Batman Arkham City PC Version Ships, OnLive Has Demo

News
By Kevin Parrish
published

Warner Bros. has finally shipped the PC version of Batman: Arkham City. Gamers can now check out an exclusive streaming demo via OnLive before making a retail purchase.

Batman crushes the competition once again in Arkham City.

On Tuesday Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment finally released Batman: Arkham City, the long-awaited sequel to the award-winning Batman: Arkham Asylum, for the PC after several unexplained delays. The game originally launched on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles back on October 18 and so far has received an average score of 94 and 96 respectively.

"Batman: Arkham City builds upon the intense, atmospheric foundation of Batman: Arkham Asylum, sending players soaring into Arkham City – five times larger than the game world in Batman: Arkham Asylum – and the new maximum security 'home' for all of Gotham City’s thugs, gangsters and insane criminal masterminds," reads the game's description. "Set inside the heavily fortified walls of a sprawling district in the heart of Gotham City, this highly anticipated sequel introduces a brand-new story that draws together a new, all-star cast of classic characters and murderous villains from the Batman universe, as well as a vast range of new and enhanced gameplay features to deliver the ultimate experience as the Dark Knight."

To play Arkham City, PC gamers will need to meet the following requirements:

Minimum System Requirements

  • Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP, Vista or 7
  • CPU: Dual-Core CPU 2.4 Ghz
  • RAM: 2 GB
  • Graphics Card: NVIDIA 8800 or ATI 3800 with 512 MB of VRAM
  • Sound: Microsoft Windows XP/Vista or 7 compatible sound card (DirectX 9.0c-compatible)
  • DVD-ROM: Quad-speed (4x) DVD-ROM drive
  • Hard Drive: 17.5 GB free disk space
  • Input Devices: Windows XP/Vista or 7 compatible mouse and keyboard

Recommended System Requirements

  • Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7
  • CPU: Dual-Core CPU 2.5 GHz
  • RAM: 4 GB
  • Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 or ATI Radeon HD 6850 with 768 MB+ of VRAM (DirectX 11 compatible)
  • Sound: Microsoft Windows XP/Vista or 7 compatible sound card (DirectX 9.0c-compatible)
  • DVD-ROM: Quad-speed (4x) DVD-ROM drive
  • Hard Drive: 17.5 GB free disk space
  • Input Devices: Windows XP/Vista or 7 compatible mouse and keyboard or Xbox 360 Controller for Windows

Batman: Arkham City is now available for Games for Windows LIVE, Steam, OnLive, Origin, GameStop via its 'Impulse Driven' download store and other digital platforms. Streaming game service OnLive also reports that it is now offering a free exclusive demo of the game for U.S. and UK-based gamers. Setting up an OnLive account is free and a small "app" is needed to play. This is a good way to check out Arkham City without sinking $50 USD up front given there won't be a released demo.

"A number of you have been asking about an Batman Arkham City demo so I wanted to get back to you with an update," Rocksteady said back in October. "As you know, we here at Rocksteady have been working like crazy for 2 years to deliver the best Batman experience we possibly can, and get this ready for the October 21st release. Unfortunately this has meant that there has simply not been time for us to create a demo for the game and I have been told there are no plans to release one in the future."

Want even more Batman love on your PC? EVGA recently announced an Arkham City special edition GeForce GTX 580 card featuring 512 CUDA cores, 1536 MB of GDDR5 memory at 4 Ghz, Nvidia 3D Vision Surround support and more. The card can be purchased from Amazon, Newegg, TigerDirect, CompUSA and Circuit City for around $509 USD.

Kevin Parrish
18 Comments Comment from the forums
  • mouse24
    I'm starting to really hate these gpu bound games, what does a phenom 2 x4 do me if the game only uses half its potential while simultaneously required a semi highend video card?
    Reply
  • jimmysmitty
    mouse24I'm starting to really hate these gpu bound games, what does a phenom 2 x4 do me if the game only uses half its potential while simultaneously required a semi highend video card?
    Games will mostly be GPU bound. While it would be nice if they cold use a CPUs potential, until the consoles jump ahead most games will be bound to run on that hardware mostly.

    That said, the game itself is fun. DX11 could use some fine tuning, a lot of people are having stuttering issues or performance issues all together but so far I have been enjoying gliding around and beating up the thugs.
    Reply
  • yay for poorly optimized console ports and day 1 dlc
    Reply
  • TheWhiteRose000
    Bought GTX590, it came with it.
    I've had it for weeks although I was able to start downloading it yesterday.

    :D
    Reply
  • _Pez_
    Ha... well I bought the game and it has a big Issue. That there is no way you can play it on DX 11 only DX9, so annoying!!, now I have to wait until it gets fixed, Because the gameplay looks choppy with my system GtX 580 SLi + GTX 285 dedicated physx corei7 920 @3.9Ghz. Here I let you know it better from a post of the WB Forums:

    PC DirectX 11 Issues Please Read

    We have received reports of performance issues from players of Batman: Arkham City on PC. After researching the matter, we found that running the game with DX 11 is causing the performance issues. We’re working on a title update to address this matter and expect to make it available in the near future.

    In the meantime, a workaround for this issue is to run the game with DX 9 instead of DX 11. Instructions on how to turn off DX 11 are listed below.

    We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience with your gameplay experience and thank you all for your patience as we work to resolve this issue.

    Instructions for changing DX 11 to DX 9
    The Launcher can be accessed on Games for Windows LIVE and Steam to change DX 11 to DX 9 in the Settings menu.
    Change both DirectX 11 Features and DirectX 11 Tessellation to OFF.

    Games for Windows LIVE
    Start > All Programs > Games > Right click on Batman: Arkham City and select Launcher > Settings
    1. Open the Start Menu
    2. Select All Programs and then the Games folder
    3. Right click on Batman: Arkham City and select Launcher
    4. Choose Settings then click on the arrow next to DX options to change
    Steam:
    Launch Steam Client > Library > Right click on Batman: Arkham City > Configure PC Options
    1. Open Steam
    2. Select Library
    3. Right click on Batman: Arkham City and select Configure PC Options
    4. Choose Settings then click on the arrow next to DX options to change

    Andy Cataldo
    US Community Manager
    Turbine Inc.
    "I'm not mad at all! I'm just differently sane!!"


    Reply
  • Supernova1138
    I have it, but I'm waiting for a patch to fix the DX11 problems. Right now enabling DX11 causes microstuttering and massive framerate drops into the single digits on occasion on my 6870. Apparently this a known issue with DX11 mode in the game that a lot of people are having. How this managed to get past QA with the extra month of development time, I don't know. If you can't properly implement DX11, don't bother doing it, or release it as a patch later on when you do have it working properly.
    Reply
  • joytech22
    Just started my download on steam. :)
    Got it for free with my GTX580 :D
    Reply
  • rantoc
    I would for sure try the OnLive if i want to know how the game looks and feels at absolute minimum settings with added input/video latency, if its playable there it will be an awesome experience on any normal pc!
    Reply
  • gerchokas
    Minimum Spec: Dual-Core CPU 2.4 Ghz - Recommended Spec: Dual-Core CPU 2.5 GHz??
    Are you kidding??
    And then they jump from an 8800gt to a gtx460... So my gpu will be burning to death while the cpu thinks im playing Mario...
    Reply
  • Swolern
    TheWhiteRose000Bought GTX590, it came with it.I've had it for weeks although I was able to start downloading it yesterday.
    Very nice! Thee 590 will devour anything you throw at it! I bet 2560x1600 @ 60fps looks jaw-dropping!
    Reply