Two years after the near-perfection that was Batman: Arkham City, it’s time to return to that universe, but not in the way people expected. Rather than continue the story following Arkham City, WB Games has decided to tell the story of the early days of Batman in the Arkham world and “set the stage” for Arkham Asylum. This game, unlike the other two, is not made by celebrated developer Rocksteady. This game is instead developed by WB Montreal. So,  is this game worthy of the pedigree it aspires to? Read my review and find out.

FIGURES AND MORE GAME REVIEW

Title:                                                   Batman: Arkham Origins

Developer:                                      WB Games Montreal

Publisher:                                        WB Games

Available on:                                   PS3, XBox 360, PC

The Batman: Arkham series has served to simultaneously rehab Batman’s video game reputation and create two of the best games ever. The last entry in the series, Batman: Arkham City, was as close to a perfect video game as I can ever remember playing. Following that game was going to be a massive undertaking from the get-go. This feat was made even more problematic when the developer of the first two games, Rocksteady, announced that they would not be handling this title. Instead, development duties would fall to WB Montreal. Gamers got even more nervous when it was announced that the voice cast would not include series mainstays Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill. The gameplay footage and screenshots showed a great deal of promise and the concept was intriguing. Now, at last, the finished game has arrived. And, to be honest, it’s a bit of a mixed bag. The story takes place some years before the events of Arkham Asylum. Batman is new on the scene, but has been around long enough to make an impression on the underworld. Black Mask has decided to get rid of Batman once and for all. To accomplish this, he sets a $50,000,000 bounty and enlists the services of 8 of the deadliest assassins in the world: Deathstroke, Deadshot, Shiva, Copperhead, Electrocutioner, Killer Croc, Firefly and Bane. You will encounter most of these assassins through the course of the story, though some are only seen in their respective side missions. In addition, you will encounter the Penguin, Anarky, and a man currently names Enigma, who will become much more infamous as the Riddler. You will also witness Batman’s first encounter with the psychotic individual destined to become his greatest foe: The Joker. Other familiar personalities, such as Captain James Gordon, Alfred Pennyworth and Vicki Vale are also present. The game world is the largest for any of the Arkham games. It is broken into two separate sections, New Gotham, which is the more metropolitan area, with skyscrapers and newer construction. The other section, Old Gotham, is actually the ENTIRE Arkham City map. This, in fact makes the game world TWICE the size of the previous game. Iconic locations abound, and the developers “set the stage” for the games to come, as you will see Wonder Tower from Arkham City actually being built in this game. Also, for the first time, we get to visit the Batcave in this game. It is a fully realized location, with several levels connected by stairways. The graphics are stellar, keeping the extraordinary detail present in previous games, while added a new layer with the game’s snow-swept Christmas setting. Textures are as sharp as they have ever been, with the snow covered ground allowing for a trail of visible bootprints. Sound is also top-notch, with one of the highlights being the audible crunch when you walk in the snow. The entire voice cast, including the new Batman and Joker voices is stellar. One of the highlights is the voice for Harvey Bullock, which is the same voice actor from Batman: the Animated Series. Also, the new voices of Batman (Roger Craig Smith) and the Joker (Troy Baker) deserve particular credit for turning in sterling performances in the face of such an illustrious legacy.

Combat, which has been the hallmark of the series, remains largely unchanged. Enemy encounters still mostly rely on the strike/counter, mechanic and the combo system remains intact, giving larger damage and experience rewards for more varied, larger combos. Most of the familiar gadgets from the other games make an appearance, such as the Disruptor and the Bat Claw. One new gadget, exclusive to this game is the Remote Claw, which allows you to connect two objects with a cable. This is delirious fun when used in battle. You perch on  a vantage point, aim at an enemy and aim the other end at an explosive container. The result after you fire is that the container and the enemy are drawn towards each other, with the enemy being knocked unconscious by the resulting explosion.

The game is actually fairly well done, as a whole, but there are a few gripes. First, the game world is almost too large. You have to use the Batwing “Fast Travel” feature to get from area to area, otherwise you will spend forever traveling between sections of the MASSIVE map. Because of the size of the world, the developers have to give you the grapnel boost off the bat. Also, this game has some really cool side missions, which all have their own engaging stories. However, none of them have any bearing on the main story. Furthermore, none of them are essential to the completion of the main story mode. And two gripes personally for me involve the Final Boss fight against the Joker, which is basically just a counter/beatdown sequence and the introduction of the Remote Claw, a weapon which EVERYBODY would have killed for in the first two games. I find it really hard to believe that Batman misplaced it in the years between Arkham Origins and Arkham Asylum. Also, the game’s pace is quite a bit faster than the earlier games, which means it feels like it is over sooner.

In the end, Batman: Arkham Origins is a decent addition to a spectacular series. It does a great job of showing us hints of the consummate hero Batman will become as he is still discovering himself. It features a cast of recognizable characters, alongside impressive new additions. It retains the combat and predator mechanics that have become the series’ hallmarks, while adding a new dimension to the Detective Mode mechanics through the crime scene reconstruction feature. It suffers from a slighter faster pace, which makes the game feel like it’s over faster, and a game world that may be too large, since you need to use the Batwing to get from place to place. But, it is still a game that I enjoyed playing, and that, in the end, is still worthy of the Arkham name. If nothing else, it is enough of a fix to hold us over until the next game.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Batman: Arkham Origins gets a 4 out of 5.