Batman Arkham City

Batman: Arkham City  is a 2011  action-adventure game  developed by  Rocksteady Studios  and published by  Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment . Based on the  DC Comics  superhero  Batman , it is the sequel to the 2009 video game  Batman: Arkham Asylum  and the second installment in the  Batman: Arkham  series. Written by veteran  Batman  writer  Paul Dini  with Paul Crocker and  Sefton Hill ,  Arkham City  was inspired by the long-running comic book  mythos . In the game's main storyline, Batman is incarcerated in Arkham City, a super-prison enclosing the decaying urban slums of fictional  Gotham City . He must uncover the secret behind a sinister scheme orchestrated by the facility's warden,  Hugo Strange . The game's leading characters are predominantly voiced by actors from the  DC Animated Universe , with  Kevin Conroy  and  Mark Hamill  reprising their roles as Batman and the  Joker , respectively. The game is presented from the  third-person perspective  with a primary focus on Batman's combat and stealth abilities, detective skills, and gadgets that can be used in both combat and exploration. Batman can freely move around the Arkham City prison, interacting with characters and undertaking missions, and unlocking new areas by progressing through the main story or obtaining new equipment. The player is able to complete side missions away from the main story to unlock additional content and collectible items. Batman's ally  Catwoman  is another playable character, featuring her own story campaign that runs parallel to the game's main plot. Rocksteady conceived ideas for a sequel while developing  Arkham Asylum , commencing serious development of  Arkham City 's story in February 2009. The layout of Arkham City has a virtual footprint five times that of  Arkham Asylum , and the city design was modified to accommodate Batman's ability to swoop and glide. Over a year and $10 million were spent on the game's marketing campaign, and its release was accompanied by two music albums; one containing the game's score, and the other featuring 11 original songs inspired by the game from various mainstream artists.