Game Review: Batman Arkham Origins
After the release and success of Batman Arkham City in 2011, Rocksteady got straight to work on developing their third and final entry; Arkham Knight. Publisher Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment were content to give Rocksteady all the time they needed to make that game, but they clearly wanted to continue tapping into the profitable appeal of the franchise in the meantime. WB Games Montreal were the answer to that desire, as they were tasked with utilizing the existing framework provided by Arkham City to create a prequel title which would deliver a similar core experience to satiate fans during the wait for Arkham Knight. With development starting in late 2011, WB Games Montreal got to work on developing Batman Arkham Origins. Releasing on October 25th 2013 across PlayStation 3, Wii U, Windows and Xbox 360, this third person, action-adventure game puts players in the shoes of a much younger Batman in the earlier days of his career. In terms of reception, all I really have to go on is the critical response which was a moderate 74 aggregate score noted on Metacritic.
The story of Batman Arkham Origins follows Bruce Wayne/Batman as he dons the cape and cowl on Christmas Eve. Despite only being 2 years into his career as a crime-fighting vigilante, Batman has amassed enough of a reputation amongst the rotten underbelly of Gotham City to warrant crime boss Black Mask to put a $50 million dollar bounty on The Batman. This offer brings forth a collection of professional killers to Gotham, all eager to take down The Batman and claim their bounty. With Gotham City under curfew and Gotham PD stretched thin, Batman sets out to shut down Black Mask’s operations and dispatch each of the assassins before any more havoc can be unleashed onto the city streets. This will be far from a silent night however, as Batman will come to encounter the Joker for the first time and he especially will ensure Batman has a Christmas Eve he will never ever forget.
Arkham Origins’ narrative is arguably its strongest element in my opinion. Despite having to play within the confines of the lore already established by the Rocksteady games, WB Montreal’s writing team relished that challenge and did their very best to produce a tight and fleshed-out story which realizes the settings and characters in some really interesting ways. Choosing to frame the story in the earlier years of Batman’s career helps to provide a different kind of characterization in which he’s more prone to beat his way through a problem. That relentless aggression makes him a clear hinderance not just for the villains of Gotham but also the citizens and police. His character arch is heavily intertwined with that of the Joker as well, who finds new purpose in the new-found relationship he develops with the Dark Knight. The narrative keeps these two-character arcs the consistent focus while throwing in an array of supporting characters which each get their own unique showcases that help to further define this younger interpretation of the Dark Knight. I want to give notable praise to the game’s interpretation of Bane as well. While Joker is the primary antagonist of the game, Bane presence as a secondary antagonist is no less noteworthy. I love how much he reflects his Knightfall counterpart through his clear intelligence to go alongside his impressive strength.
On the gameplay front, this is where Arkham Origins shows its similarities to the prior games a little too obviously. While Rocksteady had the benefit of introducing new core mechanics or ideas to establish a clear separation between the three titles, Arkham Origins doesn’t really shift the core framework up nearly as much by comparison. The world map in itself is a notable point of contention as 50% of it is already taken from Arkham City while the other 50% is newly designed. Like Arkham City, the map is littered with collectibles to find and side missions to complete. There’s no lack of content here whether it’s taking down each of the individual assassins or tracking down Edward Nigma’s extortion data packets. The problem is however that a lot of it feels too similar to Arkham City, with even some missions being an exact copy to some degree. I appreciate the timeframe to develop this game was limited and having to utilize the same engine and assets put up more of a constraint for WB Montreal to deal with, it does feel however though that the developers simply accepted the reality rather than finding new and interesting ways around it. It at least helps to soften the similar nature of these activities that they’re at the very least fleshed out and feel meaningful in terms of actual engagement.
Where you do feel WB Montreal’s effort to innovate however is in the combat and navigation. Batman will have primarily a lot of the key gadgets he had in Arkham Origins and City but WB Montreal did at least try to add their own unique gadgets into the game to spice up the combat and exploration. One of the main additions to spice up the freeflow combat is the Shock Gloves. These bad boys will charge up during combat and when you hit max charge, you can activate them to unleash even more powerful hits that can bypass larger and armored enemies with each hit. There’s also the Remote Claw, a gadget which will allows Batman to shoot tightropes that will help him to create vertical ropes to navigate his environment easier and also allow him to tether enemies up with other enemies and objects. The core crux of the combat and the gadget array is pretty similar to Arkham City, but you cannot fault them for trying to keep what works and innovate where it made sense.
On the presentation side of things, WB Montreal made the right choice shifting the setting up for this game as it helps give the title that much needed distinction from the others. Setting the game during the Christmas period means the city is wrapped in a snowstorm that blankets the cold, desolate streets in a layer of snow. As you glide around the city in the mask of night, you see the bright illuminations fill the streets with a festive glow which contrasts nicely with the serious tone the game is keen to generate. Again, it’s hard to give WB Montreal too much credit on account of the upper half of the map re-using assets from City, but what new elements they do design into the world feel right at home with the world design of the prior two games. I love once again how much damage Batman’s suit shows visibly as the game progresses as well, it goes a long way to emphasize the long and arduous night he’s enduring all throughout. The official score by Christopher Drake deserves some praise as well, as the composer really goes to great lengths to give the game his own unique score that defines it alongside Nick Arudnel’s work on the main trilogy. His festive motifs are constant but he blends them really well with the serious tone the game is keen to present at every turn.
Batman Arkham Origins never had a fair shake looking back at it. It had the difficult job of providing fans an experience that was equal in measure to that of the Rocksteady games with far less time to boot. The end result is a game which is guilty of reutilizing core assets and simply not doing enough to stand apart as a result. Despite its shortfalls though, it’s clear to see WB Montreal were ambitious in making this game their own. Its biggest strengths come from its unique setting and its bold narrative which is able to explore a side of the Dark Knight that Rocksteady wasn’t truly able to at the time. This game deserves way more love in retrospect; it does everything it can to deliver something truly distinct in spite of its given limitations.
Comments
Post a Comment