Batman: Arkham Origins review

Alfred, the ever-faithful butler, reminds Batman that even though it’s Christmas Eve there’s no rest for the wicked.

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Arkham Origins throws us straight into the fire. Within ten minutes we’ve failed to save a life and Killer Croc is already snapping at our fingers. Those of us who picked the hardest difficulty are really put to the test at this early stage as we have no upgrades and Batman can only withstand three or four of Croc’s attacks. Nevertheless, we prevail and discover that Black Mask (a supervillain) has put a $50 million bounty on our head. This has attracted 8 deadly assassins to ruin Christmas at Wayne Manor and cause chaos throughout Gotham.

Bruce Wayne has already been prowling the streets of Gotham for two years by this point, but most of the residents of Arkham think he is a myth. This is his first real test. Every criminal is suddenly chasing after Batman for the prize money; even the police are corrupt and looking to line their pockets for an early retirement. The only person who isn’t looking to kill Batman is Captain Gordon, but he wants to arrest Batman for his violent vigilante acts of breaking bones and knocking out teeth. It’s literally Batman versus everyone.

There was a big leap in improvement from Arkham Asylum to Arkham City, but this game pretty much just copies most of Arkham City’s gameplay. All the gadgets are the same, the combat moves are exactly the same and even half the map is a copy of Arkham City’s. There have been some cool additions such as the martial arts foes that counter your attacks – this has made combat considerably more challenging. Another new feature is the crime scene reconstruction that allows you to piece together the crime as a video based on the evidence found at the scene. It’s a fairly minor addition but it does add a little to the game. Many fans have disagreed strongly with the shock gloves that are gained halfway through the game. These can be activated after knocking a few thugs around, at which point Batman can punch through riot shields, armour and basically destroy any opponent. The shock gloves are just too invincible and ruin the game if used.

The main storyline is pretty good, though, as it is reveals to us how Batman first meets the Joker and Captain Gordon (Commissioner Gordon in the other games). The issue I have is that the side quests lack story and get a bit repetitive as it’s just Batman beating up different groups of criminals. One big success though is the fights with the assassins that are very physical and it feels like Batman is fighting for his life. On top of this, it takes quite a few goes to figure out the right techniques to finally overcome the assassins and is one of the most challenging parts of the game.

This is the first time that the Arkham series has gone online and it’s very different to other games. The main fight is between three of Bane’s thugs and three of Joker’s thugs in the usual First Person Shooter mode. Unfortunately it’s just not as good a FPS as the ones in Call of Duty or Halo and therefore becomes a little boring. Halfway through Joker or Bane become available to the first team to reach a location which gives that team a massive boost and spices things up a bit. The interesting bit is that there is another team made up of Batman and Robin (who does not feature in the campaign). The duo have no firearms and have to stealthily take out the criminals and fill up an intimidation meter to cause the criminals to give up and go home. It’s very similar (for Batman and Robin) to the single player mode, but you have the difficulty that the thugs are unpredictable and will actively search hiding places to kill the heroes. This mode has some benefits as it forces players to cooperate and stick together to avoid being picked off easily by the heroes, but it’s a bit boring playing as the thugs. A good starting point, but more of a first draft, it wont be stealing any players from other multiplayer games.

Arkham Origins is a pretty damn good game, but it’s just not quite up to the standards of the previous two games. Personally, Arkham City is one of the best games I have ever played. Batman fans will definitely enjoy this prequel but if you haven’t played any of the Batman games, I would recommend starting with Arkham Asylum or Arkham City.

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