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The Villains of Batman: Arkham Asylum Should Really Visit a Medical Professional

Posted by John Constantine

Let’s take a moment, shall we? We spend so much time reflecting on the influence of the 1980s on contemporary game design, we sometimes forget the looming retro reach of the 1990s. Not even 90s games, per se. Just the nerd zeitgeist. For example, at one point in time, people thought Todd McFarlane was a talented comic book artist. He drew things like this:

Look at that guy! How does he walk through doors? You’d think we, as a society, would have gladly left this sort of anatomical chicanery in the past. But no. No it lives on in our games. For example:

How do they walk through doors?!

Batman: Arkham Asylum, despite the fact that it’s shaping up to possibly be the best Batman game ever made, features character art that’s an unsavory confluence of McFarlane and Cliffy B’s legacy. A little bit of 1993 and a little bit of 2006, if you will. Take a look at these videos of Arkham Asylum’s Bane and Harley Quinn to get a look at what I’m talking about.

In fairness, Bane looks no more ridiculous than he ever has. He was born in 1993, so it’s appropriate for his modern videogame incarnation to have all those bulging veins. Harley, on the other hand, is kind of ridiculous. As I said in my preview, she fits the game’s vision of the Batman universe, but seriously. That’s some silly, silly character art right there.

That’s Arleen Sorkin’s voice coming out of Harley though. That is all that matters.

Related links:

Anything Less Than the Best is a Felony: Arkham Asylum Might Be the Best Batman Game Yet
A Silver Lining to The Dark Knight
Batman Can't Even Land a Punch on Superman in a Video Game
At Least Batman: Arkham Asylum's Story Will Be Good

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Posted Apr 17 2009, 08:00 PM

Filed under: john constantine, gears of war, cliffy b, warner bros, batman, rocksteady games, harley quinn, batman arkham asylum, warner bros interactive, todd mcfarlane, spawn, epic games, bane

Comments

LBD "Nytetrayn" said:

They confirm it's Sorkin? I only heard speculation, but that's great if so.

But at least it's not so arbitrary a change that they just expect you to accept that's what she looks like here; she actively acknowledges she has a new look, so that's cool by me. I don't love or hate the new look, but I'm just glad it's not one of those "that's how it always was" changes.

April 17, 2009 11:41 PM

AlexB said:

If that's not the original Harley, she's doing a bang up job. I'd be surprised if that wasn't her, though.

I'm all for the characters being redesigned as necessary for the sake of a "coherent universe of design," but I'm not sure they went the right direction with her. Too sexed up.

April 18, 2009 12:43 AM

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John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

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