Batman: Arkham Origins Review

In 2009, Rocksteady Games surprised the gaming world with Batman: Arkham Asylum, the first licensed superhero video game to be really good rather than just good “for a superhero game.” In 2011, they took their successful concept and expanded it in Arkham City, giving it the open world treatment and adding more playable characters for certain chapters and game modes. For the latest installment of the series, the reigns were handed to nascent development studio WB Games Montreal, making Arkham the latest franchise to be put on the dual development track model. The result is Batman: Arkham Origins, a prequel to the previous two games that doesn’t do enough to distinguish itself from its predecessors, but still manages to improve upon certain parts of their formula.Arkham Origins is set only two years into Batman’s crusade against crime. He is still an urban legend to the population at large, but the mob bosses and criminals that he fights against know him well. One such boss, Black Mask, decides that its time to deal with Batman once and for all and so, on Christmas Eve, he puts a $50,000 bounty on Batman’s head. This attracts the attention of eight deadly assassins – including Deathstroke, Bane, Copperhead and Deadshot – who all come to Gotham to try to claim their prize.While the idea of Batman fighting for his life against eight deadly assassin’s sounds like a fun enough concept to carry the narrative, the conceit is largely forgotten as things progress. The first few hours are profoundly lacking in plot, with Batman trying to catch up to Black Mask to end his dangerous game, and occasionally being interrupted by one of the hired assassin’s for a boss fight.