Rocksteady has provided new details on the various villains that will feature in Batman: Arkham Knight. In a discussion with GameInformer, art director David Hego outlined some of the challenges involved in re-imagining the Dark Knight's gallery of rogues for a third time. "We tried to add something to the characters so you're still excited about them even after meeting them for the third time," he said. "Every time, we make them look better and better and better, but at the same time, how can we improve the story behind them?" Lead character artist Albert Feliu also offered some colour for returning villains Penguin, Two Face and Riddler: "In Arkham City, [Penguin's] a collector. He works out of a museum and he looks like he's in the mafia. "This time, we went for autumnal mafia," Feliu added, alluding to the fact that previous entries in the series have taken place in winter periods. "We took the coat off, and the concept of Penguin was more of a dirty dude. Obviously his shirt is rolled up and sweaty, and he has food stains on it. But still, he's really powerful. "He's got a golden chain, as well. We had to be a bit crazy with this character, and working with his design. And we shaved his head. He's proper filthy, you know. It makes you want to punch him even more." Meanwhile, Arkham Knight's Two Face is presented much in line with previous incarnations, since Rocksteady was happy with those designs. "With Two Face, we thought he was a really strong character already," said Feliu. "We just rolled up his sleeves and made him look really next-gen. We took some references of really filthy, burnt flesh - which is what we do most of the time, which is quite cool - and tried to make him look as badass as we could." Finally, Feliu said Riddler will have more of a presence in Arkham Knight. "In Arkham City, you never really saw him that much. This time around, you see him throughout the game, and he evolves." As a character, Edward Nigma will also evolve over the course of the game, and this is something the studio has kept in mind when designing him. "If you had to work overtime, for example, you would start the night with your jumper on and everything, and as the time went by you'd probably take your jumper off, open your shirt, take your tie off, have a coffee. "The Riddler is a character who has a cool framework, and we didn't want to change it too much - we like his shirts with question marks and silly glasses and greasy hair." Billed as the "explosive finale" to the Arkham series, Arkham Knight will be released on PS4, Xbox One and PC in 2014. The game takes place one year after the events of Arkham City, when Batman is at the very peak of his powers, with all the villains teaming up to take him down. Players will also be able to get behind the wheel of the Batmobile for the first time in the series. Source - CVG
