For many, Batman: Arkham City is the best Batman game of all time. The story places Batman in an open world environment populated by some of his greatest and most iconic enemies, as well as with some of the best combat and stealth gameplay of all time. Arkham City truly was a monster hit and helped to introduce a whole new generation to the Batman mythos.
Arkham City is considered to be the pinnacle of the Arkham series, with Asylum being a solid game and the finale Arkham Knight being viewed as a slight disappointment by fans. Due to the influential nature of this game, there are several behind-the-scenes facts that would certainly interest fans of the series. All of the behind-the-scenes facts came from the Arkham City behind-the-scenes featurette, unless otherwise stated.
10 There's A Homage To Batman Returns
The creators of the video game wanted to help make their Batman game feel like it existed in the Batman universe. To do this, the creators not only populated Arkham City with Batman’s villains and iconic Gotham locations, but they also included hints and Easter Eggs to other interpretations of the Batman mythos.
Throughout the game, players can see several big Cheshire Cat heads scattered around the city. This is a nod to Batman Returns, with the Max Shreck’s department store having a similar Cheshire Cat head mascot. Additionally, some of the downloadable costumes for the playable characters are ripped straight out of previous popular incarnations of the Dark Knight's crusades.
9 Rocksteady Had To Grow As A Workforce To Finish The Game
Arkham Asylum was a tight and well-structured game. The story was based in the Asylum so, while still a large map, was small in comparison to other games. However, Arkham City’s map is over five times the size of the map in Arkham Asylum, since it encompassed a major part of Gotham City rather than isolating the action to a single building.
As a result, Rocksteady had to expand from their then 75-strong team to a team consisting of roughly 100 employees. This allowed the team to sufficiently create the incredible world of Arkham City.
8 Escape From New York Is A Major Inspiration
As with any property, Arkham City wasn’t written and completed in a bubble. This means that the game has influences from across the media world, whether it be other video games, movies, TV, or even music.
One notable influence is John Carpenter’s Escape From New York, the conceit of which is that Manhattan Island has been walled off into a giant prison. The movie, in turn, could also be said to have inspired the No Man's Land arc in the comics, where Gotham City is walled off from the rest of America following a massive earthquake. This saga also had a clear influence on Akrham City.
7 Harley Quinn’s Voice Actor Is Different
Harley Quinn found her beginnings in the seminal Batman: The Animated Series, with writer Paul Dini initially only expecting her to feature in one episode as one of the Joker’s goons. However, Harley proved so popular that she would return again and again, even entering the DC Universe itself before receiving her own stand-alone episodes, comics, movies and TV series.
Up until Arkham City, Harley Quinn had been voiced by the original actress, Arleen Sorkin. However, for the release of this game the role instead went to Tara Strong, marking the first time the role has been played by someone other than Sorkin. The reason for this was because Sorkin decided to retire from the role of Harley when Arkham Asylum was completed.
6 Arkham City Was Teased In Arkham Asylum
Sometimes, the unexpected success of a game leads to a forced sequel. However, this was certainly not the case with the Arkham series. The developers famously included a secret room with a map of Arkham City in the Warden's Office, hinting at what was coming next in the series.
This secret room is notorious among gaming Easter Eggs, with gamers being unable to find the room until Rocksteady revealed its location. Arkham Asylum has many secrets that many sharp-eyed gamers were able to find, so the fact that the developers were able to hide this particular one well is incredible.
5 The Batmobile Was Deliberately Left Out
The Batmobile is one of the most iconic elements of the Batman character. Not only is it a mode of transport but, as Arkham Knight would go on to show to an overbearing degree, it’s also a tool in Batman’s war on crime.
While initially considering including the Batmobile in the game, developers would go on to opt against the vehicle. They believed that the rough terrain of Arkham City wouldn’t work well with the car.
4 Kevin Conroy Likened Arkham City To Return Of The Joker
The Batman mythos is known for being dark. Unlike other heroes, Batman comes up against some of the most deranged, sadistic, and brutal villains in all of comics, with Joker being the most obvious example of this. Kevin Conroy, upon reading the script for the game, immediately commented on how dark the story was.
The veteran voice actor even went as far as comparing the game to Batman: Beyond: Return of the Joker, the feature-length Batman Beyond story that delves into the death and apparent resurrection of Joker in its futuristic timeline. A key similarity between the game and film is that Joker actually dies in both stories, and Batman is always there to witness it.
3 Robin Was Designed To Be Edgier
Robin has a reputation for being a bit of a lighthearted character since he's Batman's sidekick. While this isn’t necessarily true in the comics, this has become the case due in part to the various mainstream adaptations. After all, Robin is still "The Boy Wonder" and is usually only taken seriously after he becomes Nightwing.
So when it came time to introduce their Robin, Rocksteady wanted to make sure this was a gritty Robin like never seen before. Robin, or Tim Drake here, has a shaved head that was inspired by cave fighters, with darker tones across the costume.
2 Parts Of Joker’s Dialogue Was Rewritten Because Of Mark Hamill
Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill have been voicing Batman and the Joker (respectively) for so long that they have become intertwined with the characters themselves, being seen as archetypes of their respective characters among fans.
As a result, the production team were more than willing to change elements of their dialogue if the actor disagreed with the lines. Mark Hamill would often get so into the character that he would go off on tangents or ad lib, so the developers had to change elements of the Joker’s story and dialogue to keep up with this.
1 Rocksteady Maximized Its Major Warner Bros. Connections
The cinematic nature of games has been becoming more and more prevalent as the gaming industry continues to grow. Even in 2011, when Arkham City was released, there had to be a certain level of ‘Hollywood’ in the design and execution of the game.
Fortunately for Rocksteady, they had Warner Bros’ connections to use when building their game. In addition to using Warner Bros.' world class foley artists, the developers were also able to use the Warner Bros. lot to shoot guns and perfectly capture the sound and design of the weaponry.