crazy monkey
The worst kind of monkey.
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Isildur´s Heir said:
Isildur´s Heir said:
Wow. I absolutely love that idea.
However, I am a huge Batman fan, and have given my dream Batgame an unhealty amount of thought. You'll see what I mean...
'My' game is split up into actual six-hour periods, representing 11 PM to 5 AM. Each 'Night' gives you an opportunity to reduce the crime rate of Gotham, and the game can span as many Nights as you wish. You always start in the Batcave. There's a 'suit-up' cutscene, which is skippable, and you can peruse the armory, filling the slots in the utility belt with your gadgets of choice.
Next, the computer shows you a map of Gotham, with crime rates "computed from the latest police reports," and displayed for each section of the city. You pick a starting location, jump in the Batmobile and we watch a randomized mix of pre-rendered footage from different angles of the car racing to that locale while the area loads.
The rousing heroic theme music rises to a crescendo, the Batmobile screeches to a halt, and we're in the game. Now, it's time to bust some heads and deliver some justice. A Splinter Cell-like shadow meter keeps you out of the public eye (If you're seen by too many people, your reputation in the city decreases and the enemies become harder to spook, and therefore harder to fight. With a reputation of zero, the game is nearly impossible.) On the street level you're easily spotted, and you've got a paltry mini-map of two blocks. But on the rooftops, you're an invisible specter and the mini-map zooms out the higher you go.
Sounds also drift up with the roar of the city below: breaking glass, security alarms, gunshots, screaming victims, car chases, police sirens; each audio clue giving you a crime scene marker on your mini-map. Each crime scene visited and successfully dealt with will reduce the crime rating for that section and chip away at the City's overall crime level. (See? It feels like free-roam, but you've got a sense of direction.)
Street crime is all well and good, but the crime level will only inch its way down unless you tackle the big boys: the mob bosses, drug traffickers, and gangleaders that control the streets. Each section of the city has its share of dirty dictators. But to take them down, you've got to find them.
That's right, it's interrogation time! Shake down the thugs you trash, then use whatever information they spit out. Maybe it's a name of a bar, maybe a person, or a place and time. Follow the clue, and a scripted event in the game will lead you into a GTA-style mission (which you've got to finish before the Night is over, or begin them again at a later time.)
"Follow the mob boss's son home."
"Plant a tracer on the drug dealer's car."
"Find all the evidence in the trashed apartment."
"Bug the businessman at the charity ball." (C'mon, we gotta have some Bruce Wayne missions.)
For each crime boss you cripple, Gotham gets that much safer. However, each Night ends at 5 AM, and it's time to go back to the cave. There, you can train the Batman in a variety of minigames and examine any evidence taken from the crime scenes.
Pretty cool, no? But, it's not quite Batman yet. We need the Rouges Gallery. We need Arkham. We need a mystery. We need a way of pulling the player into an overall story without taking control of the game away from them.
We need the Batsignal.
That's right, as you stomp the cold concrete of Gotham, the signal will at certain times suddenly light up the sky (easy to do, since the outdoor portions of the game run on a real-time clock.) The game will ask you to answer the call, but you can opt to stay on the streets if you're in the middle of something. A fixed time later, and Gordon will hit the lamp again. Whenever you answer, the game loads a cutscene conversation with Gordon on the roof of police HQ that reveals the overall story involving the costumed villains and a good, twisty mystery.
Gordon will give you story missions. These are the big ones, and they come in two varieties: Leads, which you can follow right away or save for another Night, and Chases, which are time-sensitive to occasionally inject a sense of urgency. Once you begin a story mission, you're committed to finishing it, and cannot return to the Cave or the free-roam until you do.
Oh, and to avoid that tacked-on shoddy feel to any vehicle missions, I'm thinking piloting Batman's modes of transport should be entirely cut-scene based, with a "reflex meter" that rapidly shrinks for each turn, drift, jump and dodge your vehicle is forced to make. Hit the assigned button while the meter is still in the green, and you made it. Let it shrink into the yellow, and the meter will get shorter. Let it go red, and your car takes damage (as displayed in the cutscene.)
Why do the vehicle sections like this? Firstly, it will allow the game designers to concentrate on making one game, as opposed to splitting their focus, budget and quality testing on two (a action/adventure and a racing game.) Second, without the restriction of a first- or third-person camera, the multiple angles and fast edits will really contribute to a cinematic feel.
*Whew!* OK; I'm done. Thoughts?
-- END!
