Batman: Arkham Knight Announced with Trailer

Rocksteady has wasted no time in their development of another Arkham title with Batman hitting the streets of Gotham once again to round up the criminals. The trailer lasts an awesome four minutes and  depicts Gotham, overrun with criminals and villains like Two Face and Penguin. The city seems to be in the process of being evacuated as citizens flee in terror. Thomas Wayne, father of Bruce narrates the trailer as Batman jumps into sweet looking new Batmobile and kicks some butt.

The trailer looks great and the game is looking a little different from the previous Arkham titles. Bruce, while still muscular looks a little slimmer. He's not quite as buff and his arms don't look to short for his body. His body looks more realistic and more proportional than it had before. That kind of bothered me in the other games and I thought he always looked a little strange. His suit also looks, Blacker? There's definitely something cooler looking about the suit but I can't quite pinpoint it.

Despite how awesome it looks though, this announcement is also very surprising, especially after Arkham Origins was just released in October. Arkham Knight is already available for pre-order and is currently slated for a October 14th release. That's a pretty fast turn around for a game. I'm wary for what this means for the Arkham series. Arkham Origins was met with generally postive reviews, but many noted the game was more of the same and did little to mix things up.

So what does that mean for Arkham Knight? Is it too soon for another Arkham game, or does it just need to be done right? Will Rocksteady take the advice of the fans and change things up a bit, or should we expect more of the same? And on that note, what do you want from this new entry? What would really get you excited for this game? Speaking of exciting things, I almost forgot to mention, Rocksteady also revealed that sweet new Batmobile is integral to the game and Gotham is being built to accommodate some driving! Yeah, just think about that for a little bit.

Bethesda Announces "Hearthfire" DLC for Skyrim

Bethesda recently announced some very unique DLC for Skyrim that will allow players to build and customize their very own house. Hearthfire will allow you to construct your own house outside of city walls on your own plot of land where you can fill the insides with a multitude of items and furnishings. 

  

 

A new drafting and carpenter's table allow you to craft items that will fill your house. Looking at the video that was released with the announcement of Hearthfire, it looks like you'll also be responsible for crafting not only your furniture and decorations, but even the fine details such as locks and hinges for doors will be important in constructing your home.

You'll be able to construct various rooms that meet your characters needs such as an alchemy lab, mage's tower, training room, an armory or even a trophy room. The trophy room in the video shows off some awesome looking trophies which look like preserved enemies ranging from trolls and Draugr, to Hagravens and Dwemer sphere warriors.

The customization doesn't end inside though;outside you can build gardens and other areas responsible for harvesting food and consumable items. Stewards can be hired to maintain your home, provide transport and deliver furniture to your home as well. A new adoption system will allow you and your spouse to adopt children to live in you house. You can raise your children by assigning them chores or playing a game with them. In maintaining your house, it is important to wipe out skeever infestations and fend off those nosy, dumb giants to protect your family and livestock.

This is a new level of customization to The Elder Scrolls and should be popular among players. Allowing players to build a house to their liking is so cool because you can really interject your character's personality and skills into the game. If you're a mage or an alchemist, having a large greenhouse, garden, and mage's tower complete with a lab can be built to meets your character's specific needs. If you have a lot of rare weaponry and armor you want to show off, you can now build an entire room dedicated to displaying your collection. Being outside of city walls and being able to choose your own plot of land is even more intriguing since you can find the perfect climate and piece of land to settle your estate on. 

 

Right now, Hearthfire is only slated to release on the Xbox 360 on September 4, for 400 Microsoft points. As for the PS3 and PC however, there has been no word on when or if they will receive the Hearthfire content. This raises concerns, especially for PS3 players who are still waiting for the release of "Dawnguard" the first DLC released for Skyrim. Dawnguard has been available to Xbox 360 players and recently to PC players but is still not ready for the PS3 due to "performance errors". 

I'm sure Hearthfire will be released on the PS3 and PC eventually but Bethesda is playing catch-up still. Bethesda VP, Pete Hines explains that they "are working on multiple projects, even beyond those two things," and that Hearthfire will not effect the work on Dawnguard for the PS3. No release date on Dawnguard for PS3 has been given but we can only hope that it will be soon.