Batman: Arkham Knight Interview with Rocksteady Studio's Guy Perkins

Sometime next year, Rocksteady Studios' celebrated Arkham trilogy will conclude with its debut on the next-gen systems.

With it comes a series first, the Batmobile, which will allow players to traverse the game's enormous version of Gotham City faster than ever before.

We sat down to get a hands-on with the game (you can see what we thought here) and afterwards spoke to Rocksteady's marketing game manager Guy Perkins about finishing the story, the unfortunate delay until 2015 and creating its very own villain in the form of Arkham Knight.

IBTimes UK (IBT): Being a comic book character, Batman doesn't often receive definite endings. How did you approach ending Batman's story and did you feel any pressure?

Guy Perkins (GP): "Sefton Hill, who is our game director, had a very clear vision for telling a story over three acts - it had to come to an end at some point.

"It's a very personal tale that we're telling this time for Batman. He has a number of allies who he realises, through the course of his actions, are becoming affected by what he does.

"We have a team of scriptwriters in-house now, which means we change things much more quickly and create story threads more naturally, which we wouldn't have been able to do in the past. Really we are, like you say, ending the story. It's the end of our Arkham trilogy and we're really looking forward to fans getting their hands on it."

IBT: A common complaint with Arkham City was that there was a lot of travelling from one side of the map to the other. How did you try to remedy that?

GP: "Gotham is now five times larger than the area we had in Arkham City but the way the city has been designed and built is very much about accommodating the Batmobile – our big new feature – so the roads are much wider. We've also got even taller buildings so it's not just a bigger footprint it's also a much more vertical city.

"We've tweaked how the gadgets work as well, so the grapple shoots further, Batman's suit allows him to glide faster and further, the Batmobile offers different ways of getting around the city and with a single button press you can bring the car to you at any moment. So in terms of getting from A to B, you've got lots of options.

IBT: The villains of Arkham City were separated off into their own areas. In Arkham Knight, are they more free? Do they turn up in different places and interact with each other a bit more?

GP: "So in terms of the overarching story, Arkham Knight's forces are ever-present and all over the city, so you'll encounter them at numerous locations.

"We haven't really talked about many of the other rogues in the game – obviously we've confirmed Two-Face and Penguin – but their bands of thugs do appear all over the city.

"Scarecrow is essentially uniting the rogues to bring down Batman, which is his main goal, so there's a more cohesive set of enemy forces, if that makes sense, but they still like to play up to their own agendas."

IBT: You mentioned Two-Face. He was only in Arkham City for about five minutes. Does he have a bigger role in the new game?

GP: "He is in the game..."

IBT: He is in the game?

GP: "He is in the game. That's all I can say at this moment in time [laughs]."

IBT: Batman has a rich rogues gallery. How does Arkham Knight compare and contrast with existing villains?

GP: "He's a brand new addition to the Batman universe, which is a huge undertaking for us and it's a privilege to bring a new character in.

"His armour mirrors that of Batman, he knows Batman very well, but he's there to destroy him and to help him do that. He's brought along this entire militia force with soldiers, unmanned drone tanks and aerial drones.

"So the fact we have upgrades for Batman, which help deal with that, increases Arkham Knight's appeal and presence in the story."

IBT: The Scarecrow sections in the first game were hugely popular and provided many of the game's highlights. Were they fun to develop and is that why Scarecrow is so prominent in the new game?

GP: "The stuff from Arkham Asylum turned the perception of the game on its head, giving the players this kind of crazy experience where they thought the game crashed.

"So yeah, that was hugely satisfying to bring to life but Scarecrow is a really interesting character too, as far as both he and Batman use fear as a weapon.

"Scarecrow harnesses you're inner-most fears and turns them against you, and Batman does the same thing, just for good rather than evil.

"As a counterpoint to Batman, he's a really interesting guy to bring back and craft a narrative around."

IBT: Before Arkham Knight was announced, Rocksteady was believed to be working on a Justice League game. Was there any element of truth to those reports?

GP: "I thought it was Ninja Turtles [turns to PR], wasn't it Ninja Turtles [laughs]?

"No, we basically rolled straight off Arkham City into the concepting for Arkham Knight – so bringing the Batmobile in, next gen, having the entirety of Gotham, those were the three core pillars for our game design and that's what we started on in 2011 after Arkham City."

IBT: Maybe Justice League would be a natural progression for you guys?

GP: "Who knows... [laughs]. I don't know, we're just focusing on making this game the best it can be."

Batman: Arkham Knight is out next year.