Gotham City Impostors is a competitive multiplayer first person game that puts you in the role of “amateur vigilantes or villains” in Gotham City “overrun by impostors inspired by the DC Comics characters Batman and The Joker”. It is being developed by Monolith, the makers of F.E.A.R and Condemned, so we can likely expect dark grisly visuals and a tense atmosphere.

The game will apparently feature character customisation allowing players to “create their very own Bats and Jokerz characters” using tools that include “costumes, homebrewed gadgets and a wide range of traditional and imagined weapons”.

Warner’s senior VP of production and development, Samantha Ryan, said: “Monolith is creating a game that turns Gotham City upside down and we think fans are going to have a blast with this creative twist on multiplayer heroism and anti-heroism as they play up the classic rivalry between Batman and The Joker.”

As of writing there is no release date, but we are expecting it to arrive before Batman Arkham City’s October release date.

UPDATE:

According to Eurogamer “It’ll be online-only, with available weapons including an assault rifle, shotgun, pipebombs, grappling hook and a firework launcher called the Thunder Dragon. Monolith is yet to decide how many players the game will support but has stated there will be no bots.”

UPDATE 2:
Warner Brothers have released the first screenshot of the game, and we are genuinely surprised by the visual direction the game appears to be taking.

At first glances the game appears to be influenced by the likes of Team Fortress 2, with stylised, cartoony graphics, and a number of character classes, including heavies, and snipers. It may not be entirely what we expected it to be, but needless to say we are excited by the game’s potential.

You’ve clicked on this news story for one reason, and one reason only; your first glimpse at an official gameplay trailer for Batman Arkham City:

Needless to say the game looks stunning. Speaking personally I am particularly pleased to hear that Richard Moll is reprising his Batman the Animated Series role as Two-Face.

In recent Batman Arkham City news, developer Rocksteady’s Dax Ginn recently told CVG that you can expect Arkham City’s campaign to last at least 8 hours long, without engaging in any of the game’s side quests.

Consider our collective pants well and truly soiled.

Batman Arkham City is due for release in Europe on the 21st October 2011. We will be reviewing it.

"No! I love you more!!"

Yup, just to make sure some exciting press is guaranteed rumors are circulating that The Bat & Mr. J will be hooking up for the most mentally unstable team in the history of gaming for the forthcoming sequel to the super hero sized hit.

One can hardly but sit back and stroke one’s white cat in bemusement… but don’t! No one is safe when both the Bat & the J are holding hands and making all kinds of plans!

These are crazy, crazy nights…

Reprising her role from Batman the Animated Series, Arleen Sorkin returns as the Joker’s deranged love interest Harley Quinn.

It is hard to imagine anyone but Arleen Sorkin lending their voice to Harley Quinn

Fans of the DC animated universe will also rejoice to hear that Corey Burton will reprise his role as Braniac from Superman the animated series, and Justice League. Will Wheaton, most famous for playing Wesley Crusher in Star Trek The Next Generation, will voice Robin and other famous TV face Dwight Schultz – Howling Mad Murdock from The A-Team – will play The Flash.

“The addition of these actors to our existing cast reaffirms our commitment to gamers to deliver the most fun and authentic DC Universe experience possible,” said Sony Online Entertainment executive producer John Blakely.  “They’re all experienced and talented performers and we’re excited for players to hear their work when they encounter them in the game.”

DC Universe Online is due for release early in 2011 for PC and Playstation 3. Stay tuned to The Newb Review for more coverage on this game as and when we get our hands on it!

The epic war of the consoles between Sony and Microsoft (the Wii isn’t made for gamers; see ‘iRate: Wii never play it really’) seems to have descended into a tit-for-tat squabble; each company sinking to new lows by securing the exclusivity of relatively minute amounts of individual titles. Sure, the Joker maps from Batman: Arkham Asylum are only available to PS3 customers, but does Sony really think that this pathetic half-step is going to incense XBox owners into purchasing the rival console?

The PS3 exclusive Joker Maps are no laughing matter for XBox owners

Don’t get me wrong, I use Sony only as an example here; Microsoft is by far the worst offender. Since launch there have been a number of DLC exclusivity deals struck by Microsoft, but here are perhaps the two biggest: Grand Theft Auto IV and Fallout 3.

What makes this worse is the overall quality of this exclusive content. The DLC for Fallout 3 in particular has been met with some mixed reactions. It’s difficult to argue that Mothership Zeta and Operation: Anchorage achieve anything other than detracting from the overall quality of the Fallout experience. Also, our very own Luke ‘Mightyles’ Mears didn’t think much of The Ballad of Gay Tony.

The Ballad of Gay Tony? More like the Ballad of Gypped PS3 Owners!

The word “exclusive” is also something of a misnomer in this context. With the exception of the Joker maps for Batman: Arkham Asylum (although time will tell on that one), almost every piece of exclusive DLC has been a timed exclusive. So after a period of time the DLC is launched on the rival console anyway, usually to the complete disinterest of gamers everywhere. Only the most hardcore fans of Fallout 3, for example, are going to shell out an extra £30 to get their hands on the five packs of new content. The majority will leave it on the shop shelf where it belongs.

Bad DLC in itself isn’t a massive issue, but when the companies we rely on to produce quality products that are worth our time and money begin to shell out large amounts to secure bad content, you know that something is awry. The global gaming industry has become so concerned with rivalry and getting one up (intentional cheeky Mario reference) on each other that it has completely forgotten the people in the middle, the people that really matter, us bloody gamers! And exclusive DLC is living proof of this.

A prime example of timed exclusive DLC not worth the wait

Games developers should be committed to producing titles that deliver the complete experience for anyone that digs into their wallets to purchase a game. It doesn’t matter what format, gamers should be afforded the courtesy of this complete experience.

DLC exclusivity is a corruption of this. Not only are developers selling off parts of the “experience” to the highest bidder, but by doing so they are segregating their audience, causing increasing disillusionment with the developer. We shouldn’t be punished for choosing one console over another. The only kind of exclusivity The Newb Review can endorse is for a full title. Furthermore, by selling off the rights to portions of games through DLC, developers are not only showing a lack of backbone, they are also telling the world that they are driven solely by profit and that they don’t respect the very people to which their products are aimed.

Developers aren’t the only ones at fault though. The tit-for-tat rivalry between Sony and Microsoft, expressed through DLC, is nothing short of childish, playground bullsh*t. If they weren’t so willing to throw away cash carelessly, just to ensure exclusivity rights on the latest and greatest game ad-ons, the thought of exclusive DLC for consoles wouldn’t be so imprinted on the minds of developers, and perhaps us gamers would be treated a little less like mindless sheep.

This is a call to arms: gamers of the world unite. We need to tell the corporations to cease this petty battle for DLC exclusivity. From now on it’s full exclusivity for a title or nothing at all. No more of these petty half-steps to nudge people towards choosing your console.