3/5 ★ – peacebrendanp's review of Batman: Arkham Origins.

Man, when I started this game, I was feeling high on it, but after about 14-hours with the game, I think it's okay overall. It's good throughout most of it's runtime, but is marred with issues that just keep it feeling like a 2013-spinoff to one of the greatest Batman-game-series ever released. Quick side-note, I will not be spoiling the ending, but I will mention character(s) that will spoil a "twist" in the game (it's really not that much of a twist, in my opinion). So, do not read further if you are worried about that. The first 4-hours of the game are it's strongest. The new lighting-system, improved cape-physics, and snow-covered Gotham, beg you to "wow" at what's being put on display. There's a big opening that set's up the game; there are eight assassins out for Batman's head on the night of Christmas Eve due to a bounty put out by Black Mask. The premise is great for a basic assassin-survival story. I'm imagining a game where there are eight intense, and cinematic boss fights, all varying a bit from each other. And, all testing Batman more-and-more. However, what we get is a plot that has it's tension cut a number of times, is pretty messy, and starts to lose it's impact towards the final act. I did like, however, how the story really ties into the other three Arkham games, with this really being a Joker-story. The game is pretty cool as a Year-2-Batman story. I have some issues with the main plot in this regard, but it was still cool to see some context being added nonetheless. Roger Craig Smith is a pretty good young and angry Bruce Wayne, but the lack of Kevin Conroy in this game is very evident. Troy Baker does his best as the Joker, but I have no idea what is going on with the writing and character design here. The Joker's writing was a miss for me, and even some of the voice-acting felt a bit strange (though, not bad). I'm not knocking Troy's performance here; it was believable for me to picture the Batman voice-actor change as being a younger portrayal of the character, but it was harder for me to picture that with Joker here. Yeah, overall the story didn't land with me in the end (though, again, the first 4-hours were pretty intriguing). Also, why was young Killer Croc's head like that? He had a 6-head. Everything else in this game can be summarized up as so: "this will be like Arkham City, but worse." Maybe "worse" is too harsh, but this game feels almost like a AA-game, which is crazy when comparing it to the other Arkham entries. WB Montreal, the developer, made a good game, but it simply lacks much of the polish and attention to detail that Rocksteady has. The open-world is a great example here. At first, I thought it was so cool; you get to see, essentially, the map to Arkham City, but before it was turned into that compound. It's initially cool to see the city put together and covered with snow. Landing on rooftops, and seeing the snow deform in this version of the city was beautiful at first. But, as you play more, that initial sheen starts to fade. I started to realize that it didn't make sense why only the criminals were out (despite it being a fictional world in a game). The world started to feel pretty empty. And, I'm unsure if it's the art-design, or what, but the art-direction started to seem more like something that would be for Batman: The Animated Series, instead of the Arkham series. I understand this is a younger Bruce Wayne, but I still feel like the vibes were somewhat missed here (when compared to the other Arkham games). Boss battles feel lacking here. The first boss battle is with Deathstroke, and it really feels like the entire budget went into that fight. All fights after this one feel budget as hell. Many of the assassins are relegated to side-missions. The side-missions themselves feel not super impactful, especially when compared to Arkham City. Combat is maybe snappier here than Arkham City, but way more inconsistent with it's rules and with hits landing. It creates an experience that feels less-fun. Even more-so, the game just turns into a one-hit marathon. You hit an enemy, they fall to the ground, then you counter, and you just do that the entire game. I would almost say the combat feels slightly broken here, yet still fun (at least in the first half). The gadgets are less cool. I did not like how the upgrade tree was laid out here. Some upgrades are behind a wall of in-game challenges you have to complete. At first, I thought it was fun, then it quickly became not fun. Lame. The stealth felt less dynamic here as well. Just a feeling. The game did run the best on my PC, as it was the first game in the series that had an unlocked framerate, which was a noticeable plus. Yeah, I don't want to talk about this game anymore. The first half is cool. The second half starts to feel like the developers are stretching the game out. Some story missions feel way too long, especially when compared to Arkham City. The Alfred-Bruce relationship was a cool exploration on paper, but the way they handled it felt annoying and juvenile. Honestly, the main redeeming points of this game are a mostly pretty (albeit, empty) open-world, the free-flow combat that we have come to know for the series, and the fact that this takes place in the Arkham universe. I also liked the visual story-telling that takes place on Batman's outfit. It does sell the task that Bruce is up against in this story. Other than that, this game was fine. It's disappointing, mostly. I hope to not replay this one ever again. Console Played On: PC (Steam) Game Played: 01/2025 - 01/2025 Review Written and Published: 01/04/2025