Rocksteady’s Batman: Arkham trilogy consists of some of the most revered videos games ever made. By heavily drawing on the critically acclaimed Batman: The Animated Series as well as aesthetic/design choices in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy, Rocksteady created the definitive Batman gaming franchise. Add a revolutionary free-flow combat system and the inclusion of multiple Batfamily members to the already-engrossing storytelling and you have a strong replay-ability factor. Subsequently, Rocksteady remastered the first two installments (Arkham Asylum and Arkham City) for the PS4/Xbox One generation so gamers could “Return to Arkham". However, there was one Arkham game left out of the remasters. A game that was not made by Rocksteady and seems to have been intentionally left behind - Warner Bros. Montreal’s Batman: Arkham Origins.
I was in on Arkham Origins from the start. As soon as the first trailer was released, WB Montreal had my money. Back then, I did not have a working knowledge of game studios and the difference between a developer and a publisher so I failed to understand why Arkham fans were so pessimistic about this game in particular. A lot of fans were disappointed that Rocksteady, the developer of the first two games, was not making Arkham Origins. The game was seen as a cash grab for WB Games because of the extended development cycle of Rocksteady’s next Batman installment. Instead of the normal two-year turnaround, Rocksteady’s next-gen-focused Batman: Arkham Knight would take four years (after an eight month delay). WB Games didn’t want too much time to pass in between installments so they commissioned WB Montreal make a prequel.
But here’s the thing: Arkham Origins is a solid game. Is it as good as Arkham Asylum or Arkham City? No, but those are arguably two of the greatest games ever made. Despite this, I’d rather play Arkham Origins than Arkham Knight, almost solely due to the BS Batmobile tank battles in the latter.
Arkham Origins has an amazing high-concept premise. On Christmas Eve, eight contract killers hope to collect a $50 million bounty placed on Batman’s head by crime lord Black Mask. I’d pay immediately to watch a movie-version of that, let alone play a 15-hour game. I saw it as a nice respite from the Joker saga of the previous two games, but this was ruined by a later trailer where Joker and Bane ambushes Batman. Although I was annoyed by this, I just figured he would be a side character involved in a side-mission storyline. Turns out that I was very wrong about this once I played the game which leads me to one of the two biggest flaws in this game.
While Arkham Origins has very strong writing and plot execution, the reveal of Joker being the true mastermind behind the bounty on Batman felt very stale. I just thought, Oh, another Batman-Joker story. It felt unoriginal and cheap. I wanted this game to show a young Batman making his bones against the middle-class villains of Batman’s rogues gallery - no Riddler, Joker, Two-Face, Ra’s al Ghul yet.
The other major flaw is that the map is way too big. The map is almost double the size of Arkham City for no reason. There aren’t any Riddler trophies to hunt down so the world feels so empty and it feels as though there is nothing to do. The winter setting is a nice change-of-pace with Christmas lights, trees, and music give the world somewhat of a personality while the overall aesthetic has more muted colors and a sleeker spare design giving it more of a real-world feel which fits the crime drama plot focus thus emulating the Nolan films.
Arkham Origins contains some of the best boss fights in the series as well, but it’s a shame that the game has been left behind because it is still a worthy entry in the Arkham franchise. WB Montreal should feel very proud of the game, and I bet they have had huge chip on their shoulder while developing their new Batman game rumored to be called Gotham Knights, determined to not be left behind this time.
Comments