I wanted to post this right away. This game spurned me to create this blog because I wanted people to know. People HAVE to know. The sevens? The eights? The four out of fives? Undeserved. The faster I get this onto the internet, the higher chance someone will actually read it. If I take too long, this game will already be under everyone's radar, and for good reason.
This game is depressing. That's right, sad. It's not good, obviously. In some parts, it's not even bad. It feels like making a friend. A friend you wonder why you didn't buy this friend when it first came out. Then the friend gets a sequel that you know is the love of your life. This love does everything right! Looks great and feels great. Smart too! Not a triad you see that often.
One day, your friend and your love suggest another friend. Great! Any friend of two people I love so much must be pretty chill. This fourth wheel, however, isn't all that they seem. Sure, it works out at first. You go see some of the same stuff, you talk about things you like. We might have our fourth musketeer here! As time passes, you notice the imperfections. This person is a poser. Someone whose clothes are picked out because it's part of a culture instead of something they like. This person only knows the bare basics about the things you talk about, but acts like an authority. The worst part? They won't stop advertising themselves, like they desperately need your approval, someone they've just met and barely know because, deep down, they don't care about you.
That is Arkham Origins. It looks like Batman, but the graphics feel different. They're high end, but did you notice how uninspired everything looks? Not much stands out in Arkham Origins except for the (we'll get to him) Joker. As if the developers didn't really understand how to make a game and just put on new clothes that are popular at the moment. Aside from Joker's purple suit, I can honestly say I remember nothing else design wise. Every color that should be bright is much darker. Dark red. Dark green. Dark orange. How do you make orange dark?
Before you defend Deathstroke's wardrobe, you should know he's barely in it...the game I mean! Geez, that almost went Adults Only. In Arkham City, every villain got quick and/or subtle introductions that made the player feel smart for guessing them early or appreciative of the direction the developers went because they dropped the hints. Every character in this game appears without mention and without warning (aside from Bane), including Deathstroke. Near the end of your encounter with Penguin, Deathstroke shows up out of nowhere, has a fight with Batman and is arrested. Aside from a cameo at the end of the game, that's it. He and Batman barely even talk, and then it's off to jail! Baloney. Batman, in his early years, bested fan favorite and DC's best assassin in minutes of their first meeting? Without planning ahead or anything?
Which leads to another major problem this game has. It doesn't feel smart. One of my favorite parts of the original Arkham Asylum was hinted at during the beginning of the Killer Croc segment. Batman, without a word to Oracle or the player, slaps a device to the wall and then sprays all of his explosive gel onto the ground in the opening cutscene. It's confusing, but nobody in the game mentions it and if you attempt to detonate the gel, Batman refuses to. Once you have everything you need from his lair, Batman activates the device, revealing it to be a homing beacon to find his way back the entrance. Near the end, Killer Croc locks the gate and rushes Batman with no where to run. You then remember the gel, and detonate it. Success! Killer Croc falls into a pit, and you leave the level without a scratch.
That one part, often critics' least favorite, is one of my most fondly remembered. Within one area, the writers got across how prepared and intelligent Batman is with his homing beacon and setting the trap, and made the player feel smart by not giving them any more hints than necessary. The game even tells you what you're supposed to do on the game over screen if you don't manage to figure it out. The best example of the intelligence of the characters in Arkham Origins I had was when the then Captain Gordon teamed up with me to fight eight or so guys. He rushed the first enemy he could, who happened to be holding a riot shield, and punched him. As his punch ricocheted of the shield and I fought two guys, he was quickly pushed to a corner and surrounded. I got kinda scared, thinking that if I took too long, they would kill him. Not because of any attachment to the character, I just didn't want to do the fight from the beginning again.
This new friend of mine put on some clothes they thought we would like, doesn't admit to not knowing much about what we discuss, and constantly puts themselves before anyone. Between all the 'reveals' and the advertising for this game, I felt like I was part the the 'modern gaming' marketing group. Oh wow! Call of Duty: Ghosts will have a dog? That seems like "
great" story integration and game design. Neato! Arkham Origins will have Barbra Gordon in it? Unless she gets shot in the spine at the end of the game (spoilers: she doesn't), this reveal for the prequel is pointless. To be honest, the same can be said about the dog. This dog will probably die just to tug our heartstrings.
Because, deep down, these companies don't care about you. Not personally, anyway. You can tell, and it has been said as much, that the first two Arkham games were love letters to anyone who ever liked an iteration of Batman. Arkham Origins is WB's way of grabbing money off of a popular name. I'm glad Rocksteady was given a lot of time to make the rumored part 3 of the Arkham games, but letting Origins into the friend circle is a mistake I hope they realize.
I have kicked this friend out of the group. I still have my close friend. I still have my love. And now...I have at least thirty dollars for the return to Gamestop. Why is this game sad? WB games will look at this as either a success and churn out a new Batman game bi-yearly (or, heaven forbid, yearly), or they will look at this game as a failure and Rocksteady and other great writers, directors and designers will not get the publishers they need to be great. This game is not a warning, it's a lesson. A lesson of what not to be in a friend.
