Big Bat-shoes to Fill - Batman: Arkham Origins Reviewed

Post by Dan @ 06:02pm 25/10/13 | 34 Comments

After Rocksteady Studios shipped two critically acclaimed games in Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City, it took some by surprise when a new entry in the series was announced as being in the works at a different developer, the newly-founded, fellow Warner subsidiary WB Games Montreal.

Batman: Arkham Origins hits stores worldwide today, and we’re happy to report that while not surpassing the high bar set by its predecessors, the fledgeling Canadian studio has at the very least created a game that can confidently wear the name.

For all its faults, Arkham Origins lives up to the prestige associated with its name. It’s easy to be negative about it, simply because everything it does well the previous games also pulled off splendidly, but the fact is that if the other Arkham games didn’t exist this would be the best Batman game ever by a mile.

Read our full Batman: Arkham Origins Review for all of the details.

batman arkham origins warner bros interactive entertainment review wb games montreal

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Latest Comments

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trog
Posted 06:26pm 25/10/13

Looks good and sounds good. I'm still keen to play it, but as with all primarily single player games I find it hard to justify buying it at release and would rather wait a bit for the sales. I am not married to Rocksteady and just like the idea of being the Bat and bashing bad guys, which was what I really enjoyed in the previous games (the only SP games I've bothered playing aside from the GTA series in about 10 years).

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Eorl
Posted 06:36pm 25/10/13

Its actually $49.99 on Steam trog, no Australia tax at all which is a nice change.

This all sounds like what I expected from Warner Bros. Montreal. Not quite the Rocksteady name, but still good enough that it carries over the Batman experience. Just a shame my Definitive Edition got delayed!

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ravn0s
Posted 06:43pm 25/10/13

it's $37.50 off GMG (steam key) if you use their 25% off voucher which lasts until 1am tonight. i'm loving the game so far.

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Nerf Stormborn
Posted 06:58pm 25/10/13

I think with the previous two, they had no Australia Tax initially, then both got re-priced a week or so later.

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copuis
Posted 07:20pm 25/10/13

I think with the previous two, they had no Australia Tax initially, then both got re-priced a week or so later.

yup, it was a case of get on early then a week or two after being abe to be bought the local distro house chucked a wobblie and the price went up

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ravn0s
Posted 07:47pm 25/10/13

adam sessler's review:

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Snakeman
Posted 08:22pm 25/10/13

$24.95 on cdkeyshere.com. Worth checking out. Seems to be the cheapest I can find !!!

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Eorl
Posted 08:39pm 25/10/13

These cinematics are gorgeous. Much more polished than past Arkham's and the combat is a bit faster due to Batman's younger age which is great!

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glynd
Posted 08:56pm 25/10/13

$25AUD from cdkeysdirect.com

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Fixah
Posted 08:56pm 25/10/13

That's legit?

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glynd
Posted 09:02pm 25/10/13

I've bought about 6 games since 2011 from there with no hiccups (FIFA, Space Marine, Farcry 3, etc). Arkham Origins CD key worked on steam no problem.

I pay via paypal just to be safe regardless. upside of the site is CD key is instant, no waiting. Not the greatest website design though :P

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Fixah
Posted 09:14pm 25/10/13

cheers bud, will be getting it from there and reporting back.

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glynd
Posted 09:15pm 25/10/13

np mate

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Fixah
Posted 09:27pm 25/10/13

Seems all legit, got the CD key instantly, downloading now!

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ravn0s
Posted 11:22pm 25/10/13

i couldn't stop laughing at how easily Spoiler:
electrocutioner
went down when you first meet him.

last edited by ravn0s at 23:22:39 25/Oct/13

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ravn0s
Posted 10:24am 26/10/13

that deathstroke boss fight has to be the most intense boss fight i've ever seen.

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Hastarin
Posted 07:45am 28/10/13

I'm surprised you didn't mention the new grading system?!

For those that don't know every fight/encounter now gets graded from S down to D with associated XP percentage multipliers for anything about a D. It's a bit like the scoring bonuses you'd get in the Challenge modes of Arkham City, and they're still there too, but for every fight/encounter in the game which I personally found makes you care a bit more about your performance in your run-of-the-mill encounters.

Some folks will hate being reminded of how average their gaming prowess may be but on the whole I'm enjoying it as a means of reminding me I can probably improve my fighting skills a bit more and can definitely add some variety to my fights.

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Malthius
Posted 11:57am 28/10/13

Lacks a lot of polish - I keep coming up against map bugs that are just incredibly irritating in a game that is largely about moving around the environment. I've lost count of how many ledges where I can't pull myself up because there is an invisible wall, but if I move across a little I can then pull up easily. I've had at least one time where I've had to reload from the last checkpoint because I couldn't get out of an area.

I'm currently stuck on the Copperhead fight - it is just incredibly irritating. I thought the Deathstroke boss fight was irritating, but this one is just the ultimate pain in the ass.

I think the reviewers have been far to kind with all the "It is only bad relative to the first two games" line. It is a game that clearly needed another month or two of play testing and polish.

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Eorl
Posted 12:04pm 28/10/13

Yeah there has been a few invisible walls, one I found outside of the GCPD which irritated me because I could bypass it simply by zipping up then jumping over. I haven't had anything super game breaking though, only "glitches" and even those are limited to a enemy getting stuck but somehow fixes itself.

Honestly, loving it to bits. Great Batman, well improved over the other two which is pretty crazy considering Rocksteady aren't handling this. I had my doubts when I first heard the news that they weren't in on this project, but so far my fears have been quelled. Its a Batman game through to its core, and a lot more open-ended than City was. I may also be biased because Batman is just awesome.

Oh, fights are way more intense now due to being younger and more zippy. Makes for a much more interesting fight style.

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Khel
Posted 03:14pm 28/10/13

Fighting feels exactly the same as Arkham City to me, can't say I notice any extra youngness or zippyness to it. In fact, the whole game feels exactly like Arkham City, but I don't really mind, cos it was one of my favourite games of all time. It is a bit weird that he has more gear now than he does in Arkham Asylum, and that he already has stuff now that gets delivered to him as new prototyps or has to discover in Arkham City, but I'm willing to let it slide, they obviously erred on the side of good gameplay and thats pretty much always the best choice to make.

Best new addition imo is the crime scene analysis stuff, thats really cool.

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Mantorok
Posted 04:17pm 28/10/13

The only prototype gear that shouldn't be in Origins is the grapnel boost, and the game would suck without it.

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Malthius
Posted 04:42pm 28/10/13

Best new addition imo is the crime scene analysis stuff, thats really cool.

Agreed, that felt like a really clever addition. Detective mode in the other games just felt like predator mode.

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ravn0s
Posted 07:29pm 28/10/13

I'm currently stuck on the Copperhead fight - it is just incredibly irritating. I thought the Deathstroke boss fight was irritating, but this one is just the ultimate pain in the ass.

use explosive gel. it will stun the real copperhead and destroy the fake versions.

It is a bit weird that he has more gear now than he does in Arkham Asylum

well, some of the gear is appropriated from the villains.

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Eorl
Posted 09:16pm 28/10/13

I gotta say Troy Baker's Joker is really growing on me. Doesn't have that same sadistic laugh but its done really well.

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ravn0s
Posted 09:40pm 28/10/13

the whole joker part of the game was awesome.

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Eorl
Posted 10:55pm 28/10/13

the whole joker part of the game was awesome.

Heh, Spoiler:
I wish we had more of the Joker fighting, that was really well done. Also setting up Harley Quinn was exceptionally awesome and boy is it just very well done for Joker's story. Couldn't help but have a huge smile on my face that entire sequence.

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ravn0s
Posted 01:32am 29/10/13

well just finished the game and thoroughly enjoyed it. i'm going to go through and get the rest of enigma's data packs to finish his story.

make sure to sit through the first 5 mins of the credits. also, there's a scene at the end of the credits that's probably setting up some DLC, a sequel or a spin off game featuring the Spoiler:
suicide squad.

last edited by ravn0s at 01:32:23 29/Oct/13

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Khel
Posted 10:17am 29/10/13

So Enigma is Riddler right? I mean, thats the obvious assumption and the obvious conclusion based on the name but with his suit and tie outfit and all the computers around him I was wondering if its Calculator. If its the Riddler, then hes pretty damn stupid for using exactly the same puzzles in Arkham City as he did in this one, and expecting to outsmart Batman with them when he already knows the answers.

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Eorl
Posted 11:31am 29/10/13

So Enigma is Riddler right? I mean, thats the obvious assumption and the obvious conclusion based on the name but with his suit and tie outfit and all the computers around him I was wondering if its Calculator. If its the Riddler, then hes pretty damn stupid for using exactly the same puzzles in Arkham City as he did in this one, and expecting to outsmart Batman with them when he already knows the answers.

Enigma has always been The Riddler, was a homage to his real name, Edward Nigma. I've encountered puzzles of similar taste, but there are some variations compared to City. Honestly haven't really bothered yet, doing story first then hitting that 100% goal.

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ravn0s
Posted 11:38am 29/10/13

i can't wait to see what a next gen batman game will look like. maybe truly open world with all of gotham city accessible?

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Fixah
Posted 12:20pm 29/10/13

Just finished city again before starting to play Origins and damn it is going to be hard to top off. So far the combat feels more brutal and amped up than city but other than that it feels like im playing the same game..

By the way i still have some arkham city postcards sitting here back when I ordered a whole batch of Arkham City copies.

batman-arkham-city-video-game-card-set.j

batman-arkham-city-video-game-card-set.j

If you're interested in pickup from Calamvale let know, othewise can post em out to you for $5. You get the 6 collectibles inside a batman postcard cover type thing as pictured above.

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Khel
Posted 12:15pm 29/10/13

I've encountered puzzles of similar taste, but there are some variations compared to City.

The ones that are in the parts of the city that were in Arkham City seem to be the exact same puzzles in the same place, just without riddler ? marks painted on them. I guess I was just hoping there was a twist to it and it wasn't so blatantly obvious.

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ravn0s
Posted 09:23pm 29/10/13

Enigma has always been The Riddler, was a homage to his real name, Edward Nigma.

i completed enigma's mission and it looks like he Spoiler:
does become the riddler, but edward nigma is not his name. his name is edward nashton and he works for the GCPD cyber crimes division.

last edited by ravn0s at 21:23:20 29/Oct/13

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DM
Posted 10:33pm 29/10/13

I was on the fence about this game and wasn't really feeling it until Joker showed up then it totally switched gears and I found myself loving it and urging myself on just to see what happened next. Loved that it was also set up how Joker became fixated on Batman in the first place. The whole tower level with the joker was fantastic I thought with Batman slowly becoming aware of how crazy and different this new guy really was. Harley being introduced was a great touchalso . Deathstroke was by far the most epic boss of the game to fight, but Copperhead has some pretty funky and great looking manoeuvres in the cutscenes and while fighting.

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