The GameOn Magazine - Free Special Editions Batman: Arkham Special Edition | Page 52

as the title progresses. It would have been
interesting to see how dangerous these
enemies were in larger numbers or more
confined areas, but we are hoping they will
make more of an impact than in this preview.
While roaming the streets Batman’s
Cryptographic Sequencer pointed to two
main types of side mission. The first, Crimes
in Progress, involved Batman reaching
a specific location around Gotham and
encountering Black Mask’s forces. We foiled
a bank robbery, with a group of tough
enemies including Armoured Lieutenant.
It felt natural and fitted in perfectly with
the story and feel of the game without
appearing to be a jarring additional mission.
Similarly, while flitting across rooftops we
discovered a Most Wanted mission. Here
Anarky has planted a series of bombs across
the city, which must be diffused using the
Cryptographic Sequencer within a specific
time limit. The chase across the rooftops

52 • GameOn Magazine

to the critical point was fairly intense and
required Batman to defeat a number of
enemies before the bomb could be disabled.
What was rather unclear was the rewards and
benefits of completing these side quests, but
there are many located throughout the city.
Our Cryptographic Sequencer directed us
to the smouldering wreckage of a crashed
helicopter outside a large building. Here,
another new gameplay element was
introduced: reconstructing crime scenes.
Using Batman’s detective abilities and the
Cryptographic Sequencer, it is possible to solve
various crime scenes scattered throughout
Gotham. After examining various pieces of
the wreckage and surrounding buildings,
we were able to create an interactive
reconstruction of the crash itself.
A timeline option becomes available, allowing
Batman to move throughout the sequence of
events as they happened, displayed in game as
a translucent holograph. Spotting something
suspicious before the crash happened; we
Batman Arkham Special Edition