Have you seen these new Batman Arkham City pre-order costumes bouncing around the internet? Sure deciding to fight crime is easy, but deciding what to wear… it looks like that’s a little harder for Bruce Wayne.

Five bonus pre-order costumes were announced on Monday 1^st August, all exclusive to different parts of the world. So far it looks like the only extra costumes we will get to enjoy in Ireland will be the Batman Beyond costume (if you pre-order from Gamestop) and the Dark Knight Returns costume which can be found in the collector’s edition of Arkham City from any retailer. The Earth One, 1970’s and Animated Series skins look to be exclusive to North America and New Zealand for the moment. However there is no doubt that all costumes will be made available via downloadable content a few weeks after the release of the game. You don’t have to be the world’s greatest detective to work that one out

In case you don’t recognize any of the above suits we’ve put together a little guide to help you brush up on your Bat-knowledge. From left to right we have;

Batman Beyond

This was a cartoon show created after “Batman: The Animated Series.” Set in a futuristic Gotham City (NeoGotham), Bruce Wayne has retired (due to ill-health) and a new character Terry McGinnis takes up the mantle as NeoGotham’s protector. This series was a continuation of the animated series as many characters from the old series reappeared and were appropriately aged. Barbara Gordon (Bat-Girl) for example is now the Commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department.

The television series and the character of Terry McGinnis were very popular with Bat-fans and spawned a movie “Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker” and since 2010, its own comic book series.

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

In 1986, comic writer and artist Frank Miller unleashed a new imagining of Batman in a four-issue limited series published by DC Comics. Set in the then future, a middle-aged Batman comes out of retirement to fight crime in a dystopian future Gotham City. Criminals and Gangs rule the streets of this interpretation of Gotham City as Super Heroes no longer operate and so crime largely goes unopposed by the Police.

The Batman of this book is grim, brutal and has to fight as dirty as the criminals he faces, often in very physical, fierce brawls. The aim of this series was to disconnect Batman from the camp 1960s Television show of Adam West fame, which it certainly succeeded in doing. Have a look at the clip below from Season Four of Batman the Animated series to see for yourself:

Earth One

Don’t recognize this one? Don’t worry, this costume comes from the unreleased graphic novel “Batman: Earth One”. The “Earth One” imprint is a new line of graphic novels from DC comics that retells the origin of its characters in an updated, modern setting and making a break from the established continuity. So far the only published graphic novel from “Earth One” was last year’s “Superman: Earth One” however the Batman book is due for release in 2011 and as we’re half-way through the year I would expect an announcement of a release date sometime soon.

Batman from the 1970s comics

Not much to say about this suit. In the 1970s Batman’s outfit changed to a grey suit with blue cape and cowl. Moving on…

Batman: The Animated Series

Outside of the comic-books, this cartoon series from the early 1990s is considered the best interpretation of the character of Batman. The characters were complex, often with sympathetic motives (including the villains) and the overall tone of the show was very dark for what was considered a “children’s program.” Voice Actor Kevin Conroy began his work as Batman in this series and has stayed voicing the Dark Knight in various forms over the years, not only in other animated series but also in 2008’s Arkham Asylum and indeed the forth-coming Arkham City. Here’s a small bit of trivia for you: Kevin Conroy was the first voice actor to have distinct voices for both Bruce Wayne and Batman, an idea that was his own.

This suit pays homage to that fantastic series and respectfully so; look at the shape of the Animated costume compared to the others, it’s not as firmly shaped with muscles and most notable difference is the jaw-line for this Batman, clearly reflecting the early 1990s animation it is based on.

Batman Arkham City is due for release on Friday 21^st October 2011 on Playstation 3, XBOX 360 and PC.