3/5 Pitchforks
Relatively unknown Rocksteady Studios was given the reigns in 2009 to make a game based on one of the most iconic fictional characters: Batman. “Batman: Arkham Asylum” was a critical and fan darling with its sequel, “Batman: Arkham City,” as it improved on the core gameplay and delved further into the Batman universe. With Rocksteady focusing on a next-generation Batman game (confirmed by the seasoned Batman voice actor), Warner Brothers Games Montréal came in to deliver its first non-adapted Batman title. The end result? — a game that has a hard time leaving the shadows of its predecessors.
Following Arkham Asylum and City, Origins functions as a prequel to Arkham Asylum as Bruce Wayne enters the second year of his Batman career. Inevitably, this disturbs many of the Gotham City criminals who want Batman’s head on a platter. One such villain, Black Mask, is a crime lord who hires eight assassins, including Deathstroke and Bane, to murder Batman for $50 million on Christmas Eve. What ensues is a narrative with lows that drag the story down and highs that cause seasoned Bat-fans to rethink the established pillars of the larger Batman universe.
The gameplay of “Batman: Arkham Origins” is largely unchanged from the two previous games, giving the player a sense of déjà vu. It is, however, a glorious reminder of how amusing it is to play as Batman, but with more varied enemies to fight, including a countering expert that tests your combat abilities.
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is the mantra that WB Games has followed, and it has served them well, but it's only a side-step compared to the jump that Rocksteady made from Asylum to City.
While the assassin boss fights test the player’s abilities, the end result of these fights is banal at best. For the most part, the assassins are only window dressing. Therefore, when you do actually clash there is no real looming sense of dread, or even importance, beforehand. It’s a speed bump on Batman’s journey to the end.
One of the vastly improved aspects that Origins trumps over the previous games is its detective mode. In prior games, Batman just analyzed a crime scene and then took care of the rest. In Origins, while he still analyzes the different aspects, it's up to the player to follow clues and look for fingerprints, fabric or other clues to reconstruct the crime scene. The player can even go back and forth through time to watch the scene play out. The result fleshes out a facet of Batman’s character that is largely absent in popular Batman stories — he’s the world’s greatest detective.
The open world of Gotham City, promised to be twice the size of the Arkham City, a walled off prison, is more of a "Batman: Arkham City" plus one. Arkham Origins includes the uppity and decadent Gotham with towering skyscrapers, as well as the Arkham City map. Fans of "Batman: Arkham City” will find it fascinating to see Arkham City before it was a prison, flooded or damaged by an earthquake.
One of the more concerning aspects of Gotham City is the city's inert life. You would think that Gotham City is only populated with hoods and vagrants, as there are no civilians (because of reasons written off in one line before the story starts).
With the expanded map, players are able to make use of Batman’s batwing, which can be used to fly to pre-determined points on the map. There are also a variety of side missions that include solving puzzles, disarming bombs or stopping random crimes throughout the city. The player is even able to fly to Batman’s batcave, which is a first for the Arkham games. There you can train, get new gadgets and converse with your loyal butler who’ll talk with you about the events of the story. Alfred is a true highlight of the game as he complements Batman in an absurdist comedy.
The Batman (Kevin Conroy) and Joker (Mark Hamill) voice actors do not reprise their roles for Arkham Origins. We instead get Roger Craig Smith as Batman ("Assassin’s Creed II," "Resident Evil 5") and Troy Baker ("The Last of Us," "Bioshock: Infinite") as the Joker. Between the two of them, Baker comes the closest to Mark Hamill’s popular rendition of the Joker, nailing each line with the same punch as Mark Hamill. Roger Craig Smith, conversely, sounds like a cross between Chris Redfield and Christian Bale, but with a bored tone.
When super villains start appearing before Batman, for the first time he reacts to them in the same way he’d probably react to a wet napkin.
The addition of competitive multiplayer is another first for the series. As eight players are divided three ways between the Bane and Joker gangs, with Batman and Robin in the middle of the fracas, players can also play as either Bane or the Joker.
While shooting and taking cover are spotty at best, the gimmick of playing as the heroes, villains and grunts (with requisite aesthetic and weapon changes) is an interesting addition with the multiplayer option. However, the mode and map offerings are minimal with only one mode outside the gate and four total maps to play through. After spending an afternoon with “Batman: Arkham Origins’” multiplayer, you’ve basically seen everything it has to offer.
“Batman: Arkham Origins” serves as a testament to Rocksteady Studios and the previous games, because no matter how stifling Origins is, the tried and true gameplay harkens back to the spot-on Batman feel that was nailed perfectly in 2009’s “Batman: Arkham Asylum.” Batman fans who loved the two previous games will enjoy Origins, with reticence, but those who have always had trepidation for the Batman series or character are probably better off passing on WB Games Montreal’s efforts.
Reach the reporter at shfawcet@asu.com or follow him on Twitter@Whizbang813
