A Tale of Two Batmans
Batman has had a good year. Between the New 52, Arkham City on consoles and The Dark Knight Rises, its a good time to be The Bat. Both Arkham City and DKR received very strong reviews (although both suffered in comparison to their predecessors) and both represent very high achievements in their given mediums (the blockbuster game and the blockbuster film, respectively). But to really see how far these two art forms differ, one need only look at how each work handles the character of Bruce Wayne/Batman. To put it simply: Bruce Wayne is the main character of DKR, while Batman is the main character of Arkham. In DKR, even when he has the cape and cowl on, the focus of the film is Bruce Wayne. Bruce Waynes quest, Bruce Waynes goals. His traumas and tragedies and triumphs. His struggles to overcome himself and stop the villain. Every step of the films plot is built around the arc of Bruce Wayne as he shirks, puts on, loses, and rebuilds the identity of Batman. The character is generating the story.
In Arkham City, Batmans personality is that hes voiced by Kevin Conroy. His role in the game is to go from place to place, beat the shit out of whoevers there, get the next piece of information, then go to the next place and beat the shit out of whoevers there. Thats really it. While the supporting characters will discuss and call back to various encounters and personal histories, Batman never has any personal stakes. Hes just, Batman. Sure, sometimes hes beat up and sometimes hes poisoned, and sometimes the game will TELL us that Batman is really angry or really hates somebody, but none of that has anything to do with the arc or plotting of the game. In Arkham City, Batman is not a character, hes something the player moves from place to place to viscerally experience the game. And again, that is totally fine for the goals of Arkham City. People buy the game because they WANT to have thrilling experiences vicariously through their digital avatar. No one buys a Batman game to confront the semi-fascist, psychotic nature of Batman. We buy the game because its fun to crunch down clown faces. Click "next" below for part 3, "The Best Video Game Movies";