Batman Arkham Origins PS3 (also 360, PC and eventually Wii U) review

[Greg Moss]

So the dreaded third act. After the wonderful work put in by Rocksteady in the last two games (who given Kevin Conroys recent faux pas, have probably been working on a next gen/ sequel while this was being developed) the reigns have been handed to WB Montreal, best known for porting Arkham City to Wii U. Can this new studio, full of no doubt talented Canucks pull it off? Yes, actually if only by the skin of their teeth.

I'll start with the multiplayer, no one wanted it, or expected it even, but we got it anyway. Developed by the Brink guys Splash Damage, it was the first thing I tried after installing the game (4.7GB, mandatory on PS3). It's not stellar, but I did enjoy it. Started as one of Bane's elites, standard cover style shooter, 3 bases to capture and a set number of reinforcements. When they get down to zero, you can gain one more by killing a hero (Batman or Robin), lose all your team and the other baddies win. Around half way through a gate opened and the first team to arrives gets to swap one member, the first to arrive, for the leader, Joker in this instance as my team didn't make it. He was ridiculously powerful, killing me in one shot every time I got anywhere near (I am abysmal at shooters, so that may be down to my ineptitude). All the while Bats and boy wonder have their own objectives to take out the bad guys. Different set up than I've played before, like I say not really the best at shooters, but I did enjoy it and will give it some more time yet. Plus the host kept quitting when they didn't get to be a hero, and I want to play Robin dammit.

I got the PS3 version so my copy came with Deathstroke the terminator, a few extra maps, and some skins for Bats and Slade, my personal favorite being Adam Wests bat suit . The challenge maps are like they have always been, more addictive than oxygen. Spent hours wailing on enemies as Deathstroke, before finally having a go as Adam West. Sadly there is no button for him to do the batusi.

So onto the story mode, only had about 5 hours max on this, so I'll just give some initial impressions. Very entertaining, if a little familiar, WB Montreal obviously didn't want to rock the boat too much, so it feels a little like Arkham City 1.5, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. The new detective mode crime scene recreations could be very interesting, only done one so far, but there was a little more to it than I was expecting. The new Bat claw gadget is hilarious, should be used to pull enemies towards each other, whether it'll get any use other than that remains to be seen. The new enemies, that counter your counters also add a nice extra level of difficulty to the fights, still not got them down properly yet, so I've been on the wrong end of a few beatings. Speaking of which the first boss is

->Open Spoiler<-

Deathstroke

and he's difficult as hell, constantly countering you counters, with even more counters. Playing on normal difficulty and had several attempts before I won, due to reversing reversals, a little brawling and a few gadgets thrown in just to see me through. Hopefully all the assassins will be different, rather than the somewhat samey boss fights we've had in previous games. Should note that the PS3 version has had some horrendous slow down at points, and I mean really bad, almost slideshow bad. Overall however, even though it's missing a little of the magic from the last game I'm really glad I've got it, and I'm looking forward to more.

[saturn-gamer]

The terrible slowdown is because of the patch. Delete it (should be a 300mb file) and don't update the game, it will run fine (although worse than City which is true). You do have to redownload Deathstroke and Knightfall though.

I am playing Origins non-stop since yesterday morning and about 80% far in the story I think its really good. City was better polished for sure, Origins is sort of rough around the edges and doesn't do many new things. Still, there are some things to be found here such as the Remote Claw (another upgrade lets you latch enemies onto gargoyles) and the revamped crime scenes. The sidequests are being placed under the Most Wanted list which is an improvement as it makes it easy to see what you still have to do and where. OST is excellent too, perhaps outdoing City. Origins does have the best bossfights of the trilogy, there are some excellent ones in there. Origins also has the best story of the 3 games, its really good and actually kept me hooked.

Another difference is that you have to mix up your gameplay if you want all upgrades. You need to do a predator room completely unseen in order to rank up in the Dark Knight System and unlock something useful for example. This can be a negative depending on if you don't like to do things a certain way.

All in all I do think Origins isn't as refined and original as Arkham City was, but the low scores are pushing it. AC is a game thats being regarded as one of the best games of this generation and sits on a 95% average, Origins isn't as good but not that much worse either. It just isn't by Rocksteady and its not the same leap City was to Asylum.

[BaronSqwelch]

I'm enjoying it so far...as you says though it is Arkham City 1.5.
I keep having to save and quit out due to an annoying stutter.

That first boss you mentioned is actually really easy if you use the method I did...after dying 3 times of course

->Open Spoiler<-

Just roll around and when you have room use the bat rope on him...rinse and repeat til he either does the flashbang or throws the barrel at you. Rinse and Repeat. He never touched me on that try haha

Crime scene missions are well done, but the riddler stuff seems less about solving puzzles and more finding collectibles/destructibles.

But good fun so far. Won't be touching the MP as usual though.

[saturn-gamer]

That boss is also not hard if you

->Open Spoiler<-

don't button bash. Attack him without hammering the button and press Counter when given the signal. He will sometimes do some fancy slash moves, but just sit it out and press counter when prompted. If you mash the button here too early a counter signal won't appear and he will punish you.

Once the screen goes white you do have to mash counter. Once he's going to try to shoot, use the batclaw move.

I think this is the proper way to deal with him.

[Neon Ignition]

Sounds optimistic, interested to pick this up at some point though haven't as this is like one or two other releases and has been subjevted to the WiiU delay syndrome whereby publishers take a game that might have sold on the system and delay it to a week where no-one buys it. Dumb asses.

[saturn-gamer]

Yeah especially considering the Wii U version should be the most stable one out there. The Wii U apparently has none of the bad stuff I encountered.

[rmoxon]

I liked Arkham City in some ways, but it was a mess compared to the fantastically paced and focused Arkham Asylum. Too many bad guys and they just went over the top with it, the open world didn't help matters. One of the best things about the first game was the Metroid type structure and it wasn't utilised as well for the second game because the world was already open all collecting new abilities did was help you get riddler trophies.

I'm guessing this is just more open world rubbish?

[saturn-gamer]

I liked Arkham City in some ways, but it was a mess compared to the fantastically paced and focused Arkham Asylum. Too many bad guys and they just went over the top with it, the open world didn't help matters. One of the best things about the first game was the Metroid type structure and it wasn't utilised as well for the second game because the world was already open all collecting new abilities did was help you get riddler trophies.

I'm guessing this is just more open world rubbish?

Yep, stay away from it in that case.

But I can see what you mean. I shared the same opinion until I rebought AC in its GOTY form and went into it not comparing with Asylum. After the credits rolled I came to the conclusion that City is the better game. In City, you can 'be' Batman. You can fly from rooftops, attacking poor souls from miles away. Your abilities have more use. It felt bad ass in that game.

As for the bad guys, the start was overwhelming but ultimately there aren't that many and the plot is rather easy to follow (although its a bad plot, Origins does it better here). A few are optional side quests, and another few are Catwoman only. But they all come to a satisfiying conclusion, much better than just calling the cops for The Ridder.

Having all equipment from the start makes sense to me as you've already collected it all in Asylum. It would be silly if you have to collect all your gear yet again. One thing I liked better in Asylum are the riddler trophies, as there weren't a **** ton yet. I had AA at 100%, but AC not. I don't like it when games throw too much of that crap at you. Now Batman has all the skills from City in this origins story which doesn't make sense either, but okay, its for gameplay ofcourse.

[elaniel]

I'm enjoying this so far, most definitely feels like a 1.5 of Arkham City but more of the same was never a bad thing. Except when they do it too many years in a row (Assassins Creed). The investigations remind me a lot of the remixes in Remember Me and add something different. Well worth a play and can't complain for picking it up for ?30.

[Greg Moss]

Just had another few hours on this, really getting into it now. Met a young

->Open Spoiler<-

Batgirl

in the GCPD, then found out that

->Open Spoiler<-

Black Mask was being held hostage by the Joker

. The story is really starting to grip me now, and if I didn't have to work tomorrow I'd happily spend all night on it.

Have to agree that the OST is superb, perhaps the best one so far. Also not a huge fan of the riddler challenges this time round, have had a few good ones so far, but haven't enjoyed them as much as I did in city, in which I didn't enjoy them as much as asylum before it. The Riddler bits were much more focused in the first game, and I found them a bit long winded in city, so far I'd say I'll probably feel the same with this one.

[ItsThere]

Has anyone got the Vita game?

[Greg Moss]

Not yet, but only as my Game store didn't have it in stock. I was going to use some of my points to get money off, but I've ordered from Amazon instead. I'll start a thread for it when it arrives, if no one else has by then.

[ItsThere]

Cool - thank you! No reputable review sites have anything up yet!

[bash]

Anyone know if there are any costume cheats for PS3? Never really liked the Arkham standard look for bats. . . .

[Greg Moss]

Not as far as I know bash, you get a Batman one million costume by registering/ signing into a warner brothers account. It can be used in challenge maps from the beginning but you have to finish the story before you can use it there. So I presume it would be the same for all costumes.