Batman's Arkham City Is Five Times Larger Than Arkham Asylum

Batman: Arkham City’s... er, city, will be bigger than Arkham Asylum’s overrun and corridor-filled island. The name of the follow-up implies as much. But just how much bigger will the new game world be? According to game director Sefton Hill, Arkham City will be about five times larger than the game world in the previous game. I'm bad at math and I don’t have exact dimensions at hand, but that sounds like a lot more space! 

“The footprint of Arkham City is about five times bigger than Arkham Island, but our primary intention was never to create a bigger game world just for the sake of it,” Hill told GameSpot in a short interview. 

Hill went on and explained that Batman will be able to go wherever he wants in the new game world and will indeed encounter some side stuff reminiscent of open-world games, like missions, secrets, and brawls. However, the critical path will always be clear. Also, he made it clear that Arkham city isn’t a sandbox.   

 
 
 
“I wouldn't describe the game as ‘sandbox’ because a totally open and free-form game world would not allow us to create the kind of atmosphere that we wanted to,” Hill continued, “but we don't hold your hand either. Arkham City is its own place; a massive super prison, jam packed with supervillains, thugs, and psychopaths.” 

“There aren't any rules, but it has a law of its own, and this is why it is a perfect setting for Batman. Gamers will have to think and act like the Dark Knight if they want to survive in a place like Arkham City.”

Earlier, Hill said that the team is trying to recreate the “pressure-cooker” atmosphere from the first game. So, even though Arkham City is several times larger than the island of the original, Rocksteady will attempt to make you feel like you need to progress in the actual game instead of wandering the streets looking for a thug or six to smash. Sounds hot, right?