No matter how much Rocksteady shows off new Batman: Arkham City images and footage, seeing an unencumbered Caped Crusader swoop around an urban environment sandbox-style never really gets old. Players got to spread their gliding capes a bit in Arkham Asylum, but as demonstrated by new images and video from the game, the scale and speed of Arkham City really opens up Batman's gameplay possibilities. Check it out after the jump.

The more open world of Arkham City doesn't appear to have any downsides. Rocksteady's given no indication that Batman will have to engage in a bunch of side quest trading sequences where he has to deliver a bunch of pizzas or perfectly swing through simulated hoops or catch a bunch of chickens in a set time limit just so he can upgrade his armor or whatever. Players will be doing cool Batman stuff -- punching bad guys, doing a little detective work, hanging out with Catwoman and Robin -- it's all in there. I should probably stop there and admit that Pizza Delivery Batman would probably be a lot of fun too, though.

Check out new video and images of Batman zipping about Arkham City below:





[Via Joystiq, Kotaku]