Batman: Arkham Origins

[Hei 3,233]

So this is just small rant: I don't understand the voice actor change? They are going for a younger batman, but now it just sounds like a completely different person. I don't get why they didn't just have Kevin Conroy do a younger version of his voice. 

[rikunobodyxiii 700]

So this is just small rant: I don't understand the voice actor change? They are going for a younger batman, but now it just sounds like a completely different person. I don't get why they didn't just have Kevin Conroy do a younger version of his voice.

Agreed. It's not that I have anything against the new guy, but Conroy is Batman. The change is a little odd. If it was instigated on Conroy's part, like he was retiring from the character like Hamill did with the Joker, I could understand it, but I haven't heard anything like that coming from him.

[Firaga 5,947]

So this is just small rant: I don't understand the voice actor change? They are going for a younger batman, but now it just sounds like a completely different person. I don't get why they didn't just have Kevin Conroy do a younger version of his voice. 

 

Agreed. It's not that I have anything against the new guy, but Conroy is Batman. The change is a little odd. If it was instigated on Conroy's part, like he was retiring from the character like Hamill did with the Joker, I could understand it, but I haven't heard anything like that coming from him.

 

There have been many voices for Batman over the years, from Conroy, to Troy Baker, and now Roger Craig Smith. And they've all done a good job in doing so. Maybe Conroy didn't have the right sound for the job, so they gave to RCS because of that. Either way, RCS is a damned good voice actor for playing Ezio and Sonic, and the small clips we've heard from him in the trailers sound good too, so I don't mind the change.

[Firaga 5,947]

 

I'm now possibly considering moving to the UK, lol... that is, unless the US version is just as/even more awesome. (hopefully)

[AaySquare 445]

 

I'm now possibly considering moving to the UK, lol... that is, unless the US version is just as/even more awesome. (hopefully)

 

Woh! Pretty impressive collectors edition. Too many games coming up starting from September and I don't think I'll be able to save up for this thing. I will probably only get the game.

[Tails 6,690]

New Batman Arkham Origins Gamescom Trailer:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks4tY8dXaVU

[Hei 3,233]

This tv spot is pretty interesting 

Edited October 17, 2013 by Hei

[Ben G 166]

For those that are interested from now til the 25th Arkham Asylum and Arkham City will be 75% off on steam

[E-ZombieHERO 6]

I pre ordered, 5 Days Left, can't wait. If Deathstroke is as strong as he was in Teen Titans, (strong enough to slam Raven's Dad Trigon to the ground) I hope you get to fight him as well.

[Kaweebo 3,617]

[Hei 3,233]

This friday, woooooooooo

[Firaga 5,947]

This friday, woooooooooo

Fudge! You beat me to it!

[RoxSox 3,593]

Just bit the Story Mode. I've yet to do all of the side missions, and I don't think I'm any mpre then 25% complete...

 

I am very impressed. For a numerous amount of reasons. There are also some things that are disappointing, and I'll start with those Disappointing things:

 

Things that are disappointing:

 

• The combat has a tendency to not flow as well as in City and not even as well as Asylum at times. I found myself punching air in situations where in City I would be pounding bad guys, and it happened far too often to be personal error. I also think there might be the occassional off-ness with counters, because sometimes it felt that I really should have blocked some attacks but I didn't. Might be personal error though, as I sometimes had trouble timing my counters right in the previous games.
• It's not as polished. Rocksteady did a fantastic job in making the game pretty much entirely glitch free. I can only think of one time that my game froze when playing City, and I rarely if ever encountered frame rate drops or texture pop in. Those things are a bit more frequent in Origins. I found that there was typically a frame rate drop whenever a cutscene began, but it would go away and the cutscene would then play flawlessly. Stuff like that. I recall one mission where, perhaps due to some parameters of the mission, an entire part of the map hadn't rendered completely, and had a muddy texture akin to what you'd encounter in a PS2 game. Very rare though, and like I said, I think it was due to me going outside where the mission I was on intended for me to go.
• Random spikes in difficulty. I can't say much here without giving spoilers, but I'll suffice to say that the difficulty was hard when it was hard, and it was easy when it was easy. And those two things appeared to be completely randomized throughout the campaign. You will encounter one of the hardest boss fights of the game within the first two hours, and then go for a while without being very challeneged, and suddenly you'll come upon an encounter with thugs that will kick your ass up and down. This might vary for people who are better at the game then I am, but it's worth noting that the difficulty doesn't seem to progress as the game goes on, but merely pops up in certain locations. Not necessarily a bad thing, and it's really a nitpick.
• Not enough Predator mode. This might not be a big issue, because I only really noticed in retrospect, and it might actually be around the same amount of Predator mode that appeared in the other games... but it just seems like those Gargoyle mounting moments seemed to be less in quantity, and what predator maps there were seemed to be either short, too easy, or just boring. I don't know if the AI is less intuitive then they were in City or Asylum or what, but I was picking bad guys off the map quick fast and in a hurry without much resistence...

 

So those are the things that's bothered me a little. So now let's go into the good things:

 

Things that are awesome:

 

 

• Pretty much everything else.... okay maybe an exaggeration but I can't really think of anything else that seems bad. I'll go into more detail below...
• The Boss battles. The Arkham games prior to this one already had some great boss battles. Mr. Freeze comes to mind as a boss battle that was challenging and intuitive and unique... but there were also bosses in the Arkham games that were just constantly rehashed. For instance... "Bane/Titan thug/Big dude is running at you from across the field and you need to dodge/stun him to take him down and you'll be doing this about fifty dozen times." Origins does a fantastic job of adding variety to both the boss battles and to the encounters with thugs. New enemy classes such as thugs that will counter you and counter your counters after you counter them add a bit of spice to gameplay. Plus returning champions such as the stun baton thugs and the riot shield thugs and other newcomers give you something extra to fight. But it really shines in the boss battles... again I can't really go into much detail without spoiling much... I'll use Deathstroke as an example... that's not a spoiler really, you know you're going to fight him. His boss battle really challenges you, and makes you feel very evenly matched. It's a step away from the "pound until dead" method of other boss battles in the Arkham games. Basically, they're good.
• The voice acting. Roger Craig Smith as Bruce seems strange in the beginning, after you're so used to hearing Kevin Conroy's voice... but by the end of the game you buy it. I know that your mileage may vary on this one, as opinions are a fickle thing, but I honestly believed that the voice of Batman in this game was a younger more inexperienced version of the Batman voice in the other games. Roger really sells it. But where the new cast REALLY shines is with Troy Baker. Dear God I cannot gush enough over how happy Troy Baker made me as the Joker... if I had not known it wasn't Mark Hamill, then I very well may not have noticed. The nuances and the laugh and the style he adds to it all make you believe it. Trust me on this when I say that you'll know what I mean when I say "it's firetrucking creepy at times how good a performance it is.". All of the other characters in the story have solid voice work as well, not a dud among them.
• The Story. I honestly believe that the story in this game is better then either of the stories in A or C. There is a certain degree of character and nuance and wit to the telling of the (relatively short) story that really makes me feel I had a satisfying experience when the credits roll. I can't say much about it without spoiling it majorly. and trust me, you DO NOT WANT to be spoiled for this game. There are a nice handful of twists and turns that will rustle your jimmies so long as you don't know it beforehand.
• The characters. Again, I can't say much here without spoiling the hell out of it. When I think back to Arkham City and Asylum, there were really only one or two characters that I actually cared about. Hell, I cared more about the Joker in those games then I did Batman. It felt like the characters in City and Asylum were just pawns to be played with, without much heft given to them (with, of course, the exception of the Joker, who really shined in the games). Origins puts a lot more focus on the heart of the story. On Bruce, on the villains, even on the Butler. Point is, I felt more invested in this story then I did in the original games, and that is a very good thing.
• The size of the map, and the sheer number of things to collect. There is a lot to do here. You have a solid Story Mode that will run you between 8-12 hours depending on how good you are and how fast you take it. (8 if you're running full pace through the Story mode without doing any sidequests, 12 if you take your time and maybe do a couple things on the side if the mood suits.) Like I said above, even with doing a couple of the side quests, I don't even have hardly a quarter of the full completion percentage.
• Contrary to what you may have heard, this game DOES in fact have quite a few easter eggs. Not nearly as many as in the other games, but there are definitely a few for you to find. Me and Hei have found at least 20 or so between us, maybe take a few. And I haven't been to all corners of the map yet, not even close.
• The score is excellent. It has a similar sound to the Nolan films, with elements of TAS score, I think even bits of the Burton movie themes, and of course the Arkham riffs from the other games.
• It actually feels like a prequel. This is one of the things I was worried about leading up to the game... I didn't think it was going to feel enough like a prequel. But it really does, actually. There's even a good explanation as to why Batman in Asylum and City didn't keep the gadgets he had in Origins if you give it some thought.

Closing thoughts:

 

The game is good. Really good. Warner Brothers did an excellent job maintaining the Arkham mantle, and they didn't disappoint me. I think You should definitely buy this game.

 

 

I'll add more as I think of it, I did just beat the game, and when it simmers down I'll have a few more things to say for sure.

Edited October 28, 2013 by RoxSoxKH

[Cucco 1,907]

Just bit the Story Mode. I've yet to do all of the side missions, and I don't think I'm any mpre then 25% complete...

 

I am very impressed. For a numerous amount of reasons. There are also some things that are disappointing, and I'll start with those Disappointing things:

 

Things that are disappointing:

 

• The combat has a tendency to not flow as well as in City and not even as well as Asylum at times. I found myself punching air in situations where in City I would be pounding bad guys, and it happened far too often to be personal error. I also think there might be the occassional off-ness with counters, because sometimes it felt that I really should have blocked some attacks but I didn't. Might be personal error though, as I sometimes had trouble timing my counters right in the previous games.
• It's not as polished. Rocksteady did a fantastic job in making the game pretty much entirely glitch free. I can only think of one time that my game froze when playing City, and I rarely if ever encountered frame rate drops or texture pop in. Those things are a bit more frequent in Origins. I found that there was typically a frame rate drop whenever a cutscene began, but it would go away and the cutscene would then play flawlessly. Stuff like that. I recall one mission where, perhaps due to some parameters of the mission, an entire part of the map hadn't rendered completely, and had a muddy texture akin to what you'd encounter in a PS2 game. Very rare though, and like I said, I think it was due to me going outside where the mission I was on intended for me to go.
• Random spikes in difficulty. I can't say much here without giving spoilers, but I'll suffice to say that the difficulty was hard when it was hard, and it was easy when it was easy. And those two things appeared to be completely randomized throughout the campaign. You will encounter one of the hardest boss fights of the game within the first two hours, and then go for a while without being very challeneged, and suddenly you'll come upon an encounter with thugs that will kick your ass up and down. This might vary for people who are better at the game then I am, but it's worth noting that the difficulty doesn't seem to progress as the game goes on, but merely pops up in certain locations. Not necessarily a bad thing, and it's really a nitpick.
• Not enough Predator mode. This might not be a big issue, because I only really noticed in retrospect, and it might actually be around the same amount of Predator mode that appeared in the other games... but it just seems like those Gargoyle mounting moments seemed to be less in quantity, and what predator maps there were seemed to be either short, too easy, or just boring. I don't know if the AI is less intuitive then they were in City or Asylum or what, but I was picking bad guys off the map quick fast and in a hurry without much resistence...

 

So those are the things that's bothered me a little. So now let's go into the good things:

 

Things that are awesome:

 

 

• Pretty much everything else.... okay maybe an exaggeration but I can't really think of anything else that seems bad. I'll go into more detail below...
• The Boss battles. The Arkham games prior to this one already had some great boss battles. Mr. Freeze comes to mind as a boss battle that was challenging and intuitive and unique... but there were also bosses in the Arkham games that were just constantly rehashed. For instance... "Bane/Titan thug/Big dude is running at you from across the field and you need to dodge/stun him to take him down and you'll be doing this about fifty dozen times." Origins does a fantastic job of adding variety to both the boss battles and to the encounters with thugs. New enemy classes such as thugs that will counter you and counter your counters after you counter them add a bit of spice to gameplay. Plus returning champions such as the stun baton thugs and the riot shield thugs and other newcomers give you something extra to fight. But it really shines in the boss battles... again I can't really go into much detail without spoiling much... I'll use Deathstroke as an example... that's not a spoiler really, you know you're going to fight him. His boss battle really challenges you, and makes you feel very evenly matched. It's a step away from the "pound until dead" method of other boss battles in the Arkham games. Basically, they're good.
• The voice acting. Roger Craig Smith as Bruce seems strange in the beginning, after you're so used to hearing Kevin Conroy's voice... but by the end of the game you buy it. I know that your mileage may vary on this one, as opinions are a fickle thing, but I honestly believed that the voice of Batman in this game was a younger more inexperienced version of the Batman voice in the other games. Roger really sells it. But where the new cast REALLY shines is with Troy Baker. Dear God I cannot gush enough over how happy Troy Baker made me as the Joker... if I had not known it wasn't Mark Hamill, then I very well may not have noticed. The nuances and the laugh and the style he adds to it all make you believe it. Trust me on this when I say that you'll know what I mean when I say "it's firetrucking creepy at times how good a performance it is.". All of the other characters in the story have solid voice work as well, not a dud among them.
• The Story. I honestly believe that the story in this game is better then either of the stories in A or C. There is a certain degree of character and nuance and wit to the telling of the (relatively short) story that really makes me feel I had a satisfying experience when the credits roll. I can't say much about it without spoiling it majorly. and trust me, you DO NOT WANT to be spoiled for this game. There are a nice handful of twists and turns that will rustle your jimmies so long as you don't know it beforehand.
• The characters. Again, I can't say much here without spoiling the hell out of it. When I think back to Arkham City and Asylum, there were really only one or two characters that I actually cared about. Hell, I cared more about the Joker in those games then I did Batman. It felt like the characters in City and Asylum were just pawns to be played with, without much heft given to them (with, of course, the exception of the Joker, who really shined in the games). Origins puts a lot more focus on the heart of the story. On Bruce, on the villains, even on the Butler. Point is, I felt more invested in this story then I did in the original games, and that is a very good thing.
• The size of the map, and the sheer number of things to collect. There is a lot to do here. You have a solid Story Mode that will run you between 8-12 hours depending on how good you are and how fast you take it. (8 if you're running full pace through the Story mode without doing any sidequests, 12 if you take your time and maybe do a couple things on the side if the mood suits.) Like I said above, even with doing a couple of the side quests, I don't even have hardly a quarter of the full completion percentage.
• Contrary to what you may have heard, this game DOES in fact have quite a few easter eggs. Not nearly as many as in the other games, but there are definitely a few for you to find. Me and Hei have found at least 20 or so between us, maybe take a few. And I haven't been to all corners of the map yet, not even close.
• The score is excellent. It has a similar sound to the Nolan films, with elements of TAS score, and of course the Arkham riffs from the other games.
• It actually feels like a prequel. This is one of the things I was worried about leading up to the game... I didn't think it was going to feel enough like a prequel. But it really does, actually. There's even a good explanation as to why Batman in Asylum and City didn't keep the gadgets he had in Origins if you give it some thought.

Closing thoughts:

 

The game is good. Really good. Warner Brothers did an excellent job maintaining the Arkham mantle, and they didn't disappoint me. I think You should definitely buy this game.

 

 

I'll add more as I think of it, I did just beat the game, and when it simmers down I'll have a few more things to say for sure.

i heard the wii u version had better framerate, and it's also probably better on the pc also

[RoxSox 3,593]

i heard the wii u version had better framerate, and it's also probably better on the pc also

 

Well obviously it's going to be better on PC. That's like saying "seeing a mountain is better then looking at a picture of a mountain."

[RoxSox 3,593]

THE FOLLOWING POST CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE MAIN STORY AND THE SIDEQUESTS OF THE GAME. DO NOT READ THE CONTENTS OF THIS POST IF YOU HAVE NOT PLAYED THE GAME OR IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT OCCURS IN THE STORY.

 

 

DLC possibilities:

 

• I think we'll probably get a new character or two somewhere down the line for challenge maps and maybe even multiplayer. I suspect that these characters might be Dick Grayson or Barbara Gordon. Bab's is set up quite nicely in the game's story, already having hacked Batmans comm system and helped him in the solving of a crime. Since they've established her character so nicely and suggested a potential future for her as Batgirl, I honestly will be surprised if she ISN'T DLC somewhere down the line. Dick Grayson is obvious, since he's already a big part of Multiplayer. But he might stay there, and someone else will be brought into the roster. Maybe maybe not.
• As for story related DLC... I don't know. The Suicide Squad storyline that is heavily alluded towards in the end credits stinger and all throughout Blackgate seems to be more important then just a DLC pack, so I don't expect it to materialize as that. Perhaps a post game storyline that actually introduces the Bat family, and Batgirl is made a playable character through the story DLC. I expect Harley Quinn to materialize if they do make a post game storyline DLC. She's already pretty much in good with the Joker, and her smirk in the ending tells me she's already on his side. She also seemed somewhat non-chalant in the Story mode when Blackgate has gone to shit... I actually think she may have had something to do with aiding in the breakout.
• Can I have Slade skin from the Teen Titans cartoon for Deathstroke, please thanks?

Easter Eggs that me and Hei have noticed:

 

• I have so far seen a reference to Wonder Woman (Cale-Anderson is the name of a company you see on billboards throughout Gotham. It's a company owned by a character who is basically the Wonder Woman Lex Luthor equivalent.), Arrow ('Queen Industries' containers), Steel (Amertek containers), Hei said he saw the name of Hal Jordan's airplane company doo dad, you can see an advertisement for Zatanna's magic show, and an advertisement for the Flying Graysons.
• Building off the Flying Graysons easter egg, later on in the game when in the Royal Hotel, you'll encounter another Flying Graysons poster... only this has a big "CANCELLED" Label pasted across it. Interesting.
• a few others I have noticed but that I can't think of off the top of my head.

 

Things I thought were awesome:

 

Right now I just want to talk about how freaking awesome the villains were handled in this game. Between the absolute amazingness of The Joker, or the amazingness of Bane, or the intrigue of Enigma, or the curiousity over the other assassins.... it's all deliciously awesome.

 

But it's the Joker I really want to talk about here... that whole ending sequence in Royal Hotel and immediately following Royal Hotel is now one of my absolute favorite video game moments. Between the tension between Joker and Batman in that sequence, the buuldup to the fight against Bane, and then the following events where you firetrucking play as the Goddamn Red Hood is just amazing. Absolute kudos to WB just for those moments alone.

 

[Kaweebo 3,617]

My personal review of Arkham Origins. There aren't really any major spoilers, but it's somewhat long so I've included tags, anyway. 

 

 

I bought the PS3 version of this game and was slightly disappointed with what I got. Firstly, the lack of anti-aliasing aggravates me, but that's present with almost every PS3 game ever, so I'll let that slide. What is inexcusable, however, is the many glitches that seem to come with PS3 games. Different hardware aside, when I play games on an Xbox 360, they don't glitch nearly as much. This is especially prevalent when I try to quick-travel, and the result is sound-skipping or just complete silence. That bugs the crap out of me, it really does.

 

That's really the only problem I have gameplay-wise. Everything else is pretty much alright. Though I do hate that they didn't create character trophies showing off the different Batman costumes you can get. (I wanna admire Adam West Batman, dammit.)

 

Story-wise, it's pretty good. I wasn't expecting this game to be Arkham City top-notch, but it actually came pretty close. I love the connection Batman and Joker have in this game and exploring that whole thing. I love playing through what is essentially a sequence all about the Joker naming off reasons why he's in love with Batman. I love when Alfred calls out Bruce about being too impatient and danger-happy. I love the detail they put into this game. It's slow at the beginning, but once the Joker comes in, it's simply fantastic. 

 

The only bad I can think of is really only a nitpick. When Joker gets sent to Arkham and recounts his tales to Harleen Quinzel, they are essentially retconning the audio tapes from the first game - Asylum. I would have accepted it a bit more if they even referenced some of the lines, but apparently that little part of the game was forgotten. I'm not too terribly upset over this, but it is a shame they seem to have ignored that little bit of this series' history. Not to mention how Harleen seems to fall for him immediately, which seems to indicate she was already losing it a bit feels kind of rushed to me.

 

 

All in all, while I don't think this game was worth 60 bucks, it's definitely worth any gamer/Batman enthusiast's time. 

Edited October 31, 2013 by Kaweebo

[AaySquare 445]

My personal review of Arkham Origins. There aren't really any major spoilers, but it's somewhat long so I've included tags, anyway.  

I bought the PS3 version of this game and was slightly disappointed with what I got. Firstly, the lack of anti-aliasing aggravates me, but that's present with almost every PS3 game ever, so I'll let that slide. What is inexcusable, however, is the many glitches that seem to come with PS3 games. Different hardware aside, when I play games on an Xbox 360, they don't glitch nearly as much. This is especially prevalent when I try to quick-travel, and the result is sound-skipping or just complete silence. That bugs the crap out of me, it really does. That's really the only problem I have gameplay-wise. Everything else is pretty much alright. Though I do hate that they didn't create character trophies showing off the different Batman costumes you can get. (I wanna admire Adam West Batman, dammit.) Story-wise, it's pretty good. I wasn't expecting this game to be Arkham City top-notch, but it actually came pretty close. I love the connection Batman and Joker have in this game and exploring that whole thing. I love playing through what is essentially a sequence all about the Joker naming off reasons why he's in love with Batman. I love when Alfred calls out Bruce about being too impatient and danger-happy. I love the detail they put into this game. It's slow at the beginning, but once the Joker comes in, it's simply fantastic.  The only bad I can think of is really only a nitpick. When Joker gets sent to Arkham and recounts his tales to Harleen Quinzel, they are essentially retconning the audio tapes from the first game - Asylum. I would have accepted it a bit more if they even referenced some of the lines, but apparently that little part of the game was forgotten. I'm not too terribly upset over this, but it is a shame they seem to have ignored that little bit of this series' history. Not to mention how Harleen seems to fall for him immediately, which seems to indicate she was already losing it a bit feels kind of rushed to me.

 All in all, while I don't think this game was worth 60 bucks, it's definitely worth any gamer/Batman enthusiast's time.

How much score would you then give the game out of 10? From ur review it seems like a 8...

[Kaweebo 3,617]

How much score would you then give the game out of 10? From ur review it seems like a 8...

For the PS3 version, I'd have to give it a 7. For the overall story and gameplay, yeah it'd probably be an 8 - 9. 

Edited October 31, 2013 by Kaweebo

[Zidane Kuja 3]

K...so i did buy the ps3 version of this game the Story...kinda is relatively close to Arkham City.

and ingenious tho..but still the link is just too close together. but as i said the way they did it was Ingenious 

I loved the story can't wait for the future DLC stories,hopefully they will put more dlc into this than City was allowed.

Loved the Dlc costumes im seeing from the up comming season pass. the story gets a solid 10

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

However the multiplayer,its a little...well semi dead for me.

mainly cause hardly anyone is ever on i usually get up too 6 people and they drop exponentially i had one time i went from 8 to 2 players

just because it took so long for someone to join,i understand the game needs 8 players but it just seems to me to be the upsetting part

to just hopefully start a quick game all the time to see if you can get a full game going,they need a second option in my opinion

like in naruto Ultimate storm3 you could view the rooms and see how many players were in that room and if you saw a free spot?,you would join in,i mean going in blind and hoping for a full game is a joy on its own..but if you get paired by only yourself and maybe 2 others and one one shows up...it can get really annoying,i do like how its set up tho.

iv'e hardly been able to play as a joker  member

my bane gang member seems to be the only thug i can get

and iv'e only been able to play as robin so far

I do like the Random team set up,so that it's fair.

 

overall the multiplayer is very good,the team play is excellent.but i can't give this a 10 due to the lack of waiting for a full party to show up at random,there should at least be like maybe a who's online session and who's got a game being set up display or possibly a window acknowledging to you how many people are playing online with you.

 

(This maybe just on my side of the multiplayer but its how i am experiencing my gameplay of multiplayer,haters can hate but im just stating my opinion on how this menu/play feels and is set up)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

So Basically heres the quick version

(Story) : 10/10 = 100% 

Very good,love the story it was worth it.

(still in my eyes it didn't seem original)

 

 

(Multiplayer) :8/10

Very Nice,would like to see more added on to it, like a black mask clan or even Penguin

and or Nightwing or Batgirl added to the multiplayer roster possibly a Red hood multiplayer skin for Robin.

[Dave 5,715]

So, I'm at the final scene, and I've run into glitches. I'm playing it on the PC, and if anyone has any input on how to solve this, I would be appreciative.

 

 

So, during the last confrontation with the Joker, I keep getting up to the part where you hit him with the beatdown, but the thing that keeps happening is that it's only letting me throw two punches before Batman seems to lose interest, and it won't let me continue the beatdown. So basically, I'm stuck in a quicktime event with no way of getting out of it. Has this happened to anyone else?

 

[Dave 5,715]

Did finally beat the game, thanks to some reprogramming advice from Steam. Final thoughts

 

 

 

 

In general, I actually really liked the gameplay. Flying around Gotham was fun, and I liked the level of detail in the city. The main thing that I loved, though, was that there was so much to do. The amount of sidequests was great, and occupied me for an absurd amount of time. Also, since the game took place in Gotham proper, I felt more compelled to run to the rescue every time GCPD called in a crime. This is MY town, and ain't no crime happening on my watch! I liked the forensic missions, though I think they held your hand a bit too much: you weren't really solving the crime on your own skill so much as you were just going step by step. But I loved the most-wanted villains missions. Anarky's bombs drove me up the wall, and taking him down felt great, the Enigma packets were fun to go after, etc.

 

The thing that I actually found myself being disappointed with the most, actually, was the main story. Mostly, I thought there were a lot of missed opportunities. The twist of the Joker being the main villain sadly made a lot of the story fall flat: now, the whole assassins-gonna-kill-you plot was put on the backburner, proved by the fact that most of the assassins were turned into sidequests. I also kind of felt bad for Black Mask: I think the series needed a new main bad guy for the game, and he kind of got propped up only to be taken down. If anything, they really should have just made Bane the big bad for the entire game. I mean, he was a big deal, yes, but even still, he was sort of playing second fiddle to the Joker the whole time. Mostly, I think the story could have done with some more focus on the plot line, instead of shifting gears a whole bunch of times.

 

Now, for more specifics:

 

-I liked the Hatter appearance. I think Tetch is one of the villains who's never the one you expect, but who always manages to add something whenever he appears. I think his incarnation in the Arkham series probably cements him as a villain and a threat. He's definately creepy, capable, powerful in his own way, and he can cause some lasting damage. I was actually shocked and a little disturbed when "Alice" is left in the Hat Shop, crying, and you can't actually comfort her or make it better. Hatter has ruined this person's life, and that's a kind of evil that I think, out of all the Bat Rougues, he is the only one really capable of bringing.

 

-Disappointed that they didn't do anything further with Alberto and Calendar Man. Given that the game takes place on Christmas Eve, I was expecting some Holiday killing action going on. But they just sort of introduce the characters, and then never do anything else with them. Though I did make a head-canon for myself that Alberto was the one responsible for the crimes Calendar Man is being held accountable for at the beginning of the game.

 

-The whole episode on the bridge with Firefly was great. I don't usually get that into a game, but when I saw that bridge falling apart, I was glued to my screen. I usually take my time to enjoy the scenery in games, but I was dashing through this level, because I wanted to ice Firefly and save that bridge. The intensity was really good, and the stakes were established well.

 

- No Harvey Dent. Little disappointed.

 

- I really enjoyed all the boss battles in the game. Each was a little different in their own right, and forced you to adapt, adopt, and improve.

 

-Predator encounters are probably my favorite part of the game. Slugging people out is okay, but that element of sneaking around, being stealthy, using all your tools and planning were the moments I felt the most like Batman.

 

 

 

Edited December 30, 2013 by Dave

[AaySquare 445]

I finally got the game for PS3. So far I like the game since it has the same elements like in Arkham City. Anyone recommend buying Arkham Origins Blackgate for Vita?