‘Batman: Arkham Origins’ for PS3 review
By Steven Cayer, Senior Columnist
5/5
Batman: Arkham Origins finally answers the question of how Batman meets some of the villains that DC Comics throws at him.
Origins is a prequel to the first game, Arkham Asylum, and starts off just two years after Bruce Wayne first donned the Batsuit. No one but his trusty butler, Alfred, even knows he exists.
I loved how when you start a fight near the beginning of the game, the criminals say things like, “I knew he was real!” Later on in the series, they’re already frightened.
The makers of the last two Batman games, Rocksteady Games, decided to let Warner Bros. Games Montreal take the reins for Origins. Overall, they did everything the same as Rocksteady. The only problems were a certain lack of polish and minor lag times.
The story is pretty simple, but a brilliant tie-in to the first game.
The Black Mask is living large and decides to put a $50-million bounty on Batman’s head. Some of the villains are known, like Deathstroke and Bane, while others are less familiar, like Firefly and Copperhead.
The highlight of these games is the seamless combat. It does an amazing job at making you feel like a complete badass. If you think you just complete the campaign and move on, you’re so wrong. This game has different side quests featuring more villains like the Penguin and Shiva. It also has the famously difficult Combat and Predator Challenge modes.
And if that’s not enough, WB decided to add online multiplayer. The concept is really cool, and the execution is done well. It’s in a 3v3v2 format where the thugs of Bane and Joker’s gang fight against each other while a team of Batman and Robin stealthily fly above, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
I wasn’t expecting this game to have so much, so I am more than satisfied.
