Batman: Arkham Origins

Plot synopsis:
=== Characters ===
Arkham Origins features a large ensemble cast of characters from the history of Batman comics. The main character is Batman (Roger Craig Smith), a superhero trained to the peak of human physical perfection and an expert in martial arts who is aided by his butler, Alfred Pennyworth (Martin Jarvis). Arkham Origins brings Batman into conflict with sadistic, brutal crime lord Black Mask (Brian Bloom). The most powerful man in the city and ruler of Gotham's criminal underworld, Black Mask has vast wealth and resources, has eliminated his opposition and is consolidating his power. His ebony mask conceals his identity, allowing him to operate publicly as Roman Sionis (head of Janus Cosmetics). Black Mask has a bounty on Batman, which attracts eight accomplished assassins: the physically compelling Bane (J. B. Blanc); expert marksman Deadshot; veteran mercenary Deathstroke (Mark Rolston); poisonous contortionist Copperhead (Rosa Salazar); the pyromaniac Firefly (Crispin Freeman); the highly charged Electrocutioner (Steven Blum); deformed criminal Killer Croc (Khary Payton), and master martial artist Shiva (Kelly Hu).
Batman is considered an outlaw by the Gotham City police, and is pursued by Captain James Gordon (Michael Gough), Detective Harvey Bullock (Robert Costanzo) and corrupt GCPD officials Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb and SWAT team leader Branden. Other characters include the psychopathic Joker (Troy Baker); black-market weapons dealer Penguin (Nolan North); the mind-controlling Mad Hatter (Peter MacNicol); anti-government, anti-corporate anarchist Anarky (Matthew Mercer); rogue hacker Enigma (Wally Wingert); Alberto Falcone; Gordon's teenage daughter Barbara, and Blackgate warden Martin Joseph (Khary Payton). The story takes place before Batman's partnership with Robin (Josh Keaton)—although Robin is a playable character outside the main story—and before Barbara becomes Batman's ally, Oracle. Dr. Harleen Quinzel (Tara Strong), Vicki Vale, Amanda Waller (C. C. H. Pounder), Quincy Sharp (Tom Kane), and Calendar Man make cameo appearances in the game. Mr. Freeze (Maurice LaMarche) appears in the downloadable content, "Cold, Cold Heart".
=== Setting ===
The events in Arkham Origins take place about five years before Batman: Arkham Asylum, in midwinter Gotham City. Batman, an experienced crime-fighter in the second year of his career, is not yet the veteran superhero of Arkham Asylum and Arkham City. He is a mysterious force; even the police do not know whether he is a vigilante, a myth or a supernatural being. Batman has fought ordinary criminals and gangsters, and is accustomed to being stronger and faster than his opponents. However, on a snowy Christmas Eve he is confronted with more-dangerous foes: eight professional assassins hoping to collect a $50-million bounty placed on Batman's head by Black Mask. Villains (including the Joker) take advantage of the assassins' arrival to launch their own schemes, and Black Mask's henchmen instigate a rise in crime and gang activity in the city.
The Gotham City Police Department is aware of "the Batman", and does not condone his approach to crime-fighting. Led by Commissioner Loeb, the GCPD is thoroughly corrupt; Branden and his SWAT team are hunting for Batman to claim the bounty for themselves. The incorruptible Captain James Gordon is one of the most unpopular members of the force. Batman's relationship with Alfred is strained; the butler, an overbearing parental figure, reminds him of his parents' deaths and Alfred sees Batman as a spoiled child squandering his inheritance on a vigilante crusade.
Old Gotham, the section of Gotham City which will become the Arkham City prison, is not yet walled off and has slums, low buildings, a shopping mall and docks (where Penguin's ship, the Final Offer, is moored). On the Final Offer, Penguin has added a casino, a fighting pit and a sales floor with weapons and ammunition. Across the bridge from Old Gotham is New Gotham, a modern metropolitan area filled with towering skyscrapers.
=== Plot ===
On Christmas Eve, Batman intervenes in a jailbreak at Blackgate Penitentiary led by Black Mask, who executes Police Commissioner Loeb and escapes. Left to battle the hired assassin Killer Croc, Batman prevails but learns that Croc is the first of eight of the world's deadliest assassins in Gotham City vying to claim a $50 million bounty placed on Batman's head by Black Mask. Hoping to learn Black Mask's location, Batman tracks the Penguin to his ship. There, he defeats assassins Deathstroke and Electrocutioner and learns from the Penguin that Black Mask was purportedly murdered at an apartment complex. Batman investigates the murder scene, learning that the victim was not Black Mask and that the murder may have involved a criminal known as "the Joker".
Needing more information to solve the case, Batman breaks into the GCPD to access its national criminal database. While escaping, he encounters Captain James Gordon, who is distrusting of Batman, and the corrupt SWAT team, who hope to collect the bounty money for themselves. Following advice from Gordon's daughter Barbara, Batman enters the sewers beneath the GCPD for permanent access to the database and finds Black Mask's crew planting explosives. Using the database, Batman deduces that Black Mask was kidnapped by the Joker, presumably to access the Gotham Merchants Bank. At the bank, Black Mask removes his disguise for Batman and reveals himself as the Joker; having assumed Black Mask's identity several days prior, the Joker seized his criminal empire and imposed the bounty on Batman. Batman chases the Joker to the Sionis Steel Mill, where he frees Black Mask and defeats the poisonous assassin Copperhead.
Tracking the Joker to the Gotham Royal Hotel, Batman discovers that the villain and his men have filled the hotel with explosives, murdered the staff, and taken the guests hostage. The Joker berates the assassins for their failure to kill Batman, throwing Electrocutioner out a window to his death: Batman recovers his electric gloves. The assassins leave, except for Bane, who thinks Batman is coming for the Joker. After traversing the building, Batman finds the Joker on the roof but is forced to battle Bane. Thinking Batman is outmatched, Alfred alerts the police so they will intervene. As Bane escapes by helicopter, he fires a rocket at the Joker, who is thrown from the hotel by the concussive force. Batman saves the Joker, leaving him with the police. Puzzled by the events, the Joker is imprisoned in Blackgate under the care of Dr. Harleen Quinzel; he tells Quinzel that he and Batman were destined to meet.
In the Batcave, Alfred begs Batman to abandon his crusade, fearing he will die, but Batman refuses. Infiltrating Bane's headquarters, Batman learns that his true identity as Bruce Wayne has been uncovered by the villain. Firefly attacks the Pioneers Bridge, forcing Batman and Gordon to work together to incapacitate the assassin and his bombs. Meanwhile, Bane breaks into the Batcave and nearly kills Alfred. Batman finds the cave in ruins and Alfred dying, but he is able to revive him with Electrocutioner's gloves. Elsewhere, the Joker has taken over Blackgate after inciting a riot.
Realizing he needs allies, Batman works with Gordon and the police to retake the prison. Sitting at the electric chair, the Joker offers Batman a choice: kill Bane, or allow Bane's heartbeat to charge the chair and kill the Joker. Batman uses the electric gloves to stop Bane's heart. Satisfied, the Joker leaves, intending to detonate bombs placed around the city. Batman revives Bane, who injects himself with a steroid that transforms him into a hulking beast. He loses the ensuing battle to Batman and suffers amnesia as a side effect from the steroid, thus preserving Batman's secret identity. With Gordon's help, Batman locates the Joker in the prison chapel. Dismayed that Bane is still alive, the Joker tries to goad Batman into killing him but Batman subdues him instead. Gordon chooses not to pursue Batman, believing he can help the city. In a radio interview during the credits, Quincy Sharp says he will lobby to reopen Arkham Asylum to house the city's worst criminals; after the credits, an imprisoned Deathstroke is approached by Amanda Waller to join her Suicide Squad.

Tags: plot twist, gothic, romantic

Review:
Okay my opinion of the Arkham games goes that the first one was a fun beat-em-up that got me to know the Batman villains.
This is fun to exploit, what's not fun is having to reset the game when you phase through the floor in a boss fight.After 2 whole paragraphs on glitches you might be thinking "This sounds like sh!t," and I can see why I mean if you don't exploit glitches like I do then of course you're going to say "I don't want to buy it!" but the rest of the game-play is exactly like Batman Arkham City except for shock gloves which really speeds up a fight.
The game-play is still fun even if they don't really put anything inventive to it like Arkham City does.
"Don't add me to the weight you carry..."I know I'm not the only one when it goes to saying that Arkham Asylum shocked gamers back in 2009, presenting a dark malevolent atmosphere superhero game like no other.
So when they announced that a new prequel game was coming out, I was looking forward to it, but questioned it's success as soon as I heard that Warner Bros Montreal was making it and not the almighty Rocksteady.
No, this is no Arkham City or Asylum if you're wondering, consider it more of a Arkham City 5-6 hour DLC package.I'll start off by saying that the story is by far the best of the franchise, it feels the most batman like of all three games.
I was a little nervous about Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill being replaced, but Roger Craig Smith (Batman) and Troy Baker (Joker) were great replacements.
Some, of course, have made up their minds already and will never change them.As with all the Arkham games thus far, the cinematics are incredible and there are several sequences involving both Batman and The Joker that hold up as well as if the inspired Paul Dini had written them himself.
You get to explore Gotham almost without barriers, the fighting system is still good and the story is incredible, even though it feels like it starts to lose steam and fall into clichés towards the end of its run.Fans of comics like 'Batman: Year One', 'Batman: The Long Halloween' and 'Batman: Dark Victory', to name but a few will definitely enjoy some of the characters and events that crop up here and, for the seasoned game player, the Arkham series is still enjoyable.
It just needs something a little new, perhaps coupled with a return from some characters who have been absent from the Arkham series and from Gotham City for quite some time.
The Arkham series should also take a more adventurous step (that Rocksteady quite possibly would have done had it retained its licence over the franchise) and give the player controlling Batman a bit more chance of actually piloting the Batmobile and/or the Batwing and other assorted vehicles.The voice cast here really has to be commended.
Unlike some other gamers, I grew used to Roger Craig Smith as Batman/Bruce Wayne quite quickly, but he still seems like a flawed addition when compared to Kevin Conroy, who has been voicing the character for so long that his successors can sound a bit alien in the role.
Troy Baker is an excellent replacement for Hamill and, while I would still love it had Hamill surprisingly leapt back into the role once more, Baker is an energetic and memorable Clown Prince of Crime and, if nothing else, a scarily effective Hamill impersonator at times.Those returning to their Arkham Asylum and Arkham City roles remain inspired choices, whilst long-time Batman animation music composer, Christopher Drake delivers a fine score that, whilst up to his own standards, misses out on some of the quirkiness that made the music of the previous two games, as composed by Nick Arundel and Ron Fish, so unique and tailored to this interpretation of Batman.The Batcave is awesome, holding an Anton Furst/Nathan Crowley/Goonies feel all at the same time (hopefully next time Wayne Manor will get more of a showing as well), and Gotham is still a fascinating place, especially as players are given the chance to explore regions that previously weren't available, such as those areas of Gotham that were underwater during Arkham City.
But other complaints about the static nature of the opening sequences are a point of personal preference -- I found them to be a useful tutorial that helped me to brush up on my old techniques from the last two games, whilst not being killed too often!!!So, in summary, there's plenty to enjoy here, particularly as the game is set in the Dark Knight's formative years but, next time, perhaps Warner Brothers will either take a chance or return to trusting Rocksteady to take those chances on their behalf!
All the same, the Arkham series remains one of the most effective and enjoyable ways of introducing or reintroducing both new and long-term fans to the mystique and intricacy of the Batman comics and his world in general!.
Had the chance to play and finish both Arkham Asylum and Arkham City on PC and Console platforms, and as I threw a look only at a game walkthrough of Arkham Origins(1080p video) it left me with a not so good impression.
This title has a major lack of polishing, a major recycling of the areas used in the Gotham/Arkham City previous title, I may say this because I am a big fan of the dark knight/batman franchise especially the comic book side of things, DCuniverse generally.
What I found at first at the Arkham series are the beautiful portrayed characters made from Batman/DC universe, elements that combined together in offering of the largest scale good impression and achievement of what we would like to call a "verum visionem" to what the authors and artists have achieved over the decades with the caped crusader(most of it until now).
Arkham Origins over and under the "blood thirst" of the fans of the previous games or the franchise in general was a rather hasted project, from my point of view, and beneath this was a franchise probably knocked to the floor in development by serious constraints probably by the owners, producers, or who knows...even the marketing of the whole project and the deadlines following it, the truth is...I miss the passion of the people in charge or participation at it, the attitudes that are sensed in the developing results of the people who actually worked on it probably(mostly the guys up-stairs really, with the Gs).
The story keeps the same feel as the BTAS episode of Heart of Ice with a few new elements added in to solidify the hate relationship between Mr. Freeze and the Penguin shown in Arkham City.
Batman Arkham Asylum surpassed both video-game players and reviewers expectations tremendously back in 2009.
The game begins with the villain Black Mask placing a bounty on Batman's head on Christmas Eve. This attracts the attention of 8 super-assassins including Deathstroke, Bane, Lady Shiva, Deadshot.
To top that all off Batman also comes across several side-super-villains like Edward Nygma, Penguin, Mad Hatter and The Joker.Whilst the graphics are not as detailed as Arkham City, the game play is amazing.
And right from the start I became excited because I've been a die hard Batman fan since I was 6 and the previous 2 Arkham games were amazing.
Gotham City looked just amazing and dark which helped keep the feel of the previous 2 games intact.
If Origons takes place years before the previous 2 games shouldn't Batman not had had the same weapons he had in Arkham City.
Batman: Arkham Origins was a game that I wasn't really expecting from last year.
Instead of continuing the Arkham franchise, this game decides to explore the beginnings of Bruce Wayne as Batman.
While Arkahm Origins is still a solid experience on its own, it lacks to build whatever is from the previous entries of the Arkham games.First thing to get out, the original cast of Kevin Conroy as Batman and Mark Hamill as The Joker are not here to reprise their role (Oh yeah, I forgot the Joker makes an appearance in this game).
Compared to Arkham City, that game made you work for the extras and obtaining them makes you feel accomplished at the end.
I guess its the colour scheme that they were aiming for but for me it's not as entertaining as Arkham City challenge maps (hell, I feel like going back to Arkham City after playing Origins).
With strong inspiration from various works of Batman to create the Arkham Origins story, the gameplay suffers with lack of innovation, repeated elements, and the simplified extras that makes this game lack challenge.
Game play wise this is stunning,continuing the great combat system and gadgets present in the previous arkham games along with some new ones,This without doubt is good enough to keep the feel of the game intact .visually arkham origins does a pretty good job, having the open world expanded up to twice as much as last time.
adding Gotham city into the game is something worth taking a look at or roaming around as batman.
One of the greatest things about the Arkham series was that it always gave the player an experiences as to how it feels to be batman.
The overall game was a great ride and only gets me hyped for the rumored sequel to arkham city under rocksteady.gameplay : 9/10 Story: 10/10 visuals: 9/10 Feel of the game : 9.5/10 ovrall: 9.0/10 Dark,Thrilling and a Brilliant story.
The story's pretty solid and Batman's suit in this is GORGEOUS to look at; and the gameplay adds some nice twists to what we've previously seen in the series.Sure you can tell that A) being a prequel means that certain characters' fates are all-but determined and B) it's going to foreshadow things to come.
The gameplay has some real weight to it just like Arkham City did successfully several times over; though the new elements added in Arkham Origins are rather few and far between in comparison.
Maybe a little, but this game isn't like the recently crappy Spider-Man movie-tie-in video games.Arkham Origins is like backstory of a long-running movie franchise: while not whole-heartedly necessary it is nice to know that it's out there and that aspect of the story's been explored.
Batman Akham Origins is one of the most underated games of the old gen of consoles however it has got a few problems especially with the bugs at realese .So the plot of this game is that Black mask has put a bounty on batman's head and has 8 assasins all looking to kill him, turns out black maski was acctually captured by the real mastermind behind it aka the Joker.
Now batman has to defeat Joker Deathstroke firefly lady shiva ect.This game has a lot of content with countles challenge maps and a variety of side missions althow most of the bosses in the game arent that great except the first Bane boss battle and one of the best bosses of the old gen history in my oppinion DEATHSTROKE .This game is a prequel set about 5 years before Batman Arkham Asylum and changed the voice cast from Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill as batman and joker to Roger Kreg Smith and Troy Baker as Batman and Joker however i really liked there voices and they match as younger versions of Batman and Joker.
However the big thing that backlashed this game was that this prequel was developed by a diffrent studio than Arkham Asylum and Arkham City that where developed by Rocksteady studios, Arkham Origins was developed by WB MontrealHowever in my opinion the game is a must play for any Batman fan it is probablly the most accurate batman simulator with an amazing selectionof gadgets and it has the best batsuit put in a game to date so all and all really good stuff.
arkham origins is overall a good game, but the ones who are playing it after completing the previous batman titles are in for a disappointment.
sure, the graphics are great, they always have been, and the characters are also very strong and feel very real, but the campaign is kind of poor based and quite predictable.the city is bigger than in the previous title, but there is very less you can do in it(there aren't even citizens present, only thugs roaming the streets.)and the side missions are painfully similar to arkham city.the missions are nowhere as terrifying and insidious as the previous titles.you won't feel like going back to it after completing it.now for the good part, it's a great place to start if you haven't played the previous titles, the combat is pretty much the same as before which is good, stealth is pretty satisfying, but sometimes too easy, gadgets are infinitely fun, villains are challenging.
We are thrown into the combat very quickly as well and the developers do a good job of assisting those who have never played an Arkham game before by including on-screen button queues to which you can quickly learn from.
Although this unexplainable grading system didn't happen every time, I did find myself receiving all sorts of different grades throughout my adventures in Gotham and was not able to figure out the exact reason for this.Even with its minor imperfections, Arkham Origins is yet another fulfilling Batman game.
Coming from a long-time fan of the series, I can't wait until the next Arkham game is released but deep down I am hoping that Rocksteady gets back in the driver's seat for our ride into the next generation..
Storyline of Arkham Origins, takes Batman 5 years (as developers described) before events in AC and his is at the beginning of his crime-fighting career.
Overall, Batman Arkham Origins is very good and entertaining game, despite not offering much.
It's fun to play through once, but this is yet another one of those games where the single-player story campaign feels like an afterthought and far too much DLC and unlockable content is achieved through online play.
Despite being given huge shoes to fill by temporarily taking over Rocksteady's incredible work of Arkham Asylum and Arkham City, they somehow delivered a game which surpasses its predecessors by sticking with the same formula and improving on what was already there.Since this is a prequel, the story line takes place before both its predecessors.
As shown when he takes on 8 assassin who are after the 50 million dollar bounty placed on his head.The story is by far the best of the franchise, it feels the most batman like of all three games.
Online multiplayer has been included which adds a new dimension to the game, it's very entertaining and fun to play; especially with friends in a 2 vs 2 vs 3 game mode (Joker gang vs Bane gang vs Batman & Robin).The negatives are the bugs/glitches and issues with poor frame rate and freezing this game is having.
Arkham Origins is the only game in the series that is not created by Rocksteady.
it was nice to see Batman as a little younger, where he meets classic characters like Gordon and Barbara for the first time, and I thought Roger Craig Smith did a good job with his voice, but the dialogue just isn't as good in this movie, especially the Joker.
Arkham Origins is place in few years before the first part Arham Asylum, before Batman met Gordon and Joker.
The only superhero game that is better than Arkham Asylum is Batman: Arkham City (2011).
Batman Arkham Origins was the first Arkham game I ever played and it really was fun to play.
Although story-wise it does have it's problems and the game is a bit buggy.But Arkham Origins has brand new voice actors and is developed by a different studio (not Rocksteady).
he's okay but he's no Mark Hamill!The story is pretty well paced, but a lot of the plot points are a bit rushed and they re-use way too many elements from Arkham City.
Everytime I free roam in the game, I always tend to listen to the different themes that play when you either explore the city or beating up Gotham scumbags, it's really fun to listen to and Drake's music really sells it as that type of music is what I think works best for Batman.
I really recommend it as a game to play if you like Batman, DC or just superheroes in general, you get a lot of great stuff from this game and the voice acting, graphics, music and gameplay really sells it.
I didn't really enjoy the game like the other Arkham games, and I don't hate it because it is made by a different developer, but because of the story mission and some of the characters.
Cons: The design of the environment isn't as appealing to me as Arkham City's environment design was.Black Mask and most of the assassins hired to kill Batman were reduced in story importance to allow the Joker to shine.
I consider Arkham Asylum and City one of the best video games ever made, plus one of the very best Batman adaptations.
And there are the boss fights, similar issue, while in the two previous game this encounters where unique, challenging and fun, most of them fail in Origins either by making them nothing special like Deadshoot which is a predator take down, with one guy how you need to take down 3-4 times.
Over all Origins is a good game, but way weaker than Asylum or City..
A great story, good game-play and some of the bosses truly were amazing.
The Deathstroke fight really is nice even though it builds off of the boss battle with Ra's Al Ghul from "Batman: Arkham City".
But it was the ending Bane boss fight and the blue lighting that felt a little too much like Resident Evil and not a "Batman: Arkham" game.