Review: Batman: Arkham Origins

The Batman Arkham Asylum and Arkham City developers at Rocksteady received universal praise for their knowledge of what makes Batman an appealing hero to fans of the comic and film series, offering their own unique take on Gotham and its Dark Knight whilst still admirably paying tribute to the works of Alan Moore, Frank Miller & co. Batman Arkham Origins developers at Warner Bros. Montreal continue their predecessors’ legacy after taking over the reins of the series, though it doesn’t feel like their heart is in it quite as much.

Thankfully, Batman Arkham Origins doesn’t retell the story of how Bruce Wayne came to the conclusion that pretending to be a bat would be the best way to take down Gotham’s criminal underworld. It instead places us in Batman’s shoes two years after Wayne returned home following a mysterious expedition, the result of which led to him dedicating himself to a life of vigilantism. While many still regard him as little more than an urban myth, Batman has made enough waves to warrant a $50,000,000 bounty being put on his head by crime boss Black Mask, who enlists the help of eight assassins to take down the Caped Crusader.

Though Batman’s a newcomer to the crime-fighting scene, this isn’t reflected in the gameplay. He’s as physically imposing in Origins as he ever was, with an even vaster array of gadgets this time around and the same extraordinary ability to break limbs and crack skulls without causing any fatalities. He handles exactly the same as he did in the previous entries in the series, and the game is still balanced evenly with familiar stealth and combat sections. Fundamentally, very little has changed since 2011’s Arkham City, but given the success of the formula Rocksteady had created, it’s difficult to criticize Warner Bros. Montreal for not mixing things up a bit.

The key difference between both developers’ take on Batman’s world is in the delivery of their narratives. Arkham Origins’ setup instantly presents some problems, as the assassins enlisted to take Batman down are too numerous to each receive their own story arc. While it’s fun to go toe-to-toe with the likes of Deathstroke and Firefly, they receive little in the way of character development outside of their short bios you can read in the start menu, which ultimately turns these fascinating villains into nothing more than obligatory end-of-level bosses. On the other hand, the Joker is given much more favourable treatment, and I’m happy to confirm that while this is Batman’s game, it is most definitely the Joker’s story.

The Arkham games have always been as much about the Joker as they have Batman, and Origins continues this trend. WB Montreal’s take on the Clown Prince of Crime’s ascension from obscurity to lunacy will be familiar to those who’ve read the classic graphic novel The Killing Joke, but they put enough of an original spin on it that it doesn’t just feel like a pointless retelling of Alan Moore’s story. The Joker, wonderfully voiced by Troy Baker after Mark Hamill’s departure, is as menacing in Origins as he ever has been, and pushes the young Batman to his limits both physically and mentally, which will be a joy to behold for Batfans. Likewise, the burgeoning and reluctant partnership between Batman and Jim Gordon takes the foundations laid by the graphic novel Year One but comfortably reworks it to fit inside Origins‘ narrative, offering a believable reason behind straight-laced Gordon’s acceptance that a man wearing bat ears is a worthy protector of Gotham.

What isn’t believable, however, is the city of Gotham. Arkham Origins takes place on Christmas Eve, but the streets of Gotham are eerily devoid of any kind of life outside of the criminals roaming its streets and the snipers waiting on its rooftops. Gotham’s emptiness is addressed with a quick piece of dialogue at the beginning of the game which states that citizens are operating under a strict curfew, though it’s more reasonable to assume that WB Montreal simply didn’t know how to place Batman into a bustling open-world. Unfortunately, the Gotham that WB Montreal has created is thoroughly disappointing, with the grappling hook being frustratingly fussy in regards to which ledges it wants to hook onto, making it far less of a thrill to traverse across than Arkham City‘s open-world. The obligatory ‘find X amount of Y’ side-missions and spontaneous ‘Crime in Progress’ missions spice up proceedings every now and again, but other than that it’s a dull and largely empty world, notable only for its familiar landmarks.

Thankfully, you can fast travel through Gotham using your Batwing, which can fly between sections of the city after you have hacked into different communication towers, all of which have been locked by The Riddler (or Enigma, as he is known in Origins). However, I found one of the communication towers to be inaccessible due to a bug which trapped me inside of it, forcing me to restart to my last checkpoint. Unfortunately, this is not the only bug I encountered during my playthrough of the game.

The first occurred early on during a confrontation with Killer Croc, with him suddenly turning invisible after colliding into a nearby wall. I then found myself unable to interrogate a downed criminal during one of the side-missions, which forced me to return to my previous checkpoint. In one of the later missions, I became inexplicably stuck between three barrels, once again being forced to restart the game. The last, and most frustrating, bug I encountered was in the final stages of a boss fight, when I somehow morphed into the boss and, yet again, had to restart the game. That I experienced five bugs in my playthrough of Arkham Origins, four of which were crippling, is not acceptable in such a big-budget release. This, combined with the jerky facial animations, long load times and texture pop-in issues that occur far too frequently for them to be considered mere minor annoyances, indicate a rushed development cycle where not enough time was invested in play-testing the finished game.

For all its flaws, Batman Arkham Origins still remains a very playable and ultimately fun game, even if it achieves this by virtue of the groundwork laid by the series’ former developer. The combat still flows perfectly, the stealth sections are still empowering and above all else it still feels awesome to be Batman, but it just doesn’t feel like it’s been made with the same level of care that was put into its predecessors. While Warner Bros. Montreal have done a good job of mimicking Rocksteady’s work, in simply reproducing the vision of another company they have failed to put their own stamp on Batman lore, making Batman Arkham Origins an unfortunately unexceptional entry in an otherwise exceptional series.

Multiplayer Verdict

Batman Arkham Origins‘ multiplayer was developed separately from the main game by Gotham City Imposters’ developer Splash Damage, and from what I played it’s a fun little side attraction. Players either take control of a member of The Joker’s gang, Bane’s gang or the ‘Heroes’ team, consisting of Batman and Robin, and are then placed in an arena where all three teams are pitted against each other. Batman and Robin must fill an ‘Intimidation Meter’ in order to win, doing so by taking down members of either villainous gang using the gadgets and martial arts skills at their disposal, while the two gangs must successfully whittle down each other’s reinforcements. After a period of time either the Joker or Bane will become playable, which shakes things up considerably. It’s enjoyable, but unlikely to keep you coming back for more long after you’ve finished the story.