Just when the logical progression of the Batman Arkham series seemed to be getting stale (What next? Arkham State? Arkham World?) the developers did a very sensible thing and began working on a prequel. Like many gamers and movie-goers, my initial reaction (admittedly, based on an unfair generalisation) to news of a prequel was not really enthusiastic.

However, I am pleased to be wrong in this case. Warner Bros. has not just created a prequel to the first Arkham Game, it has broken from the Arkham Asylum/City conception and provides players with a completely new perspective of Batman and his arch enemies.

Plot

Arkham Origins puts players in charge of younger less-experienced Batman, now in his second-year of crime fighting, and looks at one of the most defining moments of his early crime-fighting career and eventually his path to becoming the Dark Knight.

As such players get to see Batman’s first interactions with important characters and experience the creation of relationships. This is not just the rise of a hero, but also the rise Gotham’s most lethal villains and assassins.

 Everything is tied to a relatively less-known character called the Black Mask (Roman Sionis), whom many would have encountered, especially in Arkham City (and fought against if you downloaded the DLC). Black Mask has issued a $50 million bounty on Batman’s head and invites nine of the deadliest assassins to Gotham to get the job done, on Christmas Eve (hence explaining the fewer people on the streets). The game includes assassin’s such as Deathstroke, Deadshot and Copperhead. It also has appearances from Alberto Falcone and Anarky.

Gameplay Improvements

As with all things Batman, players can expect to see their favourite gadgets in action. Origins also introduces a variety of new gadgets and tech like the Remote Claw. Other gadgets such as the cryptographic sequencer, explosive gel, remote batarang and other devices featured in Batman Arkham Asylum and Arkham City will also be available.

Given the scale of the settings, Batman now has a new way of getting around using the Batwing. However, he can only summon the aircraft from towers that are not in enemy possession. Hence, we have something similar to Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood and Far Cry, where Batman must disable towers held by hostiles in order to unlock transportational facilities along with other upgrades and experience points.

The combat system will remain more or less the same but will devote greater attention to a player’s combat efficiency and diversification. Similar to the previous system, combat unlocks experience points, which in turn can be used to unlock technology and tactics. Batman will also face two types of new villains: the “Martial Artist” who can block, evade and even counter Batman’s attacks, and the “Armored Lieutenant”, who is virtually invulnerable to harm until he is dazed and stripped of his armour.

In Arkham Asylum/City, there was no interaction with the GCPD but in this game Batman has a chance to improve his reputation with the force by helping out. The “Crime in Progress” side missions usually involve rescuing police officers are saving informants.

Moreover, Batman will also be tasked with stopping the villain Arnarky who goes around Gotham setting up bombs. Side missions can be located with the radio scanner and successfully accomplishing such tasks, unlocks more experience points.

The best thing about this game is even greater focus on Batman’s detective skills. As with the previous games Detective mode will be necessary to recreate large and small crime scenes.

Players will be able to review and replay the crime scenes in different angles. moreover, there are both false and accurate clues to be processed. Once the correct clues are pieced together players are shown a batman narrated rundown of the crime scene.

Conclusion

I like this for two main reasons. Firstly, players are not tasked with seeing Batman become Batman, he’s already a reasonably established character (after a the recent Dark Knight trilogy, I think we had enough for a few years). Secondly, the plot (more on that below) justifies the rather intense pace of the game.

By Navam Niles