Not too long after Arkham Asylum, we’re going to be blessed with Arkham City. From everything I’ve seen, it’s more and more of the same awesome stuff everyone loved from AA. Count me in!

Batman: Arkham City is the sequel to Batman: Arkham Asylum, based on DC Comics‘ Batman. It is being developed by Rocksteady Studios and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for release on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U, Microsoft Windows and OnLive. The game was officially announced during the 2009 Spike Video Game Awards and is scheduled for a worldwide release, beginning in North America on October 18, 2011.

Arkham City, like its predecessor Arkham Asylum, is an open world action video game that incorporates elements of stealth and predator tactics. All of the gadgets previously obtained in the first game are present at the start of Arkham City (with the exception of the Batclaw, it is the regular Batclaw instead of the Ultra Batclaw). Most of them have improved or new capabilities; for example, the Cryptographic Sequencer can also track signals, the line launcher now has a feature that allows Batman to flip over and launch another zipline in the opposite horizontal direction, the remote control Batarang now has a built in brake and boost, and the grappling gun can now be used while gliding to boost Batman further up into the air. An additional gadget has been revealed: smoke pellets to confuse enemies when spotted by them. The game incorporates more puzzle elements; the use of Batman’s “Detective Mode”, which highlights elements such as enemy skeletons and clues on-screen, is used to perform forensic activities such as tracing the origin of a sniper round.