De nieuwe game Batman: Arkham City is op dit moment nog in ontwikkeling bij Rocksteady. De ontwikkelaar heeft vandaag nieuwe details gegeven over de lengte van het verhaal en daaruit blijkt dat je niet zomaar klaar bent met het gespuis te verslaan.

Zo zal de game ongeveer 40 uur (!) in beslag nemen als je alles missies wilt gaan uitvoeren. Dit is het verhaal met alle side-missions erbij. Het verhaal zal volgens de ontwikkelaar minimaal 25 uur in beslag nemen, aldus Game Director Sefton Hill. En dan te bedenken dat het speelveld ook al aardig groot is.

“The Side Missions in Batman: Arkham City are a good example. We have around 15 hours of story that’s off the main path. It’s completely down to the player when and how they want to tackle this – there’s no right or wrong time. There’s no other medium that can offer this kind of flexible experience where the viewer gets to tailor the experience they want themselves.

In terms of narrative structure, I think games are much more analogous to an episodic TV series than a film. You have, say, 15 hourly episodes to fill, each requiring its own narrative arc but each plugging into an overarching storyline.

It requires a lot of planning to make sure that every single hour is consistent with each other, is feeding and driving towards a compelling crescendo, while remaining implicitly self-explanatory so players can pick up and play at any time and know what they are doing.

It takes over 25 hours to complete the main stories in Batman: Arkham City. To keep players engaged for this length of time, not only do the characters and the story need to progress, but the core mechanics of the game they are playing need to change and adapt as well.”