Arkham reihe: What order should you play the Batman Arkham games?

What order should you play the Batman Arkham games?

There have been many Batman games over the years — from the brightly coloured exploits inspired by the Animated Series to the Telltale adventures that brought the comic books to life.

However, one series has stood high above the others, recognised by many as truly capturing the heart and soul of Batman. It has even been rightly acknowledged as the best superhero series to boot.

• What order should you watch the Batman movies and shows?

We refer, of course, to the Batman: Arkham games, which have graced our consoles, computers, phones, tablets and even VR headsets for the best part of 11 years. And, with a new chapter heading our way called Gotham Knights, what better time to revisit them than right now?

Better still, why not revisit them in order — not as per their release dates, but by following the story timeline?

Here we’ve put the Arkham games in order of what to play first if you want to follow the story so far. ..

Batman: Arkham Origins

• Formats: PC, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U
• Released: 2013

Originally released after Arkham City, Origins puts you in the Bat boots of a young Bruce Wayne as he battles numerous assassins out to kill him, plus Black Mask who serves as the main villain in the game. Oh, and it also features this universe’s Batman meeting the mysterious Joker for the first time.

The game was developed by WB Games Montréal rather than Rocksteady, so failed to match up to the standards set by the more recognised «Arkham trilogy». However, it still presents a decent adventure and is a great place to start.

Batman: Arkham Origins (mobile — discontinued)

• Formats: iOS, Android
• Released: 2013

The mobile version of Arkham Origins effectively follows the plot of the main game, but essentially ditches the story elements and focuses on fights between Batman and some of the main foes.

A series of swipes and taps help you through the battles and, er, that’s about it. You can no longer download it these days, anyway.

Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate

• Formats: Vita, 3DS, PC, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U
• Released: 2013

Blackgate was originally designed for handheld platforms — Vita and 3DS — so switched the gameplay to a 2.5D fighting/platformer that actually does a good job of translating some of the combat moves for a more simple format.

It is set after the events in Origins itself, with Batman revisiting the Blackgate prison.

Batman: Arkham Asylum

• Formats: PC, PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360
• Released: 2009

This is the game that effectively started the whole shebang. Based entirely within the walls of Arkham Asylum, after most prisoners have escaped their cells and taken over, the game was (and still is) an ideal antidote to all the brightly-coloured superhero adventures that came before.

What stands out most, apart from the excellent, free-flowing combat system, is that every nook and cranny is filled with collectables and secrets — ensuring play lasts longer than just the story. It’s now part of a Return to Arkham pack — remastered and tweaked for the current generation consoles.

Warner Bros

Batman: Arkham City

• Formats: PC, PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Wii U
• Released: 2011

Also available in the Return to Arkham pack, Batman: Arkham City is arguably the best of the bunch. It switches the action from the confined location of the Asylum to the streets of Arkham City — a section of Gotham City fenced in and designated a superprison.

The more open world nature of the sequel makes for some great moments, not least the ability to glide around a huge landscape, swooping down on the criminals below.

Batman: Arkham City Lockdown (discontinued)

• Formats: iOS, Android
• Released: 2011

Sadly, like the mobile version of Origins, you can no longer get hold of Arkham City Lockdown on iTunes or Google Play.

When you could, it again presented more of a beat-em-up, with swipes and taps needed to dispatch foes. It was actually half-decent but will forever be lost to the annals of Batman lore, it seems.

Batman: Arkham VR

• Formats: PSVR, Vive, Oculus
• Released: 2016

One of the first truly great virtual reality games, albeit rather short, Batman: Arkham VR is set soon after the events of Arkham City, where Robin and Nightwing have disappeared.

Its clever use of the detective mechanics from the main games makes it a joy to play, but just simply being able to don the cowl of the Bat is enough for us.

Batman: Arkham Knight

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• Formats: PC, PS4, Xbox One
• Released: 2015

Arkham Knight is the first in the series to give you the keys to the Batmobile — which is just as well, as the main islands of Gotham City are now your playing field and you need to travel between them as the game progresses.

Combat is even more down and dirty than ever before, this time with extra characters that can tag in and out, and there are so many bonuses and collectables that you’re unlikely to find them all on the first playthrough.

Batman: Arkham Underworld (discontinued)

• Formats: iOS, Android
• Released: 2016

Underworld is another mobile-only game that ended up being discontinued. Said to have taken place during/soon after the events of Arkham Knight, it put you in the shoes of a villain this time, tasking you with becoming Gotham’s kingpin.

The multiplayer real-time-strategy game clearly didn’t set the world alight, however.

Warner Bros

Gotham Knights

• Formats: PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One
• Released: 25 October 2022

Warner announced a new game in the series during the DC FanDome online event a couple years back, which will be for next-generation machines as well as current consoles and PC.

Called Gotham Knights, it is being developed by WB Games Montréal, which we hope has learned from the mistakes made with Arkham Origins (above).

Online leaks suggest that it will be focused around the superb Court of Owls crime group, and we know you’ll be able to play as multiple characters from the world of Batman. Created by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, the group represents one of the best comic book storylines in modern times.

Every Batman Arkham Game, Ranked From Worst To Best (According To Metacritic)

In 2009, the relatively unknown developer, Rocksteady Studios, did something unusual. They released a comic book video game that was truly outstanding. Its name was Batman: Arkham Asylum.

RELATED: A-Okay, Mr J: Ranking The 10 Best Video Games With Harley Quinn

Asylum wasn’t the first good superhero game ever, but great titles based on comic books were so rare that it was always a surprise to see one. And even more impressively, it wasn’t just the one. The series consistently delivered high-quality games in the following years.

By this point, there’s been a bunch of good titles — and a few mediocre ones — released under the Arkham banner. Which begs the question, how do they stack up against each other? Well, Metacritic can help figure that out as they have an average reviewer score for each one.

10 Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate — 61

With Blackgate, Armature Studio attempted to bring Arkham to handheld consoles. To do this, they made certain changes to account for the less powerful systems, the main one being the switch to a 2.5D perspective.

The end result isn’t perfect. Combat and stealth feel shallow compared to the main Arkham games. Whereas, the environments are very repetitive and uninteresting. At least the game recounts the first meeting between Batman and Catwoman.

9 Batman: Arkham Origins (Mobile) — 63

Despite having the same name, Arkham Origins on mobile is a completely different game to the one on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. Primarily because on iOS and Android, the game is a brawler, not an action-adventure title.

It’s also a freemium game, so expectations for it were never high. The fighting is simple, and the lack of variety to Batman’s opponents doesn’t help. Although, the restrictive stamina system means players can’t brawl for long periods anyway unless they want to spend money.

8 Batman: Arkham Underworld — 64

Underworld is a different sort of mobile game to Origins. It’s also a freemium title, but instead of fighting villains, players control them.

RELATED: Ranking The 10 Best Batman Video Games Of All Time

The goal is to build up a criminal empire using management skills. Players also get to partake in a little bit of fighting during missions. But mostly the game is about strategy. It’s fine, but aside from the voice actors, it’s an Arkham game in name only.

7 Batman: Arkham City Lockdown — 69

Any game that followed Asylum and City was going to struggle to live up to their excellence. Arkham City Lockdown, however, has avoided any comparisons to those classics because it’s nothing like them.

The title has more in common with its successor, Arkham Origins (mobile). It’s an iOS and Android fighter, where Batman takes on various goons. The brawling is simplistic and repetitive, but at least it’s fast-paced. In comparison to most mobile fighters, it’s fine; compared to the best of the Arkham series, it’s mediocre.

6 Batman: Return To Arkham — 73

Once a popular game is around long enough, it’s bound to get remastered in some form, and that’s what happened to the first two Arkham titles in this collection. They aren’t the most inspiring remasters, though.

All Return To Arkham does is give both Asylum and City slight visual upgrades. It didn’t even improve the frame-rate of the two games. Still, it’s nice to have them both on new consoles. Plus, it’s a great package for people who never played the originals.

5 Batman: Arkham VR — 74

The chance to feel what it’s like to be Batman is enticing, and that’s close to what Arkham VR offers. Although, it’s mostly the detective side of the Dark Knight’s crusade that players get to experience. They have to solve compelling puzzles to find out what happened to Nightwing and Robin.

It’s an engaging and imaginative game that makes good use of the PlayStation VR. Nevertheless, it doesn’t match the scale and depth of the bigger entries in the series.

4 Batman: Arkham Origins — 74

This prequel could’ve easily been a disaster. Rocksteady wasn’t the developer, and Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill weren’t on the voice cast. Yet, all of their replacements did great, especially WB Games Montréal, who proved they could make a solid Arkham game.

RELATED: Batman Arkham: The 10 Best Suits In The Series, Ranked

The only downside to Origins is its lack of invention. Besides some shock gloves, it doesn’t do anything that its predecessors didn’t. Although, more Arkham is always a good thing, especially when it delivers a compelling story with fun boss battles like Origins does.

3 Batman: Arkham Knight — 87

Arkham Knight presents the end of a story that started with Asylum. And it’s a truly captivating last chapter as Batman has to deal with his own mental instability caused by The Joker. Not every aspect of the narrative is amazing, though, as the titular villain twist annoys more than it amazes.

Gameplay-wise, combat and predator sections are just as fluid and fun as ever. Yet, they’re constantly intruded by dreaded Batmobile sequences. Controlling the fancy car isn’t awful, but the game forces players to use it too often. Overall, though, Arkham Knight’s positives heavily outweigh its negatives.

2 Batman: Arkham Asylum — 91

Nobody knew what to expect from Arkham Asylum before it was released. Comic book games didn’t have the best track record, after all. When it hit the shelves, though, it blew everyone away.

Fighting mechanics, stealth sections, tone, everything about the game fits The Dark Knight perfectly. Likewise, the voice acting is spectacular, with Kevin Conroy’s Batman and Mark Hamill’s Joker being arguably the best adaptations of those characters. And they were assisted by the game’s wonderful writing. Fans will never forget the time they first strolled around the Joker-ran Asylum.

1 Batman: Arkham City — 94

It was a lot to ask of Arkham City to match the quality of the near-perfect Asylum. Against the odds, though, the sequel managed to surpass its predecessor by delivering an unbelievable open-world adventure. Rocksteady succeeded by enhancing things the first installment established instead of replacing them.

For instance, the wonderful combat added lots of new gadgets and attacks. Whereas, the confining Asylum has been replaced with a full city that’s filled with things to do. And the larger area leaves room for more of Batman’s friends and foes, including Two-Face, Penguin, and Catwoman. Each new character joins Batman in an incredibly engaging story, which has one of the best video game endings of all time.

NEXT: The 10 Best Superhero Games Ever Made (According To Metacritic)

Arkham City. The Creation and Origins of Gotham.

Batman is the protector of Gotham. And let acting like a member of the League
Justice he expands his powers, in his personal
stories, he is stuck in his hometown. And there are many reasons for this, but how
I think one of the most important — the detective genre. Sherlock Holmes also boasted
how he can determine the area by the mud from his shoes. This is similar to Batman
history, the better he knows the city, the more effectively he conducts an investigation. therefore
whatever one may say, but over time, the scriptwriters outlined a fairly vivid image
a city that has been reimagined several times. But then the question arises: after so many years after the release of the first
comics about Batman, how to portray Gotham so that it is recognizable and
interesting. And I think Rocksteady has
to this answer. nine0003

I tried

So I decided to dive into old Gotham from Arkham City and
find out why it triggers flashbacks to Tim Burton films, 90s cartoons and
Batman comics. And how he tells the deep background of the world in doing so
remaining self-sufficient and interesting.

Gotham comics

To my surprise, Gotham first appeared only in issue 4 of The Batman, while the character himself
in issue 27 of The Detective Comics,
which was about two years earlier. Until that time, the scene of action tried not to
to advertise, although when they were impatient it turned out to be New York. Which goes without saying
left its mark, so the prototypes of Gotham are considered to be New York together
from Chicago. The antipode, to match the character, is the fictional Metropolis, the city of Superman. nine0003

Over time, Gotham began to acquire details. So in issue 457 of The Detective Comics dedicated to
Batman’s investigation into the murder of his parents, the title is first mentioned
this unfortunate lane, Crime Alley, next to which is the Monrach Cinema, from which the Waynes left that night, and also
free clinic named after Bruce’s father.

In turn, Batman’s opponents also need their own background.
For example, in The Detective Comics 168, the origin of the Joker is first told. Everything
winery Ace Chemicals,
in which the Joker managed to dive into a vat of acid. On the other hand, Penguin
appeared in The Detective Comics 58, began to own his pretentious club Iceberg Lounge, only
in 683, now if Batman needs a Penguin, he first of all declares it
there. nine0003

So acquiring details, the city began to transform in its
in fact, initially presenting as an ordinary metropolis, it turned into a real
criminal catastrophe, in which there was a place not only for criminal
authorities, but real psychopaths. As a result, there was a need
somewhere other than Blackgate Prison, sending people like the Joker or Julie.
Therefore, Arkham Asylum appears in The Batman 258.

And approximately in this way Gotham becomes a city with its own specifics, where total lawlessness
and corruption, psychos walk the streets and even a native of a wealthy family, left an orphan, puts on a bat costume. A city like this can’t look ordinary
so comic book artists have repeatedly hyperbolized the devastation,
environmental problems and neo-Gothic motifs of architecture, because one of the nicknames
Batman — The Dark Knight. nine0003

Gotham in film adaptations

It was with this background that Tim Burton took over, who
breathed a bit of German expressionism and technopunk into this image. The aim was
create a city not tied to time, a separate world, consisting of
hefty metal pillars and figures propping up buildings. How it is described
the artists of the project — the city seems to be built on the roofs of buildings.

Gotham style
buildings peeped at the architect Albert Speer and Shin Takamatsu. From the first
took wide streets, giant monolithic buildings and some other elements
architecture of the Third Reich, which Speer was engaged in. Takamatsu, in turn, borrowed a retro-industrial style. The result is a very grotesque and
a semi-fairytale image, which ties the hero into the framework of his fictional story,
showing that it is not necessary to go into realism for us to believe in it. nine0003

The influence of the first film on the representation of Gotham is difficult to deny, for example, in the anthology from Japanese authors Batman: Gotham Knight in the very first story, the city is depicted as a mixture of Manhattan and industrial.

The second film obviously inherited the style, but changed the emphasis,
now the gothic takes the place of the industrial, and the simple streets are now decorated with neon signs. At the same time, the totalitarian style is a bit
expanded its influence, for example, of the statues corresponding to it, as if it had doubled
more. nine0003

In parallel with the release of normal Batman films, and not
that horror from Schumacher. The legendary animated series Batman The Animated Series (BTAS for short) is now on TV screens.
And despite the release simultaneously with the films — this is an independent product, over
employed by people predominantly from the comics industry. Although they looked mostly
aside Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, the movies couldn’t help but lend
its influence.

The idea of ​​a timeless city was also taken as a basis, but with
a slight bias towards the 40s and Art Deco style. Heavy monolithic buildings, like a huge labyrinth and like a cherry on the cake, police airships. AT
realities that do not exist, but visually Gotham is so exotic at the very
once. nine0003

As a result, if the films seem more fabulous and
another universe, the cartoon, on the contrary, is realistic, but as if lost in time.
In other matters, the themes of the animated series also affect the city, in the series more than once
capitalism is criticized and the same social division is emphasized visually. And as already
it has been said the anime adaptation has picked up on this more than once.

Nolan’s is much simpler, the visual style of the city
exceptionally functional. In the first film, this is an ordinary metropolis, but a large
part of the time he is shown as monstrously poor and dirty, which is great
approaches the story where you need to fight for the city. nine0003

Appears in the second film
Harvey Dent, who shows that crime can be fought with the legal
methods. The mafia even tries to hide money from the police in another country, and in
system, it turns out that there are people not germinated by corruption, that is, Batman
restored some kind of balance of power. That’s why the Joker in the scene on the ferry
puts ordinary citizens and criminals on the scales and raises the question: «what
outweigh?»

This kind of Gotham story with a focus on the middle class fits better. As
consequently, we are shown more civilized streets, since this story is more
about the struggle for the conditional soul of society. The third film follows the same path. I can’t guess what Gotham will be in the upcoming film, so we finally move on to games. nine0003

Fundamentals of the visual style of games

During the development of Arkham Asylum, the artists identified
main style — interpretation of comic images in style
hyperrealism. By the way, looking ahead, in the last game they decided to take the game away
farther. For example, when redesigning the penguin, they took it to realism until
until the minimum recognition remains in it, as a result, from the attributes of clothing, from
classics he had only a monocle.

Now more like a gangster
nine0003

Now more like a gangster

Arkham City has the same design from the previous game, so many
artistic decisions made earlier remained relevant. Namely, the emphasis on
hyperrealism, which was dictated by the desire to make high quality and
a technological product built on a good work of light and shadow. But at the same time, Rocksteady understood that it was important not to lose the effect of the original images,
therefore they added imagination and figurative exaggeration. It is in combination
these diametrically opposed ideas, artists were looking for a new image of the universe,
which was called Arkhemovskoy. nine0003

Such different jokers

They were assisted by Jim Lee and his studio WildStorm,
a fairly well-known Batman comic book artist. You may know him by
the most popular arc — Batman: Hush. Not to mention that the screenwriter of the trilogy was just as
famous Paul Dini.

Nevertheless, wanting to diversify and add to the environment
sense of progression, had to mix different styles going from gothic
revival in the administrative area to Victorian motifs in the botanical
garden. nine0003

We wanted to bring as much diversity as possible to
surrounding space to reward the player and make it clear that in his
travel is an evolution. Just like some video games allow the gamer to progress through the levels
jungle, desert and lava, so our history required the evolution of the environment
environments

the number of ready-made assets, because they have to move to Gotham, which
cordially surrounded the Hospital. True, moving to a full-fledged Gotham is not soon, but the old one
just in line. nine0003

Choosing the old Gotham, the developers took the best option,
it is obvious in the first place that it is easier to make part of the city than the whole. But at the same time, the old abandoned part of the well-known city is an excellent opportunity to immerse yourself in its history and make a full-fledged cultural
imprint. Old Gotham is a mix of previous incarnations, a real museum of the city, in the style of the Arkham universe.

Arkham City

The seasons rarely change in comics about our hero,
so the choice of winter catches the eye pretty quickly. Most often this happens
specifically in Christmas stories, but unlike the Arkham Origins prequel, in City
It doesn’t even smell like a holiday. The events of Batman Returns take place just in time for
Christmas, but there is very little snow compared to other incarnations, so let’s assume that visually
developers were inspired by it. nine0003

And at first glance, everything is exactly like that. The same
concrete faces on the buildings, the roofs of the houses are straight from the movies, and the streets are littered
neon signs accompanied by puffs of smoke and street lamps. But themselves
artists note:

We decided that the action takes place at the beginning or end
winter to add gloominess and soften the sharpness of the lines of buildings and pavements and
bring smoother nuances to the design, while maintaining the feel of
scale and verticality.

First drafts of Arkham City

Although early
concepts, the artists tried on the city either neo-Gothic or Victorian style
London. But as soon as you go in search of a mixture of the above
styles, you understand that they are drowned under a layer of realism. From pure gothic to
the city remained, only the statues and the church. And despite the existence of the concept
gothic realism, for the same Burton, the choice of style was dictated
an artistic task, which is correspondingly different for the game.

Arkham City
combines many architectural and artistic trends. Modern, Gothic,
Victorian style and other currents intersect with the hyperrealism of the universe
Arkham. All this style diversity, starting with the design of street lamps and
fonts, originated while working on the design of the first game. nine0059

Not only is the city abandoned here, it is also in emergency
state and conditionally divided into two parts: urban and flooded.

This condition is explained by the earthquake that occurred. Knowing this fact
it becomes clear that the game is a free adaptation of the plot of Batman No Man`s Land, in which Gotham was the victim of a powerful earthquake. Most of
overpowered the population, the patients of the psychiatric hospital were released, the city was cordoned off by the military and
called no man’s land. The plot there tells about the struggle for territory between
police and criminal gangs, like in Arkham City. nine0003

We liked the idea
use of the game space to reveal how in this criminal
the environment will behave this or that character.

In fact, a dilapidated view of the city, creates a feeling of mothballed
spaces, as if Gotham gave us, but cut off everything superfluous. However, the city is not
feels empty, Ridler’s riddles are scattered everywhere, which players
scolded for an excessive amount, including me, but along with a bunch of collective
secrets, a really cool find are visual puzzles.
nine0003

Falcone will never show up in the game, but it’s nice to know that he left some trace

to look for in the elements of the environment, as a reward we get information
expanding the world of the game, a kind of interactive lore notes. For example, only
from here we learn about the earthquake.

In the sum of the riddle, albeit a little oaky and
excessive method, but it effectively predisposes to the study
city ​​and expanding our understanding of it. nine0003

I might have climbed here, but thanks to riddles, I have been to more than one such place

Some repetitive
sidequests: the search for Deadshot victims offers to view the city from above, and the search
of those killed by Hashem and beatings of political prisoners offer to go down to the streets more often
and dark alleys, in which, according to the developers, the play of light and shadow
inspired by German neo-expressionism.

By the way, in Arkham Origins you can find entries about the architect
who was hired by Bruce’s great-grandfather — Solomon Wayne, he even sold part of his
business to create a city style that will be emulated, not only in the
Gotham, but also in other cities. And despite the success of the event, the city continued
decay from within. nine0003

The Batman Gates of Gotham comic tells a similar
history. An investigation into a series of bombings in Gotham leads Batman to a long-forgotten
occasion when the three founding families hire architect brothers to
build bridges, build the Wayne Tower and then the Iceberg Saloon. The work was
done and everything would have ended well, but when it came time to push the boundaries
cities, the question arose. Build a bridge to the lands of Wayne, which will increase his influence or to the possessions of a certain Kane, who
notorious for high crime, gambling and corruption? Of course, the outcome of this decision left a big imprint, both on the motives
villain, and the future of the city. nine0003

City Streets

But back to the game, as I said, the city
conditionally divided into two parts. Let’s talk about the flooded one, there are separate
buildings like the police station and the Joker’s territory. Factory,
previously owned by the Black Mask, is now at the disposal of the clown and such a backstory is not without reason. For more spookiness, the Joker now has his industrial
Disneyland. This is a legacy of the idea of ​​contrasting details invented back in
last game.

Extremely tall steel columns against a background of dark
greasy soot-covered walls. At the steel plant
they match with giant steel soldiers, huge clown heads
and fairground garlands. It’s heavy industry in the Joker variant —
dirty, twisted version of carnival

Not flooded part, conditionally divided between gangs
Penguin and Two-Face (with the exception of the church where Joker’s people hang out).
The balance of power is constantly changing, but initially the people of Two-Face hang out on Parkovaya Street — where is the same cinema and lane (Crime Alley), as well as the former
Dent’s polling station and courthouse — ironically named after a great-grandfather
Batman, which I think exacerbates their conflict a little, which took place in
the beginning of the game.

In terms of style, the territory of Harvey Dent is not distinguished by anything, but here
in contrast to the territory of the Penguin, it becomes clear what can be said more
a typical look of Gotham, best suits the character, because he is literally his reflection, that is, the confrontation between order and lawlessness. nine0003

Penguin District — Boveri Street, like the character himself, she leans
towards all possible luxury and wealth. What can I say, with its location it
chose a museum that is tightly adjacent to the Iceberg Lounge, that is, we go into
museum, and we leave already through the club.

On the way you can read notes,
revealing Penguin’s backstory, as well as hear funny descriptions from others
villains, in his performance. In the comics, by the way, the museum is the place of work
Man-Bat — Dr. Langstrom. But in the game, this whole level is smooth
the transition from the neo-Gothic and Victorian style of the museum, to the Art Nouveau in the Iceberg
Lounge. nine0003

Art Nouveau is most visible in Penguin’s Iceberg Lounge.
This is the design of metal parts, and multi-colored mosaic glass, and
design of tables and chairs. Even the paintings displayed in the main hall,
fit into this direction, portraying the Penguin in the recognizable style of Alphonse
Flies.

The surroundings of the museum also correspond to this direction,
opposite it is a market, also leaning towards modernity, and next to it is the Bank
Gotham and art deco monorails, it is immediately clear that BTAS has found a place for itself in
image of Arkham City. nine0003

Also, do not forget that we are in prison, so
there are a lot of barques and propaganda posters in the city. But like a cherry on a cake, over
the city rises the main attraction Miracle Tower, the path to which
goes through the subway.

As I have already said, artists have repeatedly tried to give the city
an image lost in time, which is probably why they chose for the metro
rather odskulny fonts, though it manifests itself in small things, like signs
etc.

But this old one has one more task, to smooth the transition to the next
location, namely the ruins of Gotham, in which the player learns that the city was built
directly above the previous one. Here we are given a look at the ruins of past centuries,
evaluate the interiors and even feel a little like in the place of its inhabitants. nine0003

The answer to the question why the city was thrown underground,
be soon enough. Having made our way a little further, we find the most
interesting and unique discovery Wonder City. This is another variation
on the theme of the great future of the city that did not happen.

It was also in the animated series in
the form of a museum with androids and supercars, the latter, by the way, became the prototype
Batmobile. It was also in the film adaptation of the comic book Batman by Gaslight in the form of an already rebuilt part
cities, even together with the so-called Eiffel Tower answer. Both cities
future, which symbolically turned into ashes, ironically during the final
battles, although in the first case the museum was already abandoned, which cannot be said about
second. nine0003

Fortunately, Batman did not blow up anything this time, because in
Miracle City wants to come back. When creating it, the artists relied on
combining the styles of Paris of the 19th century and Art Nouveau, the result was
a mothballed old city wrapped in retro-futurism. Where in the ancient
life-giving water flows from the pit of Lazarus, which became the cause
Burials of the Miracle City underground.

The fact is that Ras Al Ghul founded this
The place planned to kill two birds with one stone. Build a city under protection
mechanical guards, in which there will be no crime, but at the same time directly
there will be a rejuvenating pit at hand, which allows him to live forever. But
there is one point. Evaporation. The fumes from the pit were dispersed throughout the city and
drove people crazy. When it became impossible to hide, Ras just disappeared from
cities. nine0003

Without reading the notes Miracle City remains just a stylish retro
decoration, in the spirit of Fallout. But otherwise, the sight of a promising future becomes a story about
selfish and cruel dictator, which hardly foreshadowed its inhabitants
happy future. Indeed, in the Miracle City, criminals were secretly executed from everyone, and the main
landmark Miracle Tower, was actually a lightning rod, which
conducted electricity into the pit. Creating it, the artists were obviously inspired by the Eiffel Tower. This is the second time I’ve found this in Batman history. nine0003

This is what Arkham City turned out to be, accommodating
the city’s past and lost future, poverty, crime and secular society, and
all this surrounded by concrete walls and propaganda posters, as if from a 1984 novel.
It remains only to correctly fasten it with work with color and lighting.

Created with lighting and color correction for play areas
“mental image. This technique is sometimes just as effective, and
sometimes remembered even better than the style of architecture itself. Dark
blue-lit streets blend with the yellow haze of smog and contrast
with bright orange flashes of the factory, metallic blue of the museum and, finally,
swamp greens and pale yellows of Wonder City. nine0059

Arkham Knight

At the beginning, I noted that Arkhem City is like a museum of Gotham, and now in retrospect, it seems to me that this was the task of the developers: to state all the main things that Gotham was like before, before
present your own view of the city. Not for nothing in Arkhem City
you can find the place of death of Bruce’s parents, in fact the starting point for Batman.
But did they succeed in the final part? I think yes, but
some reservations. nine0003

Now we have Gotham in full size, which is already cardinal
changes perception. It’s hard to put such a territory in your head, so it was divided into three islands of different styles, the introduction was given to
buyout of a separate site — plant. The bridges of the islands were originally divorced in order to
let us explore it step by step.

Based on this, the study of the city has changed, remained
Ridler’s riddles, their number only increased (WHY?!) , but what’s worse
In total, the riddles that expand the lore have completely disappeared. From additional quests to search, only the victims of the maniac and
firefighters. If the former cope with the task, then the latter have questions that
can be addressed to a bunch of other activities, such as cleaning up various
outposts. There are no questions about the gameplay, each of them develops our skills,
like chasing and fighting on a Batmobile, combat or stealth. The problem is that before
we really needed to: study the city, observe and listen. This approach encourages only
mindless flight to the marker and the city turns into a scenery. nine0003

But if we accept this
as given, which is not really difficult. Then a huge one floats to the surface
a ton of artist work. For example, it’s worth going down to some ghetto
or just peer into the details on a simple street, then the city instantly
become a thousand times more beautiful. Ideas from the films of the 90s are noticeable here — Burton’s panoramas of the city literally came to life in three-dimensional space, we were even finally allowed into the airship, which seemed to be from BTAS.

But at the same time, the developments of the previous
versions do not look archaic, and independent developments of previous games have become
even more modern and realistic. Moreover, the idea of ​​being lost in time is nowhere
not gone away, you just have to look at the cafe from the entry and local cars.
That is, there is no doubt that this is a real modern metropolis with
great backstory. Here it seems to me that the developers have achieved their real
goals. nine0003

But?

But why did I devote the text to the second part? And it’s all about
the fact that visually Gotham from Arkham Knight is rich in history, but interactively it is practically
dead. No matter how much you like a building, you have nothing to say about it.
learn and do not interact. Don’t think that I
I want to be able to go into every house or something like that, just in
compared to Arkham City, where every little thing hides a mini story, here
it is perceived as a step backwards. nine0003

This is what attracts me to the sequel — speaking
a bridge between intimate adventure and big game, in a completely fresh and
city ​​unknown to us. She manages to tell the richest in detail
the story is exclusively around the environment, and a small open world plays it,
only on hand.

I used to think that this version just reminds me of something from
childhood, that’s why it’s so ingrained in my memory, but it was worth a little delving into the topic and it became
it is clear that this is only half the secret. So I decided to try to reveal it to you. nine0003

P.S. I am sure that people who understand architecture or the Batman universe will find something to correct me. And I don’t mind, write, I read with great interest.

---

tags

Gotham

Batman

History of creation

Arkham

Arkham City

architecture

analysis

environment design

level design

evolution

Comics

cinema

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Namedropping is our everything: 200+ names from the new album Oxxxymiron | Music on 2×2

December 1, the country’s chief marketer, and part-time musician and rapper, released his third full-length album. Yes, we finally waited for «Beauty and Ugliness» by Oxxxymiron. By the way, the cover for it was drawn by Boris Grebenshchikov himself.

Boris Grebenshchikov as an artist: what is the cover of Oksimiron’s new album?

Parsing the cover of the album “Beauty and Ugliness”

2×2.media Lyosha Abanin

Even before the release of the album, “When the bingo album” appeared on Twitter, in which there was an item “namedropping for three nerds”. The vocabulary of the album as a whole turned out to be such that someone would need a glossary for it, but about names and titles in general, everything turned out to be predictable. We decided to write down all the examples in order to understand how often the performer uses this technique. It turned out that some words cannot even be deciphered yet, but there are also quite simple names: the names of social networks, cities, and so on. We decided not to be very selective and wrote out everything that could be called by the ears for namedropping (even for some reason we wrote out several musical genres). And here they are from left to right (let’s be honest, we could miss some words or define them incorrectly, so please complete us in the comments):

Hop-mechanics

1. Uncle Styopa — character of the writer Sergei Mikhalkov

2. Matisyahu — American reggae singer of Jewish origin

3. Demna Gvasalia — creator of the Vetements brand, creative director of the fashion house Balenciaga

4.

V — Lil Wayne’s 12th album

5. Arkham Asylum — fictional psychiatric hospital in Gotham City from the DC comics universe

6. Carhartt — clothing brand

7. Gestapo — secret police in the Third Reich

8. Azat Miftakhov — graduate student of the Mekhmat of Moscow State University, accused of attacking the United Russia office

9. Sergey Kuryokhin — founder of the Pop Mechanika musical group

10. Friedrich Nietzsche — German philosopher

11. John Grisham — American writer

12. Slavoj Zizek — Slovenian culturologist and philosopher

13. Bobby Fischer — rock star from the world of chess

14. Gorillaz — Damon Albarn’s British virtual band

15. Girls’n’Boys — rock song -Damon Albarn’s Blur Bands

16. Joseph Beuys — German artist

17. ZillaKami — Western rapper, former songwriter of 6ix9ine, member of City Morgue

18. SosMula — Western rapper, member of City Morgue

19. Aleppo — largest city in Syria

20. Ave Maria — a Catholic prayer to the Virgin Mary, as well as the unofficial name of the work of Franz Schubert. Refers to Reinhold Niebuhr’s prayer for peace of mind

21. Mike Skinner is an English rapper better known as The Streets

Agent

1. Department of State — US Department of State, acting as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

2. UK Drill — English rap genre

3. MC Birobidzhan. Birobidzhan — a city in Russia

4. STDK — Russian hip-hop group of the 90s

5. SBHR — Russian indie group

6. GULAG — General Directorate of camps in the USSR

7. ECHR — European Court of Rights person

8. GKChP — State Committee for the State of Emergency in the USSR

9. RHCP or Red Hot Chili Peppers — American rock band

10. OMON — mobile special forces unit

11. QAnon — modern conspiracy theory in the USA

12. Jay Lo or Jennifer Lopez — American actress

13. Uma Thurman — American actress

14. Ekaterina Shulman — Russian political scientist and publicist

15. Foma Kinyaev — fake name of a character in the Jason Bourne series

Frame from the film «The Bourne Identity» / Universal Pictures

16. Vladimir Pozner — Russian journalist

17. Gennady Aigi — Chuvash and Russian poet and translator

18. Radio operator Kat — character of the Soviet spy detective «17 Moments of Spring»

19. Martin Borman — Hitler’s personal secretary

20 Borat — a character in comedy films

Beauty and Ugliness

1. Gorky — Russian and Soviet writer Maxim Gorky

2. Capri — an Italian island in the Gulf of Naples

3. Gobekli Tepe — a temple complex in Turkish Edessa

4. Popol Vuh — an epic book of Indian culture

5. Chichin Itza — an ancient Mayan city in Mexico

6. Immanuel Kant — a German philosopher

7. Jean-Paul Sartre — French philosopher

Non-fiction

1. KGB — State Security Committee of the USSR

2. GRU — Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian Federation

3. UFO — unidentified flying object

4. SVR — Foreign Intelligence Service RF

5. Mendel Beilis — a bourgeois of Jewish origin, accused of the ritual murder of a child

6. Alfred Dreyfus — a French officer and Jew, accused of spying for the German Empire (his case is associated with the theory of the Jewish Masonic conspiracy)

7. CIA — US Central Intelligence Agency

8. Chemtrails — a conspiracy theory

Chemtrails — a conspiracy theory according to which the «occupation government» secretly sprays certain «chemicals» from passenger planes / Wikipedia

9. Sci-Fi — Science Fiction in English

10. ISBN — Barcode Standard for Books

11. FSKN — Federal Drug Control Service

12. Super Bowl — American Football Championship Final

13. ESPN — the largest American sports channel

14. Vladimir Kvachkov — Soviet public figure accused of attempting to assassinate Chubais

15. Alexander Dugin — Russian philosopher

16. Ahnenerbe — an organization that studies the traditions, history and heritage of Nazi Germany nine0003

17. MKULTRA — the code name of the secret program of the American CIA

28. Angela Merkel — ex-Chancellor of Germany

19. Emmanuel Macron — President of France

20. Stanley Kubrick — British and American director

900 Victor Tsoi — 21. Soviet singer

22. Igor Talkov — Soviet singer

23. Yuri Khoi — founder of the Gaza Strip group

24. Sergei Bodrov — Soviet actor, director, screenwriter and presenter

25. Studio 54 — iconic New York nightclub

26. Area 51 — American military base, allegedly used for experimental testing of the latest aircraft

Still from the film «Paul: The Secret Material» / ivi.ru

27. Anatoly Fomenko — mathematician, author of the pseudoscientific theory of the new chronology

28. DMT — narcotic substance

Russian Road Rage

1. Ghostface — American rapper Ghostface Killah, member of Wu-Tang Clan

2. Post Malone — American rapper

3. The Kremlin — the official residence of the President of the Russian Federation

4. The town in a snuffbox — a Russian fairy tale

5. Cthulhu — a fictional sea monster invented by Howard Phillips Lovecraft

— a structure in Ancient Mesopotamia

7. Genrikh Yagoda — one of the leaders of the state security of the USSR in the 1930s

8. Malyuta Skuratov — one of the leaders of the oprichnina under Ivan the Terrible

9. RKN — Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media

10. TFR — Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation

survival game

Screenshot of Carmageddon game / Wikipedia

We are all going to die

Inexplicable but true: only rappers, Bob Dylan and Erica Badu are namedropped in this track

1. J Dilla is an American beatmaker and rapper

2. Bob Dylan — American singer

3. Q-Tip — American rapper, member of A Tribe Called Quest

4. Mobb Deep — American hip-hop duo

5. Rakim — American rapper

6. Eric B. — American rapper

7. Erica Badu — American singer

8. Game — American rapper

9. Nas — American rapper

10. Talib Kweli — American rapper

11. Oxxxymiron — well, that’s it clear

12. Vordul Mega is a member of the hip-hop duo Cannibal Ox

13. Cannibal Ox is a hip-hop duo

14. Big Poppa is one of the pseudonyms of the rapper The Notorious B.I.G.

15. Kendrick Lamar — American rapper

16. J.Cole — American rapper

I feel

1. Rosebud is the name of the trademark. Reference to Citizen Kane by Orson Welles

2. Xanadu is the name of the castle from Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane

3. Barad-dur is Tolkien’s main stronghold of Sauron

Barad-dur Fortress / Pikabu

4. Adolf Hitler — war criminal, one of the founders of the Third Reich

5. Lana and Lilly Wachowski — American directors

6. Arkady and Boris Strugatsky — Russian Soviet writers

7.s Khan Rudi Giger — Swiss artist, creator of the image of the Alien

8. Alien — character in the science fiction franchise of Ridley Scott

9. Nick Lund — English philosopher

10. Nicholas Cave — Australian singer

11. Houston — the largest city in Texas

12. The Weeknd — Canadian singer

Window to Paris

1. Astana — the former name of the capital of Kazakhstan

2. Nur-Sultan — the current name of the capital of Kazakhstan

90. Holy Scripture — a collection of sacred books in Judaism, Christianity, Islam

4. Champs Elysees — the central street of Paris

5. Vladimir Putin — President of the Russian Federation

6. Celine — French fashion house

7. Alexander Lukashenko — President of Belarus

8. Margiela — French fashion house

9. Griselda — label founded by American rapper Westside Gunn

10. Scriptonite — Russian rapper

11. DROPDEAD — one of the main reviewers of Oksimiron’s work on Russian YouTube

12. Danya Pornorep — music publicist, critic, blogger

13. Norman Mailer — American writer

14. Corey Taylor — vocalist of the American nu-metal band Slipknot

15. Legends of Nevsky Prospekt — a collection of stories by Mikhail Weller

16. Freken Bock — one of the characters in the trilogy about Malysh and Carlson by the Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren

Freken Bock / Wikipedia

17. Uri Geller — an Israeli-born magician who can bend spoons

18. Helter Skelter is the title of Bugliosi’s book about Charles Manson, the «black hippie» whose young adepts massacred him in 1969. «Helter Skelter» they bred with the blood of one of the victims in the house where the murders took place

19. Werther is a character in a novel by Johann Goethe

20. Belka and Strelka are the first dogs to be launched into space

21. Skepta is an English drill rapper

22. Courvoisier is a brand of cognac

23. French is Le Corbusier architect

24. Succubus — demon of lust and debauchery

25. Mercedes-Benz — car brand

26. Oscar Wilde — Irish writer and poet

27. Joris Carl Huysmans — French writer

28. Isaac Babel — Russian Soviet writer, translator

29. Daniel Lismore — British textile sculptor

30. BOTTEGA VENETA — clothing brand

31. Themis — the goddess of justice in Ancient Greece

— Domigne 32. Champagne premium

Partisan radio

1. Clausewitz’s instruction — Carl von Clausewitz was a Polish theorist who wrote the treatise «On War», which greatly influenced the military leaders of the late 19th and 20th centuries

2. Henri Rousseau — French artist, representative of primitivism

3. Sergeant Hartman — character in Stanley Kubrick’s film «Full Metal Jacket»

Frame from the film «Full Metal Jacket» / Kinopoisk

4. Colonel Kurtz — character in Francis Coppola’s film «Apocalypse Now» »

Celebrate

1. Noam Chomsky — American publicist and philosopher

2. Seryozhka Ginzburg — this is not Sergei Ginzburg, of course, but Serge Ginzburg, French poet and performer

3. Pegasus — this was the name of the ships of the British Royal Navy, American ships, the X-47 drone, Soviet attack aircraft, a gun, a pin pistol and all sorts of crap from computer games

4. Lil Nas — an American rapper

5. A$ AP MOB is an American hip hop group.

6. Greece — well, you know what it is, but we decided to collect all the names in general. Versions so far 2: American rapper Chip (formerly Chipmunk), who performs in the genre of grime or slang chipmunking, which means dominance during oral sex. Or maybe we heard it all at all

9. Cheech and Chong is an American comedy duo consisting of Richard Marin and Tommy Chong

10. UK Garage is an urban electronic music genre

11. Chichvarkin is a Russian entrepreneur. Co-founder and former co-owner of the Euroset mobile phone network

12. Yeezus — Kanye West’s sixth solo studio album

13. Akon City — a project of the American rapper Akon in Senegal

Mixed

1. Otto Dix — German painter and graphic artist nine0003

2. Madonna is a traditional title of the Virgin Mary in Italian Catholic culture.

3. Lilith is a demoness in Jewish mythology. In Kabbalistic theory — Adam’s first wife

4. Maasdam — a Dutch cheese

5. Kapi — this is also not very clear, but let it be the wolf from Friday Night Funkin’. Even if it’s not, we love this reference, because Rick Sanchez previously appeared as the second character in flashbacks to his childhood.

6. Capri-Sun — a brand of drinks

7. Hanuta — waffles from Ferrero Rocher

8. Miron — self-reference

9. Eternal Jew 2 — a mention of his first album

Espresso Tonic

Suddenly nothing happened 03

Pantelleria

1. Pantelleria — a commune in southern Italy

2. Riyadh — these are the names of courtyards in Morocco or, perhaps, the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh (we can be wrong, so we are waiting in the comments)

3. Medina — the second holy city of Islam after Mecca. Located in the western part of Saudi Arabia

4. Atlas — a chain of mountain ranges in northwestern Africa

5. Amalfi — a city on the southwestern coast of Italy

5. The Alps — the highest and longest mountain range among systems that lie entirely in Europe

6. Virgin Mary — in Christianity, the earthly mother of Jesus Christ

7. Jerusalem — we continue to study geography with Oksimiron, and two more points on the map are next in line. This is the first

8. Africa is the second

9. Jacques Majorelle is a French artist

10. Yves Saint Laurent — French fashion designer

11. Magritte — Belgian surrealist artist

Elevator

from the cartoon «Dasha the Traveler»

Frame from the cartoon «Dasha the Traveler» / Kinopoisk

3. Viva Zwei — German music channel

Dirt

1. Dazed — British magazine

2. iD — British magazine

3. TSUM — a store in the center of Moscow (with luxury clothes)

4. Mitya (Northern) — Russian rapper

5. Slovetsky — Russian rapper

6. Nurminsky — Russian rapper

7. Serezha Local — Russian rapper

8. Sunset — a painting by Russian artist Arkhip Kuindzhi

9. Kuindzhi — the author of the famous painting “Sunset”

10. Ouiji board — a board for soul calling séances

A still from the movie “Ouiji: The Devil’s Board” / Kinopoisk

11. Mutabor is a Russian rap artist, music producer and DJ. Former member of DMJ, Malchishnik and Oak Gaaya

12. Malchishnik — Soviet and Russian hip-hop group

13. Mutabor — Moscow art space (techno parties and all that)

14. Gucci — Italian fashion house

15. Methuselah — according to the Bible, one of the forefathers of mankind, the son of Enoch and the ancestor of Noah

16. Spider Jerusalem — a character and protagonist of the comic book Transmetropolitan

Spider Jerusalem / Wikipedia

How Spider Jerusalem from «Transmetropolitan» is similar to Hunter Thompson

Warren Ellis’ cult work «Transmetropolitan» was translated into Russian. Many know him for Spider Jerusalem, based on gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson. About how similar they are, and will be discussed in our article.

2х2. mediaIlya Grinberg

17. High-rise building on Barrikadnaya — Residential building on Kudrinskaya Square, one of the seven «Stalin skyscrapers» built

18. TikTok — here is ours, for example, https://www.tiktok.com/@2x2tiktok

19. Instik * — subscribe to our instik, by the way

20. Grishin shooter — OG Buda and some meme about threats (something in rapper)

21. Vyatka Lyrical Terrorist — Needles mixtape (he also performs part)

Fly away

You won’t believe it, but it’s not here either!

Eminem

1. Eight Mile is the title of an Eminem movie and a real convention in Detroit. It separates rich and poor areas of the city

2. Roskomnadzor is a federal executive body whose tasks include supervision in the field of communications, information technology and the media (these are the guys who banned telegrams and your favorite anime sites)

3. Birkin is a model of a handbag brand Hermès

4. Girkin is a state, military and political figure. You probably know him as Strelkov (one of the four defendants in the Mh27 case)

5. Vian — French prose writer, poet

6. Sholokhov — Russian Soviet writer

7. Diaghilev — Russian theatrical and artistic figure, one of the founders of the «World of Art» group, organizer of the «Russian Seasons» in Paris

8. Kanye — American rapper

9. Paris — if you have read this line, leave in the comments what country this city is in

10. Detroit is the city in Michigan where Eminem grew up

11. Lyckety-Splyt is an 8 Mile character

12. Papa Doc is an 8 Mile character

13 .Dre — American rapper

14. Stan is Eminem’s crazy alter ego

15. D’yadya J.i. — gangsta rapper, D’yadya J.i. said it

16. Relapse is Eminem’s sixth studio album

17. Shady is Eminem’s alter ego

Review

1. Travis Scott is an American rapper

Beads

1. legendary mixtape «Time of Troubles»

2. Left Eye — American singer, songwriter

3. TLC — American female hip-hop and rhythm and blues group (which included Left Eye)

4. Fetty Wap — American rapper

5. Slick Rick — British-American rapper and producer

6. Genius — American site where users parse each line of songs (for example, you can read there what is the connection between three rappers above)

7. (husband) Zinaida Gippius — Russian poetess and writer

8. Omen — a favorable or unfavorable sign for the Romans

9. Marcel Duchamp — French and American artist

10. Rubinstein is a composer who is known to young people thanks to a street in St. Petersburg (none)

11. Ivan Kruzenshtern is a Russian navigator

12. Rosencrantz is the title character of Tom Stoppard’s play

13. Guildenstern is the title character of Tom Stoppard’s play

14. Rosenbaum — Soviet and Russian performer

15. Frankenstein — one of the main characters in Mary Shelley’s novel «Frankenstein, or Modern Prometheus»

Frankenstein / Wikipedia

16. Bundestag — unicameral body of people’s representation of the Federal Republic of Germany

17. Mandelstam — Russian poet

18. Morgenstern — Russian poet (ha-ha, no)

19. Rhymes and Panchi — Russian public media about rap, politics, memes and all that

20. Iphone

21. Presidential Administration, a state body of the Russian Federation that ensures the activities of the President of the Russian Federation and controls the execution of his instructions and decisions

22. Barcelona

Shadow

1. Madama Butterfly — Opera by Giacomo Puccini (Cio-Cio-san)

2. Syktyvkar — a city of Russia

3. This Princess Karina — you are reading this, Miron please, what is Karina

4. Novosibirsk is a city in Russia

5. Saigon is a former Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam

Dreidel

1. Alfred Pennyworth is a DC Comics character, butler to Batman

where the Batman 9 stories take place0003 Gotham City / Wikipedia

3. Uncle Styopa — character of Sergei Mikhalkov

4. Matisyahu — American reggae artist of Jewish origin

5. Fort Boyard — Russian version of the popular French television game Fort Boyard

6. Jesus Christ — in Christianity the central person and the Messiah predicted in the Old Testament, who became an expiatory sacrifice for the sins of people

7. Moses is the main prophet in Judaism, who received the Torah from God

8. Brahma is the god of creation in Hinduism

9. Shiva is a Hindu deity, the supreme god in Shaivism

---

As you can see, there is Moscow, but when it is not enough, Medina comes. There are names familiar to us, but there are those same persons for the three nerds. In total, we counted 263 words in our list, with a slight correction for the error and the repetition of the intro as an outro, let’s assume that there are 250-260 such words (we are still waiting for some corrections from you). Yes, but is it too much? In «Hop Mechanics» the chorus consists of 40 words, that is, the list of names is enough for him for six original choruses, we counted.