Eidos expects Batman to score in the 90s

By Robert Purchese Published 11 May, 2009

Plus: next TR to "reinvigorate" franchise.

Eidos president Ian Livingstone is expecting Batman: Arkham Asylum to get "review scores in the 90s", and reckons the recent delay was due to "the right reasons".

"Everyone is so excited about Arkham Asylum," Livingstone told Gaming Indians whilst detailing the road ahead. "We're expecting review scores in the 90s and clearly when you have an amazing game like Arkham Asylum, you want to maximise its potential, so we think it's worthwhile going that slightly extra distance to make it the game it has to be.

"We're delaying it for the right reasons and no one is going to be disappointed because we've put in an enormous effort into it.

"For example," he added, "there was one person working on nothing but the cape for two years, so there are over 700 animations and sound clips attached to the cape alone. That's why it looks so beautifully realistic."

Batman: Arkham Asylum will launch later this year on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. Our hands-on impressions of the game can tell you more.

Championship Manager 2009 was also delayed so that Eidos can bring quality up to scratch. The game will launch on 1st July and Livingstone believes it has a "good chance" of finally beating rival management sim Football Manager.

"When we started working on Championship Manager without Sports Interactive, we started, not from scratch, but from a new position, and it has taken a couple of years to get the game up to the quality that we want. But I think most people will agree that the Championship Manager that you'll see this year will be at least comparable and perhaps better than Football Manager," said Livingstone.

"I can't guarantee that it's going to be better, but personally, I firmly believe that it's going to be a better experience because if you look at the forums, there has been some disappointment with Football Manager, and there's also been a lot of anticipation for the new Championship Manager. So we're back in the game, and we have a good chance of getting the win this year."

Livingstone confirmed there is a new Hitman game in development, although no details have been released. The Danish developer is also working on another Kane & Lynch title as well a Mini Ninjas game.

Livingstone said Deus Ex 3 will not be out this year, nor will any of the new IP Eidos is currently working on. One of those IPs may be Thief IV, but Livingstone was reluctant to confirm anything.

"Well, we did some research on all our franchises and the one that was most wanted was Thief," he revealed. "So you might want to draw your own conclusions, but I cannot confirm that."

Livingstone explained that the Kane & Lynch film is "getting close" to production, and he "understands" that Bruce Willis will be in it. There's also the possibility of another Tomb Raider movie and an animated television series based on Mini Ninjas.

As for the adventures of Lara Croft, Livingstone said recent instalment Tomb Raider: Underworld "met" expectations, and that the next game will "surprise a lot of people and reinvigorate the franchise".

"Underworld has met our target expectations, but it's a tough market at the moment. There aren't as many PlayStation 3s or Xbox 360s in the world as there were PlayStation 2s or PlayStation Ones. The hardware is quite expensive and production costs are rising," he offered.

"So there are certain challenges, but as a franchise, I don't think Lara Croft is going down at all. In fact, her popularity continues to increase.

"Not every game has been brilliant," he added. "Angel of Darkness is probably the dark point in her career. If you look at movies, James Bond has survived 40 years. Not all those films have been great, but the character remains strong. The next Tomb Raider, I think, will surprise a lot of people and reinvigorate the franchise. There are some remarkable things we're doing in the next Tomb Raider to make you say, 'Oh Lara, I love you so much!'"

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (42) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • ZuluHero #1 3 years ago

    "...Reports eurogamer who gave the game 7/10" :p

    I really liked Underworld, i thought it was really underrated. One of my fave games of last year. But then I've always had a soft spot for Lara (and her soft spots) :p

  • HonestJoe #2 3 years ago

    what happened to just cause 2 - guess that has also been delayed? c'mon eidos, sort it out - the japanese won't like all these excuses!

  • BlueDot #3 3 years ago

    I wonder how much "marketing cash" the game has. ;-)

  • Eraysor #4 3 years ago

    Not sure I'll believe anything Eidos says after the Kane & Lynch affair.

  • smernicki #5 3 years ago

    "there was one person working on nothing but the cape for two years"

    won't be sending my CV to eidos in a hurry

  • menage #6 3 years ago

    I liked Underworld as well, until the freaking blue lava and skeletons became the main focus. Why can't it just be pirates or other criminals. Does every adventure need some undead shit in there? I fucking hope Uncharted 2 stays on the good path and for once doesn't do stuff like that. They were almost there.

  • dsmx #7 3 years ago

    not sure he should be that optimistic edios haven't exactly set the world ablaze with their top quality releases recently. Most have been solid but nothing special.

  • PrinzPils #8 3 years ago

    Eurogamer Score: 90/10

  • alimokrane #9 3 years ago

    YAWN ... we'll see. Oh and Please fix your damnd website eidos... Information spread all over the place .. you dont where to go to look for information Sci, Eidos or Square now ?>??

  • wittynic #10 3 years ago

    They just need to drop everything else and make a Thief game as good as Theif II.

  • ebony69 #11 3 years ago

    To echo zulu, I finished TRU this weekend and its easily the best game I have completed in the last 12 months. Far far better than RE5 and Uncharted.

    The 'press' should be ashamed of their work on TRU - great game.

  • jonsaan #12 3 years ago

    so 6 then?

  • Darren #13 3 years ago

    Oh dear. A publisher stating that they expect a game to get rave reviews usually means that it won't. And something inside me, I'm sorry to say, secretly wants them to be so-so wrong for being so bloody arrogant in the first place. Have Eidos even released a 90% average scoring game in the last few years by the way?

  • evild_edd #14 3 years ago

    He should've leant from PM's tactics with Fable 2 and gone lower than he expected.

    Classic rule of sales: under-promise so you can over-deliver!

    The videos I've seen of the game did have a solid 7/8 score written all over them (a little like TRU, I suppose). Still, that'll rate it higher than the usual franchise/license dross we're used to.....

  • space_ace #15 3 years ago

    yes, it sounds like a 6

  • Doctor_What #16 3 years ago

    He's going to look really stupid if, when the game is released, every review says 'The cape is amazing, it's a shame they didn't put some of that focus into the rest of the game.'

    Uncharted > TR:U. Sorry, Tomb Raider was good, but the combat was pretty rubbish and the story limped through the finish line. Uncharted is a solid game made great by brilliant writing, presentation, audio, and animation.

    Also - Spoiler about the end of TR:U - I'm fed up of animators killing the final boss for me. I do all the hard work, then an animator steps into the control of my character and makes the killing blow with a move that I've not used in the previous eight hours. When are designers/writers going to stop doing this kind of dis-empowering rubbish in their games? Have they really got so little idea about how to finish a game's story in a satisfying way that they think someone else killing the boos will be fun or cool? The weirdest thing is that most developers probably don't even realise they're doing this.
    Edited by 1 at 11/05/09 @ 13:20

  • bratmandu #17 3 years ago

    "Eidos expects Batman to score in the 90s"

    Oh yea? I expect weed flavoured shreddies for breakfast but that don't mean it's gonna happen.

    Presumptuous old eidos, less gum flapping - more work, and employ some playtesters.

  • darkmorgado #18 3 years ago

    So it's better than Darkfall then?

    Sorry, someone had to say it!

  • ademkermad #19 3 years ago

    Good luck getting a 9 from Eurogamer... they'll only play the first 3 hours.

  • MORZTAN #20 3 years ago

    @CountFapula

    HAHA!! You beat me to it!! No that was excactly what I thought. That Gamespot episode is always accurring in my head everytime I hear about Eidos.
    Edited by 1 at 11/05/09 @ 14:21

  • space_ace #21 3 years ago

    the 90s are over, tim burton isn't coming back

  • seasidebaz #22 3 years ago

    Good luck getting a 9 from Eurogamer... they'll only play the first 3 hours.

    Funnily enough, I reckon that will be enough to do the single player AND some challenge rooms.

  • ArcMonkey #23 3 years ago

    "there was one person working on nothing but the cape for two years"

    He must be in therapy now surely.

    oh and think how it would look on his own CV

  • geeza2020 #24 3 years ago

    That cape guy will have some awesome jobs lined up i reckon. Working on Laras pony tail, the Thief's hood or maybe even the long jacket for the Deus Ex guy. The futures bright....

  • Monkey_Chops #25 3 years ago

    How pissed off will Livingstone be if the Metacritic score for Arkham Asylum peaks at 89?

  • spekkeh #26 3 years ago

    Has Eidos ever had a game that scored in the 90s? Just wondering..

  • TitusCrow #27 3 years ago

    "For example," he added, "there was one person working on nothing but the cape for two years, so there are over 700 animations and sound clips attached to the cape alone. That's why it looks so beautifully realistic."

    that guy must have become suicidal or got a drinking problem and a fear of curtains!

  • GamesConnoisseur #28 3 years ago

    mmm possibly will only scores 90% elsewhere OTHER than X360 reviewers, due to Joker being exclusive to PS3!!

  • SimonM7 #29 3 years ago

    Batman did score in the 90s. With Michelle Pfeiffer and Nicole Kidman.

  • rotmm #30 3 years ago

    @Simon,

    Actually made me chuckle ;)

    Well played.

  • HermitArcader #31 3 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • Turambar #32 3 years ago

    "there was one person working on nothing but the cape for two years, so there are over 700 animations and sound clips attached to the cape alone. That's why it looks so beautifully realistic."

    Now i'm no expert but isn't there magic physics based cloth simulations out there to stop people having to do this?

  • El-Dev #33 3 years ago

    700 animations in roughly 440 days of work for the cape, is that a good ratio of animations per day?

  • TravisTouchdown #34 3 years ago

    I'm hopeful that this will be at least the second comment upon it, but:

    "there was one person working on nothing but the cape for two years, so there are over 700 animations and sound clips attached to the cape alone. That's why it looks so beautifully realistic."

    God's wounds. And my heart goes out to Mr One Person - there's so much more to life, buddy.

  • TravisTouchdown #35 3 years ago

    Tenth comment upon the matter: Even better. When will these people learn..?

  • Silvervein #36 3 years ago

    Eidos expects batman to score in the 90's.

    Well, technically they are correct. Batman (the original movie) was quite a hit in the 90's...Eidos PR department might have used wrong tense in their statement though. Unless they meant 2090's.

  • JensonJet #37 3 years ago

    Funny that... being an Eidos game I expect it to score in the high... thirties!

    The 'cape' guy must be loving all this attention. He's probably told everyone he knows, or anyone who'll listen, he's done all the animation for the game. When games start to animate individual hairs at least this guy has the edge on the competition. He'll probably be able to do a few more hairs in a year than anyone else! Maybe he and the guy who paints the texture on the grass we see in games could set up their own studio. I'm already looking forward to what Cape'n'Grass put together for their first game.

  • JensonJet #38 3 years ago

    There's only way to reinvigorate Tomb Raider... give up on it and put the team onto something new?

    Speaking of which... Is it me or is there something ironic about the fact Angelina Jolie is with a guy called PITT? While she jumps over them in the game, in real life she's jumping on top of one!

    Yeah, Kane & Lynch film. Usually we're treated to a bad film from a good game... what happens when you take Kane & Lynch and make a movie out of it? Sounds like an Oscar nomination to me!!

  • hiddenranbir #39 3 years ago

    I so hope this does get high scores, although I won't care if it doesn't.

    Finally a Batman game that suits Batman!

  • BBIAJ #40 3 years ago

    @ Silvervein:

    Batman originally came out in 1989 ;o)

    Batman Returns, Batman Forever, and Batman & Robin were 1992, 1995, and 1997 respectively.

  • Rubarack #41 3 years ago

    I expect the first few reviews will be in the 90s. Quickly followed up by a lot in the 50s. Those sly devils.

  • TheBrotha #42 3 years ago

    Honest Joe - "what happened to just cause 2 - guess that has also been delayed? c'mon eidos, sort it out - the japanese won't like all these excuses!"

    Remember that it's Square. The same guys who have no clue what a release date is. I mean, wasn't Final Fantasy XII released two years late?

    I think I'll pick up Underworld later this month as I wait for Uncharted 2.