Batman: Arkham Origins

As the third in a series this title sits in a strange place, being set before the action of the first two titles. Now this isn’t unknown, but it represents a challenge to the developers in that they have a set of ‘learned actions’ which took place in the first two games which can’t really be used here.

But first, what is this all about? Well the main thrust of the story is that Arch-villain “Black Mask” has put a bounty on Batman’s head and as a result every assassin in the city is out to collect. Batman needs to find Black Mask and shut him down and he’s only got one night to do it in. In the meanwhile he needs to find clues and avoid getting dead while beating up a seemingly endless supply of hench-persons so that we can level him up along the way. Oh and there are other crimes which also need to be solved, collectables which you can sometimes – but not always – get to on the first attempt, challenges to complete and other fun and exciting options for action in the dark, cold, wet world that is Gotham City.

So, how does it play? Well, the overall pace of the action is pretty good, as it should be for a third title. I felt that I was being carried along nicely and the additional dialogue served to expand the non-action areas of the story pretty well. At least I know what was going on and had a good idea why, so that seems to work! The fighting elements, because this is after all a punch-them-in-the-face game were, I felt, a little lacking and here’s why: there’s one button. Oh certainly there are combos and takedowns which can be used – if you remember what to do and get the timing right – but the basics are mashing the ‘hit stuff’ button until the bad guys fall down and that left me feeling a little disconnected from what was going on on screen. I was, in effect, simply pressing a button to invoke a piece of pre-defined action and there’s no skill in that. Where timing was important, the joy was removed by making it so specific that it became a QTE. I hate QTEs. The clearest example of this is in the boss fights where the counter button-press is promoted and a cut-scene of action takes place, the same cut scene every time. Oh, sure, it’s in engine and all that, but what was going on was nothing to do with me, it just happened.

There were also some clipping issues which were a bit jarring. At one point Batman was holding a hench-dude by the neck and asking him for information. All I could see was a rusty door frame and Batman’s forearm moving in and out of it. On another couple of occasions I had people stuck inside other objects trying to run away, now I know this stuff sometimes happens but it really, really shouldn’t.

There are good bits though. I like the ‘glide’ traversal of the city from roof to bridge to lamppost to dive-kicking a thug in the neck. That was fun. I also liked the crime-scene investigation stuff and how those elements were built up, it felt like I was actually working stuff out. I also like the finishing cinematics you get in the group fights when you take that last guy down, very rewarding and a nice close out to all of the button mashing. The pace of the story also kept me wanting to press onwards and find the next clue/villain/crime because the clock’s a-ticking.

It may be just a me thing, but that pace also left me a bit conflicted. I wanted to explore all of the alleyways, to find all of Enigma’s transmitters, to thwart all of the crimes in progress that my listening devices were picking up. But there was that pressing need to push onwards, to complete the missions laid out as part of the story and I’m pretty sure I didn’t get all I should have out of the game as a result, which is a shame.