Batsuits Comin' (Nod Ya Heaad)

Opinion from Cormac - Monday, 22 August 2011 @ 11:10pm

Doctors told me that two months was a healthy time to start getting excited about something. Especially where pre-orders are concerned, as that shows time management skills and budgeting. Said I was showing definite signs of improvement and may even score more asylum leave.

With that in mind, let us have a look at which retailers scored which goodies as far as skins, downloadable content, collectors editions and all around shininess goes.

So we’ve all seen the collectors edition by now

That’s a Batman statue by Kotobukiya, art book, early access to the Iceberg Lounge challenge map, soundtrack, a bonus batman skin, four collectable cards and animated movie Batman: Gotham Knight (which I’d recommend). This one’s available everywhere retailing at about $149.99, however EB Games also has the slightly cheaper Steel Book edition.

For about $50 cheaper RRP, you get a steel case for the game, early access to the Joker’s Carnival challenge map, another bonus skin and Batman: Under the Red Hood on Blu Ray for PS3 or DVD for Xbox 360. Again, if you haven’t seen Under the Red Hood, look it up. It’s a fantastic movie in it’s own right but also shows that animated Batman can survive without Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill.

Also EB are getting some shiny controllers that do things.

Interesting only in that they appear to have a standard D-pad, which I thought Nintendo had a patent on. But hey, I wouldn’t want to go to court with Bruce either. So oddly enough, I’m getting these controllers in the hops of better control of fighting games.

All that out of the way? Aces. Let’s talk Batsuits.

Is it my imagination, or is Arkham City Batman standing much more awkwardly than the rest?

I sank hours into the challenge maps after the completion of Arkham Asylum, and now rocksteady are offering me the chance of the same experience with added dress ups. Allow me to introduce, left to right, the lovely Batmen we have on offer this evening.

I loved this series. It took just enough queues from the earlier animated series and mixed it with just enough of something new. Terry McGinnis made a unique addition to the bat-family, fulfilling the role of essentially who I think Jason Todd should have been. The good hearted street punk who takes charge of his own destiny, steals the batsuit and becomes protector of a new Gotham.

Aesthetically it’s great to see this character brought to life in a more realistic setting. It’s probably too much to hope that any character but Robin will have their own separate arsenal, so I don’t expect to see him using jetboots instead of grappling hooks but it would be nice to see animations of the high tech cape in real time.

Terry is currently in cloak mode in any Arkham City pre-order through GAME.

Arguably the most historically important take on the character, in terms of how we view a modern day Batman. Taking him from an almost camp* do-gooder to a brutal vigilante. This also happens to be the version of the character I have tattooed to my arm. It explained why Bruce, without any superpowers to speak of, gets to play with the big boys like Superman. Because he’s the mean one, the one who’s thought of and prepared for everything. He’ll break your kneecaps, laugh about it later and pay for every knee reconstruction surgeon to be on holiday for the next few weeks. Watching this guy pull of some of the more brutal combo finishers should satisfy a nerd-boner nearly twenty years on the making.

This aggressive lug comes with any collectors edition.

I admit I had a bit of fanboy fail here in that I had no idea who this bat was or how he had any claim standing next to Frank Miller’s magnum opus. Turns out he hasn’t appeared in print yet (thanks wikipedia!). He’s coming this September as part of DC’s whole 52 reboot business.

These guys have at least done the smart marketing thing by throwing him in with Robin and TAS Batman (likely to be the two most popular) and thereby throwing him in the public eye.

Whoever this is comes with JB Hi-Fi pre-orders.

Nanananananananananana BATMAN!

Who Bats was before Dark Knight Returns. Fairly bright colours and punches 100% pure POW! A good slice of history and I do like the yellow oval symbol, but this doesn’t grab me as the others do.

Pre-order at EB if your favourite colour is blue.

People tend to give me funny looks when they ask who my favourite Batman actor is and I say “Kevin Conroy.” Nevermind Keaton or Killmer, this is the Batman I grew up on, and the series has actually aged well. Hell, Conroy reprising his role is half the reason I picked up Arkham Asylum in the first place. With the exception of the aforementioned Under the Red Hood, watch any animated or video game take on Batman, and the actor is doing their best Kevin Conroy impression, not voicing Batman.

That said, watching this character kick grunts in the business and break bones may either sabotage or fulfil childhood dreams. Not sure.

The Dark Deco to pre-orders with JB H-Fi.

With his own arsenal of gadgets and special moves, this is probably the strongest bonus content on offer. Robin has come a long way as both a character and a concept, often brought to life best by writers who think he’s lame. While Drake is the obvious choice, I would have much preferred to see him as part of the main story line than bonus challenge content. He’s a character known more for his intelligence and emotion than combat prowess. That said, I may yet be proven wrong, in both departments. I hope that he features at least peripherally in the story, plus I’m assuming that his staff combos will make me wish for more Gambit in games.

The essential sidekick of any JB Hi-Fi preorder.











While that’s an impressive casting, word around the rumor mill is that more will follow. Since pre-orders are more or less set in stone, I’m going to assume other costumes will be downloadable content, possibly thrown in with other challenge maps. Much as this has some of my favourite takes on Bats, is Dick Grayson too much to ask for? As Robin, Nightwing or Batman. Preferably Nightwing. In your own time Warner Bros. His own game would be cool too. So long as you’ve already built the character model I mean. It’s just economical.

Let us know you're favourites of those listed and hopefuls for the future. As for where to pre-order, I'd rather not recommend any particular retailer and simply state what's on offer. Me, I currently have pre-orders placed at three locations, but please don't follow my example. I'm fucking insane.