Batman: Arkham Asylum Was a "Rhythm Action Game"

John Funk

U.N. Owen Was Him?
Dec 20, 2005
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Batman: Arkham Asylum Was a "Rhythm Action Game"



Sure, Batman: Arkham Asylum was awesome, but we could have gotten a very, very different product: It could have been a "rhythm action game" instead.

Speaking with critically-acclaimed [http://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2009/10/02/news_2F00_batmanarkhamasylumtidbits.aspx] Batman: Arkham Asylum revealed some hidden details about the work that had gone into the game.

For instance: Did you know that some of the motion capture for Harley Quinn was done using one of the (male) producers? Or that three cans of whipped cream were used to create the sound effects for the explosive gel? Over the course of the development of Arkham Asylum - a game in which the word "Joker" is said 384 times - the team (consisting of 14 different nationalities) said hello to six newborn babies.

The most interesting little tidbit of information, though, is that we might have gotten a completely different game:

[blockquote]Combat went through three distinct revisions - the first one being a full rhythm action game! The second one was prototyped in 2D, which popped up whenever you got into a fight, and involved colored circles bashing into each other. This actually formed the basis of the final system.[/blockquote]

...really? A rhythm action game? And a combat system with colored circles bashing into each other in 2D? Huh. I'm going to stick with the "fluid ballet of face-kicking" that made it into the final product, thank you very much.

(Via Joystiq [http://www.joystiq.com/2009/10/05/batman-started-as-a-rhythm-action-game-and-other-arkham-asylu/])

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hazabaza1

Want Skyrim. Want. Do want.
Nov 26, 2008
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That is... weird. I think I prefer the current idea, but maybe a little downloadable demo of the old system would be nice.

Pleeeeeeease, Batman?
 
Feb 13, 2008
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I just wish they'd kept Harley's old suit. That peekaboo-kevlar just doesn't suit her. Especially when there's no frissance between her and Ivy.
 

Jumplion

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Mar 10, 2008
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You know what, now that I think about it, Arkham Asylum would go great with this song [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-Nd5aWM2Ks]. Kickin' ass to the beat, man!

Then again, who wouldn't want to dance the jig as Batman? [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGl6OlSczdU&feature=related]
 

cleverlymadeup

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Mar 7, 2008
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that's pretty odd that they would have done that, i'm so glad they didn't do that. it's so hard to find good games based on comic books and more so if that comic is based on DC properties
 

LazerFX

Driver
Sep 10, 2008
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So... the game would have been one long Quick Time event? Sounds... horrible. I can't think of anything worse - glad they scrapped it!
 

Jaebird

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Aug 19, 2008
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I call shenanigans. There is no way anyone with a brain stem would want to even think about making Batman into a rhythm game. That's just stupid.
 

Visulth

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Jun 25, 2009
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My mind was just blown. I hardly know how to react to that; it's like someone coming up to you and saying:

"Oh, y'know, two days ago a meteor passed by the Earth. It was the size of Mexico. Would've wiped out the entire planet. Lucky it missed, eh?"
 

Noone From Nowhere

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Feb 20, 2009
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"Kick,punch, it's all in the mind!" so said PaRappa unto the Bat. Now the student is the teacher.
It is fortunate for us that Bruce disregarded everything the paper thin canid tried to teach him about fighting.
 

maxusy3k

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May 17, 2008
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I can see the truth in this pretty easily. Playing through Arkham on Hard it's very easy to quickly fall into a rhythm during the combat sequences, there's a formula of timing and movement that sticks true for every group of bad guys... very much like a rhythm game just without the actual prompts.
 

Valiance

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Jan 14, 2009
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I'd like to try it, but it's probably like DDR except with the occasional option of pressing Y or X to switch targets and start on a new one.

Which isn't a bad thing, mind you.

Kwil said:
"It's just a punch to the left..
.. and then a step to the ri-ii-ii-ight
A batclaw to their hips..
and pull the line in ti-ight."

And then some pelvic busting..
..it'll put them in pai-ai-ai-ain..
Let's do the counter again..."
Also, A+, would read again.