Batman Arkham Origins (Spoiler Free) Review
Its hard to deny the fact, that over the past few years batman has risen in popularity more so than ever before! and with the last two Batman Arkham games in the franchise scoring highly among the best video games have to offer, naturally Arkham Origins has plenty to live up to. The question is though, does it?
Story
Going by the name, you'd much expect it to be an origin story and it is, just perhaps not as in-depth as you may expect. When you start the new campaign off, batman is already batman and he's already the masked vigilante that we love him and know him to be. So what exactly makes it an origin story? Well this is the story of how joker and the dark knight initially met, and whilst it may not be entirely accurate, its still pretty cool. And whilst I wont ruin anything for eager players, there is quite a bit of exploration throughout the Joker's mind in this game, and its awesome. However for any gamers who had done their research before reading this review, you may be asking yourself "what about the story about the assassins on christmas eve" Well the idea and concept is there but it feels all too much as though that "assassin story" is simply masking a bigger picture.
Gameplay
Arkham Origins gameplay is nearly identical to the previous Arkham games, in combat you punch, dodge, counter and shun your enemies like usual. And in every other situation you're either gliding around the city, grappling onto everything in sight or using your gadgets to solve simple, yet fun puzzles, which yes include a brand new set of riddler obstacles. To be quite honest, not a whole lot has changed, even the map is the same as Arkham city's with the addition of a new branching part of the city and a few tweaks to some of the buildings. The only noticeable difference I picked up on was the addition to the new shock glove weapon, this new gadget temporarily removes the challenge in a brawl and basically makes you ridiculously powerful, however don't stress as it is optional, but I highly recommend you use it, as it is a lot of fun.
Presentation
Similar to the gameplay department, the game has changed a whole lot visually. Whilst from a technical standpoint it does look better than Arkham City, its not a major upgrade. The city still looks grim, theres a lot of greys and blacks and Bruce Wayne's jaw is a thick as ever. Its also worthy to note that the game uses pre-rendered CG cutscenes, as oppose to the modern trend of using in game graphics. I personally didn't mind this, as it almost makes you feel as though you are watching a movie. Much like in the previous games of the franchise, the voice acting is great! and whilst the Joker was not voiced by Mark Hamill in this release, Joker's voice still sounds as believable as ever!
Verdict
Batman Arkham Origins is a thoroughly enjoyable ride that offers a lot to long time and recent fans alike. Again though you must take into consideration that not much has changed in both the gameplay and visual department, even down to re-suing the same map as in Arkham City. So if you found the last Batman game did not to spark your interest, then don't expect this one to either. And to finally answer the question as to whether its better than its predecessor or not, In my opinion I personally believe so, and I'am interested into seeing what the Dark knight has to offer next.
8/10
+ Interesting origin story
+ Fun gameplay
+ Great voice acting
- Re-used map