Batman: Arkham Origins

My 2 biggest (and really only) complaints are that they changed the trigger buttons on PS3. I've grown so accustomed to using L1 to quickfire weapons, R1 to aim, and L2 to enter detective mode. Now it's reversed. L2 to quickfire weapons, L1 to swap vision, and so on. It's unnatural. I mean WHY? There was nothing wrong with the configuration. So now here I am trying to stake out the terrain and enter detector mode to see what kinda thugs I have waiting....and going off muscle memory, I press the wrong button and now I've fired a batarrang alerting them to my presence. Ugh.


The second complaint is that the combat system, while still the same as before, seems "slower". It's throwing off my timing. It's like going from a Matrix subway fight to an old Shaw Bros Wu-Tang fight. It's just slower and seems to have more "pauses".
 
wyokid said:
I have it on 3DS. It's pretty dope
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Yeah, I'm probably even more excited to check that out than AO, merely because I love the Metroidvania approach.

I've been playing the free to play Arkham Origins spin-off for my iPhone. Pretty decent, much like the Arkham City - Lockdown game for iPhone they released a couple years back. Fun distraction...and its free. Also unlocks upgrades and a few costumes for the console versions of AO, both in single player and the multi-player portions.

Speaking of multi-player, how is it? I've heard both good and bad. Good in that its a neat addition to the games, bad in that the aiming system (when playing as a Bane or Joker thug) isn't so great and most people want to play as Batman or Robin instead of random thugs, which may affect finding match-ups.

Victor Von Doom said:
My 2 biggest (and really only) complaints are that they changed the trigger buttons on PS3. I've grown so accustomed to using L1 to quickfire weapons, R1 to aim, and L2 to enter detective mode. Now it's reversed. L2 to quickfire weapons, L1 to swap vision, and so on. It's unnatural. I mean WHY? There was nothing wrong with the configuration. So now here I am trying to stake out the terrain and enter detector mode to see what kinda thugs I have waiting....and going off muscle memory, I press the wrong button and now I've fired a batarrang alerting them to my presence. Ugh.
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Isn't there an option to adjust the controller settings to your preferences? I'm pretty sure the other games (and most games really) have some form of control variations.


The second complaint is that the combat system, while still the same as before, seems "slower". It's throwing off my timing. It's like going from a Matrix subway fight to an old Shaw Bros Wu-Tang fight. It's just slower and seems to have more "pauses".
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That may be intentional to reflect Batman's earlier point in his career. He's a bit greener, more of a rookie. Its only his second year, after all, whereas Arkham Asylum takes place in his seventh year, and Arkham City in his eighth year as Batman. I assume its intentional, anyway.
 
DIrishB said:
Spoilers!

Towards game's end, it's revealed that Black Mask didn't put the contract out on Batman, but Joker did...wearing Black Mask's black mask. Kind of an unnecessary twist given how heavy a role Joker played in AA and AC.

There a shot of Joker being wheeled into Blackgate prison (reminiscent of the beginning of Arkham Asylum) and we see a quick shot of Dr. Harleen Quinzel before she snaps and becomes Harley.

And there's an after credit's scene where Deathstroke is in Blackgate prison (after being beaten and captured by Batman earlier in the game) doing push-ups. Amanda Waller and two guards approach his cell, and Waller throws a file marked "confidential" into his cell. Deathstroke mentions refusing to which Waller replies he can rot in Blackgate, and it's obvious he's going to accept.

I couldn't read the paper marked confidential, but other did and screen capped it, and some are thinking this may lead into a Suicide Squad spin-off. Odd choice, but it could work.

Also, the spin off Arkham Origins: Blackgate for 3DS and PS Vita features multiple endings based on how it's played (and in what order you beat the bosses). One ending confirmed Bronze Tiger, Deathstroke, etc escaping at the end of that game, which may indeed be further set up for a Suicide Squad spin off game. Wondering if that won't be WB Montreal's next project after AO, while Rocksteady works on (hopefully) the sequel to Arkham City. It'll be nice to play a game which allows for more focus on Batman's other rogues besides Joker.
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These spoilers aren't quite right.
The reveal that Joker was "Black Mask" is less than halfway through the game. We see Harleen Quinzel several times throughout the game, including a really terrific monologue by the joker when they are first introducted. There is a shot like you described at the end, but there is much more to it than just that. It ends after Batman goes into Blackgate a second time to recapture Joker and stop Bane, who knows that he is Bruce Wayne and almost kills Alfred. You got all the stuff about Suicide Squad right though.
If you aren't into spoilers, this is in my opinion the best story so far in the Arkhamverse, and it really is a fantastic game. All I wanted was more arkham-style gameplay, and thats what I got. I understand the reviews are knocking it for lacking innovation, but I'm really not sure how much further the franchise could have been taken on current hardware. All in all I really strongly recommend playing it yourself. It just might be my favorite entry in the series.
 
So, I haven't played the game yet and I'm avoiding spoilers, but knowing that there ARE spoilers, I'm totally going to guess

Black Mask is really Joker

That aside, how does the length of the story compare to Arkham City?
 
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Lithium said:
These spoilers aren't quite right. * SPOILER * If you aren't into spoilers, this is in my opinion the best story so far in the Arkhamverse, and it really is a fantastic game. All I wanted was more arkham-style gameplay, and thats what I got. I understand the reviews are knocking it for lacking innovation, but I'm really not sure how much further the franchise could have been taken on current hardware. All in all I really strongly recommend playing it yourself. It just might be my favorite entry in the series.
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I'm only a couple hours in so was relaying what I'd read online.

But so far I'm enjoying it, and agree the "lack of innovation" complaints are pretty unfair.

I'm just hoping eventually we get to see that aerial Man-Bat fight (with the bat-grapple and punching and gliding, etc) at some point in the series...that'd certainly be new and original while utilizing existing elements of the existing game programming.
 
Ywokid has it

Ywokid has it the new batman arkham origins I wonder if its better than arkham city???
 
Re: Ywokid has it

Hi flashisawesome, welcome!

The proper way to respond to posts here is to "reply with quote" in the thread they were originally posted. Don't start new threads in response to things because no one knows what you're referring to and it clutters up the site with extra threads.

I hope that helps!
 
I did not. Hated the story
been joker again
hated how lazy it felt and the multiplayer barely worked. (however when it worked multiplayer was great)
 
We definitely already have a thread for this, but I can't link to it from my phone. I'm sure the mods can link them.


Anyway...I finished the main story and a good chunk of the side missions a while back. I actually really liked it. I went in expecting similar gameplay with a new story and that is what I got, so I was satisfied. Personally I absolutely loved the story. Troy Baker's Joker was absolutely fantastic, and the monologue scene in particular was one of the best in the entire series.
 
Anyway, it was good as long as you go into it with reasonable expectations. It's pretty much more of the same as Arkham City though they make a few minor, inexplicable changes that hurt the final product. The responsiveness of combat seems a bit slower, which hurts that steady rhythm of brawls, though towards the end of the story I'd gotten a pretty good handle on the flow of things. And it's even more combat focused than the earlier games. Whereas City paced out puzzles, combat, and predator challenges pretty well, the stealth sequences are few and far between in this one, and it sometimes feels like you're just getting shuttled from one big melee to another. The new gadget is a cheap ploy that takes all the challenge out of combat, but it's easy enough to ignore for the most part. And while I agree that the Joker monologue was pretty great, the subplot with Harleen is pretty ludicrous for the span of time it takes place in and terribly marginalizes a character that's been treated pretty badly in the Arkham canon. I think they need to put aside this whole "It all takes place in one night" rule, because it's starting to break credibility. There do seem to be more glitches than the older games, but none of them I've encountered have been game breaking.

There are a handful of small new ideas that could be great if integrated properly, but don't seem fully formed as they are now. The addition of a challenge system is really cool, but each tier is locked until you finish the one below it, and in the case of the predator challenges is frustrating because there are so few predator encounters available. The batcave is cool, and it integrates the challenge maps into the actual game, but there's rarely a reason to go back there, so I usually just access the challenges from the main menu. Ditto for the Enigma Towers. They're fun little puzzle challenges that are over a bit too quickly and open up fast travel across the map, but generally, with the long load screen, it just makes more sense to glide and grapnel across the city to get wherever you're going. The new additions to the detective sequences are pretty cool, but largely cosmetic. It's basically the same as City where you search around an area for highlighted objects to scan, but sometimes you have to rewind the sequence as it plays out and find objects indicated by a red line. Not much new, but then, I'm not sure there's a great way to integrate detective cases any better without breaking up the flow of the game. The side quests are the same. Like, exactly the same. You have one where you have to get from one side of town to the other with a time limit. You have a few where you have to find containers and either blow them up or disarm them with your disarmer thing. You have Riddler trophies to collect. You even have one where you have to get into detective mode and follow the blood trail of a ninja. So yeah, that's all a bit derivative.

But then there's the good. The story is well-paced for the most part. The opening sequence is cool and despite a brief lull following that, the rest of the story runs at a steady, compelling clip. It feels like Batman as action movie. For the most part, the assassins aren't all that well fleshed out, but they aren't meant to be. They exist as the catalysts for neat boss fight set-pieces and for the most part, they serve that purpose nicely. It certainly feels less forced than AC, where so many villains seemed to be thrown in for the sake of fan service without much explanation. I was a little disappointed to see the Joker playing such a prominent role again, but if it weren't preceded by two games that were already all about the Joker, I could probably say it's the best story of the trilogy. I wish Baker had the opportunity to lend a bit more of his own personality to the character but he does a good job at imitating Mark Hamil and there are some shining moments where he adds a bit of edgy menace to the role that's not really present in Hamil's portrayal. Bane gets fleshed out more than any characters have in the past two games. But if anything, I wish they had given him more of a role (while toning back the number of Bane boss fights. Christ, it gets obnoxious) instead of focusing so much on the Joker. The boss fights are a bit hit or miss, with some basically being transparent retreads of City fights, but the Firefly sequence is magnificent and I had a lot of fun with Copperhead too. And Batman feels like a character with an actual arc for the first time in the series, rather than a cipher who exists there to just growl and punch things. And this game has the coolest looking of all the obligatory hallucination sequences. Oh, and the martial artists are a neat addition to the combat dynamics.

So, all in all, enjoyable stuff, though nothing that will exactly blow your socks off. There are some small ideas that aren't quite there but could really add to the game given a little more polish. There's a narrative quality that Rocksteady could learn a little bit from. ;) Or they could just hire me. I already know how a new trilogy should be plotted out.
 
SSJmole said:
I did not. Hated the story * SPOILER * hated how lazy it felt and the multiplayer barely worked. (however when it worked multiplayer was great)
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I've played a bit of the campaign and lots of multiplayer at my friend's house and haven't noticed any problems. What went wrong for you?

Ordered my own copy as a gift to myself for Christmas.
 
Zombipanda said:
Anyway, it was good as long as you go into it with reasonable expectations. It's pretty much more of the same as Arkham City though they make a few minor, inexplicable changes that hurt the final product. The responsiveness of combat seems a bit slower, which hurts that steady rhythm of brawls, though towards the end of the story I'd gotten a pretty good handle on the flow of things. And it's even more combat focused than the earlier games. Whereas City paced out puzzles, combat, and predator challenges pretty well, the stealth sequences are few and far between in this one, and it sometimes feels like you're just getting shuttled from one big melee to another.
Click to expand...

That was intentional, I believe, to reflect a more rookie Batman. He's still a well-trained badass, but he's not as refined as he is in the later games (since those take place 5 and 6 years later). That applies to the combat as well as the stealth approach. He thinks things out and examines approaches more cerebrally later in his career, whereas here he's still more likely to go in swinging than to hold back, investigate the surroundings, etc. Chalk it up to the naivety of youth and inexperience. Logically I think it makes perfect sense and does a great job of reflecting a more rookie Batman. Granted I haven't played more than 10-15% of the story so maybe my opinion isn't fully formed.

The new gadget is a cheap ploy that takes all the challenge out of combat, but it's easy enough to ignore for the most part. And while I agree that the Joker monologue was pretty great, the subplot with Harleen is pretty ludicrous for the span of time it takes place in and terribly marginalizes a character that's been treated pretty badly in the Arkham canon. I think they need to put aside this whole "It all takes place in one night" rule, because it's starting to break credibility. There do seem to be more glitches than the older games, but none of them I've encountered have been game breaking. There are a handful of small new ideas that could be great if integrated properly, but don't seem fully formed as they are now. The addition of a challenge system is really cool, but each tier is locked until you finish the one below it, and in the case of the predator challenges is frustrating because there are so few predator encounters available. The batcave is cool, and it integrates the challenge maps into the actual game, but there's rarely a reason to go back there, so I usually just access the challenges from the main menu. Ditto for the Enigma Towers. They're fun little puzzle challenges that are over a bit too quickly and open up fast travel across the map, but generally, with the long load screen, it just makes more sense to glide and grapnel across the city to get wherever you're going. The new additions to the detective sequences are pretty cool, but largely cosmetic. It's basically the same as City where you search around an area for highlighted objects to scan, but sometimes you have to rewind the sequence as it plays out and find objects indicated by a red line. Not much new, but then, I'm not sure there's a great way to integrate detective cases any better without breaking up the flow of the game. The side quests are the same. Like, exactly the same. You have one where you have to get from one side of town to the other with a time limit. You have a few where you have to find containers and either blow them up or disarm them with your disarmer thing. You have Riddler trophies to collect. You even have one where you have to get into detective mode and follow the blood trail of a ninja. So yeah, that's all a bit derivative.

But then there's the good. The story is well-paced for the most part. The opening sequence is cool and despite a brief lull following that, the rest of the story runs at a steady, compelling clip. It feels like Batman as action movie. For the most part, the assassins aren't all that well fleshed out, but they aren't meant to be. They exist as the catalysts for neat boss fight set-pieces and for the most part, they serve that purpose nicely. It certainly feels less forced than AC, where so many villains seemed to be thrown in for the sake of fan service without much explanation.
Click to expand...

??

It's a giant prison city where the villains have all been thrown in...does there need to be any more explanation than that?

I was a little disappointed to see the Joker playing such a prominent role again, but if it weren't preceded by two games that were already all about the Joker, I could probably say it's the best story of the trilogy. I wish Baker had the opportunity to lend a bit more of his own personality to the character but he does a good job at imitating Mark Hamil and there are some shining moments where he adds a bit of edgy menace to the role that's not really present in Hamil's portrayal. Bane gets fleshed out more than any characters have in the past two games. But if anything, I wish they had given him more of a role (while toning back the number of Bane boss fights. Christ, it gets obnoxious) instead of focusing so much on the Joker. The boss fights are a bit hit or miss, with some basically being transparent retreads of City fights, but the Firefly sequence is magnificent and I had a lot of fun with Copperhead too. And Batman feels like a character with an actual arc for the first time in the series, rather than a cipher who exists there to just growl and punch things. And this game has the coolest looking of all the obligatory hallucination sequences. Oh, and the martial artists are a neat addition to the combat dynamics. So, all in all, enjoyable stuff, though nothing that will exactly blow your socks off. There are some small ideas that aren't quite there but could really add to the game given a little more polish. There's a narrative quality that Rocksteady could learn a little bit from. ;) Or they could just hire me. I already know how a new trilogy should be plotted out.
Click to expand...

Yeah I'm still waiting on that treatment you had for...well, just about every fleshed out for a story idea you've mentioned on the site.
 
Scarecrow? Clock king? I agree that yet another joker filled batman video game would be redundant. But replace him with granduous villains. The Riddler would be more suitable than Scarecrow or Clock king. This isn't Batman: the brave and the bold. This is of more importance. Unlike a cartoon that has "POW" everytime someone gets punched.
 
GrEyMAttEr said:
Scarecrow? Clock king? I agree that yet another joker filled batman video game would be redundant. But replace him with granduous villains. The Riddler would be more suitable than Scarecrow or Clock king. This isn't Batman: the brave and the bold. This is of more importance. Unlike a cartoon that has "POW" everytime someone gets punched.
Click to expand...

I get the general feeling of being over Joker in these games, and agree with it to some degree. But with Rocksteady's sequel coming, likely next year in Fall (we should probably get an announcement of its release in March or April), that will be a Joker-less game due to his death at the end of AC. I see the Origins game as sort of the untold beginning of the Joker arc, which lasted 3 games. Next game will set up a new main bad guy, and should be interesting for that alone, in addition to whatever interesting gameplay enhancements Rocksteady make.
 
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