This review contains spoilers
This review will contain spoilers
The forgotten entry of the Arkham series. Arkham Origins has been kept separate from the rest of the franchise, being left out of all the remasters and ports to new consoles, which is unfair as this game is a worthy entrance into this franchise which should not be lost to time.
As most people will know, Arkham Origins was made by WB Games Montreal instead of Rocksteady as they were full steam ahead on Arkham Knight which would of left the Arkham series without an entry for a considerable amount of time. This also meant that a lot of the main cast was changed up, which didn't go down amazingly with fans
Despite all this, Arkham Origins is still very solid. The game takes place during Batman's second year in Gotham, where "Black Mask" puts out a $50 million bounty on Batman's head and Batman has to rappel attacks from 8 deadly assassins which include a variety of well known and more obscure Batman rogues. Then of course it is revealed that it was The Joker behind everything and Batman must stop him. Pretty clean cut basic story which has all the tropes of an early year batman story. With the GCPD fighting against him and Batman being believed as a myth.
As previously mentioned, the cast was switched up, for this entry we didn't have the iconic duo of Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill but what we got instead wasn't a terrible substitute. Roger Craig Smith plays a much younger, more brutal and serious Batman as apposed to Conroy's more relaxed and level headed portrayal, I really do think that he does a great job with this version of Batman, that scene with Alfred in the Batcave is a great example, 100% shouldn't be overshadowed like it is. On the other hand Troy Baker plays a very similar Joker to Mark Hamill, clearly taking a lot of inspiration from the later. Outside of Nolan North as Penguin and Tara Strong as Harleen Quinzell in a brief cameo, I dont believe that there was any other continuity with voice actors. Side note, cool to see Robert Costanzo playing Harvey Bullock like in the animated series.
The thing that Origins is praised for the most is its boss fights, with big shoes to fill from City which gave two of the best boss battles in the franchise, Origins really does deliver here. As everyone is aware, the Deathstroke and Firefly fights are major standouts. However I would also like to mention that the 1st and TN1 Bane fight are also big standouts for me. I do think that due to how good those fights are, they overshadow some of the more middle of the road boss battles. The Killer Croc fight has nothing on the Asylum segment, the Copperhead fight is interesting but nothing ground breaking, Shiva and Deadshot aren't even part of the main story and both aren't very good at that but i do think the good out weights the bad.
Gameplay wise Origins plays it very similar to City but does add its fair share. Traversal is pretty much the same as City except you get the grapple boost off the bat. Combat plays similarly but with the addition of the shock gloves, getting massive combos is way easier. It adds Martial Arts and Brute enemies, which surprised me as I remembered Brutes being involved throughout the games. Martial arts enemies are really cool, I wish they made the jump to knight. The map is alright, I really like the Christmas theme and the snow makes it look really nice, I found no real reason to explore the map though unlike in City and Asylum. Also half of the map is just Arkham City without any of the damaged buildings.
Visually, the game holds up quite well for a 360 era game. The contrast between the CG cutscenes and the gameplay can be quite jarring at times. As the cutscenes are a lot higher res and darker, and the gameplay is bright. I really like this games Batsuit, it is much more military style and instead of getting ripped throughout as the other suits do it gets scratches and cracks which is a cool detail. As for other character designs, I really like Joker's design, feels a lot more animated series inspired than the other games which always gets points in my book.
Score wise, it has one of my favourite motives throughout the series, "Carol of the bells" which is the Joker's theme in this game is an amazing piece of music. Adds perfectly to the Christmas theme.
As for the characters themselves, the characters introduced in this game shine, where some that are present in the other games falter a bit. Standouts are Black Mask and Deathstroke personally. My favourite character present in this game is Bane, I love this rendition, Origins does him better than both Arkham games he is in. I love it when Bane is displayed as an intellectual equal to Batman as well as physically, which is how he is supposed to be but making him a big dumb monster is easier to write i guess. I think that with some tweaks, Bane could of been the main villain of Origins and I honestly would of preferred that. Speaking of main villain, Joker in this game plays into the argument that people are scared to make a Batman story without the Joker in it. I do agree with that statement but I think that in this case, you cant do "Arkham Origins" without the Joker. The Black Mask plot twist is a bit much as you could of just as easily introduced Joker without it but the scene where it is revealed it a really cool cutscene.
To quickly speak on some issues I have with this game. Excluding Asylum I think that Origins has the worst side content in the series. The only standout side quest is the Mad Hatter one which funnily enough I think its the best Mad Hatter side quest, its a really trippy and fun experience. All the other side content is boring and repetitive. Plus, having two of the main assassins be boring side missions is a waste, especially Deadshot. Tech wise this game is quite buggy, i experienced multiple crashes and a couple instances of having to restart at checkpoint because an enemy had fell through the floor. Nothing too major thankfully.
The whole Arkham series holds a special place in my heart as probably my favourite series of games OAT. Whilst at this point in time I consider Origins to be the weakest, It is not due to its faults, but because it is unfortunately the least of an amazing bunch. I really hope this game isnt forgotten to time and will receive even just a port to current gen consoles as it doesn't deserve to be ignored.
The forgotten entry of the Arkham series. Arkham Origins has been kept separate from the rest of the franchise, being left out of all the remasters and ports to new consoles, which is unfair as this game is a worthy entrance into this franchise which should not be lost to time.
As most people will know, Arkham Origins was made by WB Games Montreal instead of Rocksteady as they were full steam ahead on Arkham Knight which would of left the Arkham series without an entry for a considerable amount of time. This also meant that a lot of the main cast was changed up, which didn't go down amazingly with fans
Despite all this, Arkham Origins is still very solid. The game takes place during Batman's second year in Gotham, where "Black Mask" puts out a $50 million bounty on Batman's head and Batman has to rappel attacks from 8 deadly assassins which include a variety of well known and more obscure Batman rogues. Then of course it is revealed that it was The Joker behind everything and Batman must stop him. Pretty clean cut basic story which has all the tropes of an early year batman story. With the GCPD fighting against him and Batman being believed as a myth.
As previously mentioned, the cast was switched up, for this entry we didn't have the iconic duo of Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill but what we got instead wasn't a terrible substitute. Roger Craig Smith plays a much younger, more brutal and serious Batman as apposed to Conroy's more relaxed and level headed portrayal, I really do think that he does a great job with this version of Batman, that scene with Alfred in the Batcave is a great example, 100% shouldn't be overshadowed like it is. On the other hand Troy Baker plays a very similar Joker to Mark Hamill, clearly taking a lot of inspiration from the later. Outside of Nolan North as Penguin and Tara Strong as Harleen Quinzell in a brief cameo, I dont believe that there was any other continuity with voice actors. Side note, cool to see Robert Costanzo playing Harvey Bullock like in the animated series.
The thing that Origins is praised for the most is its boss fights, with big shoes to fill from City which gave two of the best boss battles in the franchise, Origins really does deliver here. As everyone is aware, the Deathstroke and Firefly fights are major standouts. However I would also like to mention that the 1st and TN1 Bane fight are also big standouts for me. I do think that due to how good those fights are, they overshadow some of the more middle of the road boss battles. The Killer Croc fight has nothing on the Asylum segment, the Copperhead fight is interesting but nothing ground breaking, Shiva and Deadshot aren't even part of the main story and both aren't very good at that but i do think the good out weights the bad.
Gameplay wise Origins plays it very similar to City but does add its fair share. Traversal is pretty much the same as City except you get the grapple boost off the bat. Combat plays similarly but with the addition of the shock gloves, getting massive combos is way easier. It adds Martial Arts and Brute enemies, which surprised me as I remembered Brutes being involved throughout the games. Martial arts enemies are really cool, I wish they made the jump to knight. The map is alright, I really like the Christmas theme and the snow makes it look really nice, I found no real reason to explore the map though unlike in City and Asylum. Also half of the map is just Arkham City without any of the damaged buildings.
Visually, the game holds up quite well for a 360 era game. The contrast between the CG cutscenes and the gameplay can be quite jarring at times. As the cutscenes are a lot higher res and darker, and the gameplay is bright. I really like this games Batsuit, it is much more military style and instead of getting ripped throughout as the other suits do it gets scratches and cracks which is a cool detail. As for other character designs, I really like Joker's design, feels a lot more animated series inspired than the other games which always gets points in my book.
Score wise, it has one of my favourite motives throughout the series, "Carol of the bells" which is the Joker's theme in this game is an amazing piece of music. Adds perfectly to the Christmas theme.
As for the characters themselves, the characters introduced in this game shine, where some that are present in the other games falter a bit. Standouts are Black Mask and Deathstroke personally. My favourite character present in this game is Bane, I love this rendition, Origins does him better than both Arkham games he is in. I love it when Bane is displayed as an intellectual equal to Batman as well as physically, which is how he is supposed to be but making him a big dumb monster is easier to write i guess. I think that with some tweaks, Bane could of been the main villain of Origins and I honestly would of preferred that. Speaking of main villain, Joker in this game plays into the argument that people are scared to make a Batman story without the Joker in it. I do agree with that statement but I think that in this case, you cant do "Arkham Origins" without the Joker. The Black Mask plot twist is a bit much as you could of just as easily introduced Joker without it but the scene where it is revealed it a really cool cutscene.
To quickly speak on some issues I have with this game. Excluding Asylum I think that Origins has the worst side content in the series. The only standout side quest is the Mad Hatter one which funnily enough I think its the best Mad Hatter side quest, its a really trippy and fun experience. All the other side content is boring and repetitive. Plus, having two of the main assassins be boring side missions is a waste, especially Deadshot. Tech wise this game is quite buggy, i experienced multiple crashes and a couple instances of having to restart at checkpoint because an enemy had fell through the floor. Nothing too major thankfully.
The whole Arkham series holds a special place in my heart as probably my favourite series of games OAT. Whilst at this point in time I consider Origins to be the weakest, It is not due to its faults, but because it is unfortunately the least of an amazing bunch. I really hope this game isnt forgotten to time and will receive even just a port to current gen consoles as it doesn't deserve to be ignored.
2 Comments
@NovaNiles Thanks a bunch bro. 100% agree no other rendition of Bane gets the intelligent side down quite like Origins
NovaNiles
2 months ago