contain the same great gaming and exploration for extra xp. I hate it when you reach a level cap before the end of a game as in the Fallouts. Makes the gameplay less rewarding.

@Wally Any side of his head in particular? Which face do you hate most? Was I the only one that laughed when I saw the disfigured side for the first time in Batman Dark Knight? It's just the way he turned with that big eyeball glaring angrily...