The only entry in the Arkham series not made by Rocksteady, Batman: Arkham Origins skips back in time, before the events of Batman: Arkham Asylum take place. At this point in time, the Joker is yet to establish himself as a serious crime-lord, Batman is little more than an urban myth, and, most importantly, the Penguin is yet to get his monocle.
This takes and builds upon the solid foundations provided by the brilliant Batman: Arkham City. Unlike the previous games which limited you to the island-based asylum, and the walled-off super prison, players get to explore Gotham City – both the old city with its slums, malls and docks (including Penguin’s lair, set on an old and failing ship), and the new city with its gleaming skyscrapers. Larger than previous games, players can traverse the city either by using the combination of grapnel-and-glide featured in Arkham City, or call in the Batwing to drop you off in one of the city’s many districts. Sadly, you don’t get to control the Batwing, rather, it acts as a quick travel mechanism, taking you to set waypoints which you first have to free from the Riddler’s interference, forcing you to initially travel on-foot (or cape). Fortunately, there’s a lot to do en route, including stopping crimes in progress, and hunting down the numerous collectibles littered throughout the map, not to mention solving the various puzzles left by the Riddler.
While the stealth mechanic remains largely unchanged from previous games [see our earlier review of Arkham Asylum] – the brilliant Freeflow combat system, which allows players to fluidly chain together multiple, visually impressive moves, has been tinkered with, and seemingly not for the best. While it is still one of the greatest combat systems ever invented, and is loads of fun to use compared to the entries in the series made by Rocksteady games, the tempo of combat just feels a tad off. While there is still plenty of depth to be had with different enemy types, combat moves, and the use of gadgets (including gloves which deliver an electric shock to foes), it just doesn’t flow as smoothly as it should.
Also, the detective mode – which in other entries provide a brief interlude and a way of pointing players to new objectives which made sense within the game world, but which was in many ways the most boring element of the game (and thankfully sparingly used) – features much more heavily in this game. In fact, it feels that a large portion of the story is delivered via reconstruction of crime scenes, rather than during actual gameplay.
In many ways, the problem with Batman: Arkham Origins is that it’s part of the Arkham series. Had this game been the first Arkham game to be released, I’m sure it would have been praised, much in the way Batman: Arkham Asylum was. Instead, it’s attempting to live up to what have been incredibly well designed and highly polished games. These are hard acts to follow, and unfortunately Batman: Arkham Origins falls just short enough of the mark to be noticeable. Don’t get me wrong: Batman: Arkham Origins is still a good game in its own right. It just doesn’t feel like it totally belongs. For example, the more advanced tech of Arkham City appears in Arkham Origin and feels out-of-place in the time-line. Some of the mechanics – like the quicktime elements in some of the fights – simply feel weird, and the story seems to lack the grim, gothic edge of the other entries in the series. Adding to this is the fact that Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamil, who respectively voice Batman and the Joker (both in the Rocksteady games and in the animated series), are not in Arkham Origins. Rather, their roles are taken by Roger Craig Smith and Troy Baker – again, they’re not bad (computer game voice-acting can be notoriously wooden) but it just doesn’t hold together as well as the other entries in this series.
Whilst, this is perhaps the weakest entry in the Arkham series, it is still a solid game and fun to play. If you’re a fan of Batman and like the Arkham games, you shouldn’t pass this one up. ■