by David “Aussie Dave” Lobato, Reporter, and Jayden Leggett, Assistant Editor

Before too much time drags on and this information loses its relevance, we feel we should describe the joy we experienced at the Warner Bros booth playing Batman: Arkham City – Armored Edition during Sydney’s EB Games Expo. Yes, this is an enhanced version of a game that has already been out for a while now, but what an enhancement it is…

Being slightly redesigned specifically for the new features of the upcoming Wii U, Batman: Arkham City – Armored Edition adds a great new dimension to the game, and masterfully incorporates the Wii U gamepad’s touch screen into many aspects of the gameplay.

In a deliberate move to make you feel like you yourself are the Batman, and holding a real piece of WayneTech in your hands. The touch functionality grants players to all sorts of interactive features such as the obligatory map, but also some unnecessary but infinitely cool character bios that give the sort of descriptions and information on Batman’s enemies that you would expect the Caped Crusader to have stored away in his Batcomputer. We felt stupidly cool as we drooled over the extra dimensions of immersion this element of input brought to the game, as it was undeniably awesome.

At other times during the gameplay there are points when Batman interacts with the environment and looking on the main screen is rendered unnecessary, as the gamepad screen is where that particular action occurs. Apart from the admittedly straight forward task of touching the screen to select your weapons or gadgets, when in “detective mode”, the player moves the gamepad itself around, using the screen to view the environment as it would appear through Batman’s technology-enhanced eyes, further cementing yourself into feeling like you truly are the Dark Knight, using his technology right in your very own hands. Nerd-gasm inducing stuff indeed.

Another obstacle arose that further required the use of the gamepad’s motion sensors. A switch on the other side of a locked gate prompted us to whip out our remote-controlled Batarang, and again moving the gamepad itself controlled the projectile’s flight path. This was incredibly tricky at first, until I realized that I could slow down time by holding a button, and after doing this I was able to follow the laser sight of the Batarang to reach it’s destination and open up the previously locked gate.

Further enhancements and upgrades are present, most notably Batman’s new armored-look suit which comes with a powerful rage mode, and players can also expect to use touch-controlled explosive gel and all sorts of other goodies and extra missions. Fighting off thugs is as brutal and fun as it ever was, in case you were wondering…

In short, this game will rock even more than the original version did. If you never experienced Arkham City on PC, Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, this is definitely the version we would recommending getting your hands on (in addition to a Wii U, otherwise owning this game would just be pointless and silly). ComicsOnline is definitely waiting for Batman: Arkham City – Armoured Edition with sweaty anticipation.

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