'Batman: Arkham City' Classic Costume Skins Appear Online

Aug 1, 2011 by Ben Kendrick

Batman Arkham City Costume Skins 1970s Batman Preorder

Without question, Batman: Arkham Asylum is one of the most successful, and critically acclaimed, comic book-turned video game adaptations ever developed. Even more surprising, the title was embraced with open arms by die-hard fans of the caped crusader – the same people who normally scoff at alterations to the franchise canon on the big screen.

Following in the same fan-focused approach, Rocksteady Studios‘ upcoming sequel, Batman: Arkham City appears set to deliver a bigger action-adventure sandbox, a more complicated story, as well as plenty of nods to the various iterations of Batman over the years. In the last game, these nods were manifested through story lines, dialogue, and familiar items scattered throughout the environment. While Batman: Arkham City is sure to utilize a similar approach – the upcoming game will also be offering some not-so-subtle nods as well – in the form of several classic Batman Skins.

On top of playable Catwoman missions, Robin challenge maps, as well as numerous fan-favorite villains, as evidenced by the recently unveiled Penguin trailer, gamers will now get to swoop, grapple, and brawl, through the streets of Gotham in one of several bad-ass (and, in some cases, humorous) Batsuits.

While it’s unclear if the revealed costumes represent all of the available options (maybe more reveals are en route), the costumes no doubt offer something for everyone:

Check out the image below for the currently announced Batman costume skins:

In case you’re unfamiliar with one (or more) of the costumes, from left to right they are:

Batman Beyond
The Dark Knight Returns Batman
Batman Earth One
1970′s Batman
The Animated Series Batman
The Arkham City Batman

At this point, it’s unknown whether the skins will be unlockable in-game (similar to the challenge maps in Arkham Asylum) or whether they are preorder-only exclusives. Of course, even the preorder exclusive Arkham Ayslum challenge maps were eventually made available for purchase – so, even if they aren’t unlocked in-game, it’s likely that players will eventually be able to get ahold of the skins in time.

That said, if one of the Batsuits is especially appealing (no doubt The Animated Series skin will be a hot seller on ebay for awhile), the only way to 100% guarantee you’ll be able to suit-up in your favorite bonus skin is to pre-order the game from a specific retailer.

Details on US availability are somewhat scattered at this point but, according to ArkhamCity.uk, the preorder breakdown is as follows:

ShopTo.net (UK) or Toys ‘R Us (USA) – 1970′s Batman
GameStop.co.uk – Batman Beyond
MightyApe – Batman Beyond, Earth One, The Animated Series

Fans with a tendency to procrastinate can also get-in on the action – since the Batman: Arkham City Collector’s Edition will include a code for 1970′s Batman.

Given the amount of costumes available, not to mention that plenty of fans will undoubtedly want to sport more than one of the skins, it’s hard to imagine that the bonuses won’t be out down the line as paid DLC or even unlocked as players progress through the game.

We’ll keep you up to date as we hear more about the classic costumes – as well as what US retailers will be offering your favorite skin.

Follow me on Twitter @benkendrick and let us know which Batsuit you’re most interested in.