We already know that Catwoman is a playable character in "Batman: Arkham City." Now, it looks like The Boy Wonder himself is set to make an appearance in Rocksteady's follow-up to their fantastic 2009 game, "Batman: Arkham Asylum." While Catwoman is built right into the game, there's a bit of a catch if you want to play as Robin right away: you're going to have to pre-order the game from Best Buy. Holy retailer incentives, Batman.
Retailer incentives – store-exclusive game features and characters – have become a bit of the norm these days. Of course, a lot of those exclusives are eventually put up for sale on your digital marketplace of choice, and Shack News has confirmed through Warner Bros. that Robin will eventually be available to everyone.
I should probably mention that this particular Robin is the Tim Drake version of the sidekick. For those of you who may be less familiar with Batman comic lore, Drake was the third boy to fill the red and green costume. The first Robin, Dick Grayson, grew up to become his own superhero, Nightwing. The second Robin, Jason Todd, was killed by the Joker after DC Comics held a telephone poll allowing readers to decide his fate (seriously, people hated Jason Todd). He eventually was resurrected – what do you want, it's a comic book – and became the Red Hood. That leads us to Tim Drake, who remained as Robin for nearly 20 years before breaking out on his own as Red Robin in 2009.
It's interesting that Rocksteady chose the Drake version of Robin, as he was never really the most combat-heavy iteration of the character. Drake was always more on the intelligence side, great with computers, and extremely proficient in his detective skills. That's why he opted to carry a bo staff, which you can see in the character image released by Rocksteady.
The "Arkham City" Robin package – you'll get a download code with your Best Buy pre-ordered game – also includes a Red Robin skin. While I haven't seen the Red Robin skin in particular, if it sticks close to the comic it will look a bit closer to Batman's suit (black cowel, cape, and a red suit underneath with the Red Robin logo on the chest). Robin is playable in two challenge modes, Black Mask Hideout and Freight Train Escape. Both levels are available to everyone, but only playable as Robin with the Best Buy pre-order.
Here's my question: why isn't Robin playable by a friend cooperatively? I realize not everyone wants to play through the campaign in co-op mode, but it seems like a logical design decision. I thoroughly enjoyed the single-player game in "Arkham Asylum" – sans the goofy Joker boss ending – but it would have been great to play through the campaign again, a buddy taking on the role of Robin. Now that Boy Wonder has been placed into the game's world, would it be that hard to make a cooperative mode? Come on, Rocksteady.
Want more "Batman: Arkham City" coverage? Be sure to check out my E3 preview.