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I've been putting off talking about Batman: Arkham City ever since I read the spoil-tastic description of what seems to encompass Harvey's entire role in the game. On top of that, recent reports on how they plan to depict the Penguin also made me roll my eyes and solidified my apathy towards the game.
No, game creators, Oswald has actually NOT "always been portrayed is as quite an aristocratic, well-spoken gentleman who's got these twisted delusions of grandeur," thus necessitating you to re-envision him as "a really horrible, nasty piece of work - but still with the delusion of grandeur." Oh, so you mean, Danny DeVito's Penguin, which has subsequently influenced comics' Penguin by making his a crass, nasty, ugly, brutish thug--and subsequently a far less interesting character--more often than not? Because if that's the case, you're not doing anything different with the character to actually make him better or more compelling.
Since last week, I've been waffling as to whether or not I should finally post about B:AC now that we got a better glimpse of Harvey's character and voice in trailer where nobody noticed Harvey because they were all too distracted by Catwoman's ass:
My Henchgirl, wearing her fan-hat as the now increasingly-internet-famous (and it's about damn time!)![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
dr_von_fangirl, posted her own Selina-related thoughts right here, and she nails the pros and cons better than any of the many comic news outlets weighing in with their own thoughts... none of which, I should add, are commenting on Harvey at all. Even besides the reasonable explanation of Selina!Ass by way of Selina!Badass, I fear that Arkham City Two-Face is painfully standard, and that he's not even going to receive any kind of fan boost the way Harley, Joker, and that ridiculous version of Scarecrow have. Seriously, Squishy looks like 25% Freddy Krueger and 75% Slipknot band member. And he has a fan following. Because of course he does.
As such, I still saw no need to write about this game. So hat happened? Welp, first-hand reports came out of the first ten minutes of gameplay at E3, some videos of which have made it to YouTube! Unfortunately, there's no straight-forward gameplay, just ones with creator commentary played over the top. That said, there are videos with occasional patches of clear dialogue, so for an expanded look at Harvey's intro in the above trailer, cue this video to 6:35 (picking up right at "FEEEEEAR... that's how we get respect," and notice what happens next):
Actually seeing the footage... well, it still don't look great, but there's one small but vital-to-me detail that the description in the like at top failed to mention. Let’s take a closer look at it in screencaps, all of which I’ll put behind a cut for those who want a pure gameplay experience.
( Spoilers for the (only?) Two-Face section of <i>Batman: Arkham City</i> )
I doubt we’ll get any such answers in B:AC. With Harvey snagged and hoisted by Batman by this scene’s end, it seems clear to me that Two-Face is out of the game entirely. At that point, the only things keeping me even mildly interested in Batman: Arkham City are Mark Hamill’s supposed final go-round as the Joker, the Riddler (a great shot of whom you can see in that last video if you cue to 17:10. I think he’s my second favorite character design in the game) and of course, Professor Hugo Strange. Especially Hugo, as this looks like a return to Hugo greatness that we haven’t seen in over a decade. I need to post that particular Gotham Knights story soon, even if I can’t still finish the Hugo Strange series for a few more months yet.
No, game creators, Oswald has actually NOT "always been portrayed is as quite an aristocratic, well-spoken gentleman who's got these twisted delusions of grandeur," thus necessitating you to re-envision him as "a really horrible, nasty piece of work - but still with the delusion of grandeur." Oh, so you mean, Danny DeVito's Penguin, which has subsequently influenced comics' Penguin by making his a crass, nasty, ugly, brutish thug--and subsequently a far less interesting character--more often than not? Because if that's the case, you're not doing anything different with the character to actually make him better or more compelling.
Since last week, I've been waffling as to whether or not I should finally post about B:AC now that we got a better glimpse of Harvey's character and voice in trailer where nobody noticed Harvey because they were all too distracted by Catwoman's ass:
My Henchgirl, wearing her fan-hat as the now increasingly-internet-famous (and it's about damn time!)
dr_von_fangirl, posted her own Selina-related thoughts right here, and she nails the pros and cons better than any of the many comic news outlets weighing in with their own thoughts... none of which, I should add, are commenting on Harvey at all. Even besides the reasonable explanation of Selina!Ass by way of Selina!Badass, I fear that Arkham City Two-Face is painfully standard, and that he's not even going to receive any kind of fan boost the way Harley, Joker, and that ridiculous version of Scarecrow have. Seriously, Squishy looks like 25% Freddy Krueger and 75% Slipknot band member. And he has a fan following. Because of course he does.As such, I still saw no need to write about this game. So hat happened? Welp, first-hand reports came out of the first ten minutes of gameplay at E3, some videos of which have made it to YouTube! Unfortunately, there's no straight-forward gameplay, just ones with creator commentary played over the top. That said, there are videos with occasional patches of clear dialogue, so for an expanded look at Harvey's intro in the above trailer, cue this video to 6:35 (picking up right at "FEEEEEAR... that's how we get respect," and notice what happens next):
Actually seeing the footage... well, it still don't look great, but there's one small but vital-to-me detail that the description in the like at top failed to mention. Let’s take a closer look at it in screencaps, all of which I’ll put behind a cut for those who want a pure gameplay experience.
( Spoilers for the (only?) Two-Face section of <i>Batman: Arkham City</i> )
I doubt we’ll get any such answers in B:AC. With Harvey snagged and hoisted by Batman by this scene’s end, it seems clear to me that Two-Face is out of the game entirely. At that point, the only things keeping me even mildly interested in Batman: Arkham City are Mark Hamill’s supposed final go-round as the Joker, the Riddler (a great shot of whom you can see in that last video if you cue to 17:10. I think he’s my second favorite character design in the game) and of course, Professor Hugo Strange. Especially Hugo, as this looks like a return to Hugo greatness that we haven’t seen in over a decade. I need to post that particular Gotham Knights story soon, even if I can’t still finish the Hugo Strange series for a few more months yet.
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