And now... "Batman: Arkham City"

Batman: Arkham Asylum was, unquestionably, THE BATMAN GAME. It had everything a Dark Knight fan could ever dream of - Batman, gadgets, awesome combat prowess, sick bad guys to beat, and of course The Joker and the rest of the Arkham loonies out to give Bruce Wayne's alter ego a hard time. However, with all the perfection and limited environment space Arkham Asylum had to offer, a sequel was definitely up in the works to be made and delivered for the hungry fans who wanted more Batman goodness.

Rest assured, the game's makers has answered your prayers, as the Batsignal has lighted up once more to call on Batman for next generation gaming goodness once again.

Via Enewsi and Kotaku, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment have announced Batman: Arkham City - the follow up and sequel to 2009's critically acclaimed Batman: Arkham Asylum. Developed by Rocksteady Studios, It will be released for the Microsoft Xbox 360, Windows PC, and Sony Playstation 3 on Fall 2011, so you can imagine just how much work the developers are going to put up just to make this game spell EPIC. From the title alone, the game will take place in Arkham City located in Gotham, with new additions to gameplay, more baddies to fight, and more environments to explore seeing how Batman's hometown is a bigger playground to navigate through.

NEW UPDATE: It seems Arkham City IS a new Maximum Security facility fortified in the center of Gotham, housing all of the city's criminals and keeping them isolated. This means there won't be any exploration in good Gotham. Now that's kinda disappointing to hear.

Judging from the scape of the project alone, production values will definitely be higher than the last game, so expect a lot more familar faces from the Batman franchise to show up, as well as Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill reprising their roles as Batman and The Joker for this sequel! With so little details revealed at this point, one has to wonder when the next big revealing trailer comes out? Time will tell I suppose, but right now, me and many Batfans out there are excited for what's to come!

For more news and the announcement, read up the posts on Enewsi and Kotaku!

UPDATE: Looks like Kotaku has an image up from the new Game Informer magazine showcasing Arkham City, with Batman, Catwoman, and Two-Face featuring prominently in the poster! Really can't wait for this now!