Batman: Arkham Origins & Origins Blackgate

[Gamerforlife]

So I just got pinned down by a gunner in Blackgate. Apparently, the only way to get past this section is to set off an explosive under the platform the guy is on, dropping him into the pit below. Course, if you look down you see that the pit has a bunch of huge, spiked, spinning gears

So basically, I just murdered a guy...in a Batman game

You can tell these developers really understand the character

[Gamerforlife]

You know when I actually started Origins last night. It asked me to sign up for that wbid account thing, and then said that the service was unavailable. Then when I started story mode, the game screen just went black and I had to exit out of the game and start it up again. Great way to get things started, a crash before I've even jumped into the game, and that was after I downloaded some patch.

When I finally got the story started, I played up to the first boss fight, which is Killer Croc. It's basically a copy/paste job of the big lumbering dude who charges at you boss fight that has been ldone ike a hundred times already in the last two games. Just how many times can you recycle the Bain fight from Asylum? Well, they did again, except they've managed to make it some how more annoying by making Croc's attacks so ridiculously fast that dodging them feels like a matter of luck

That was when I stopped playing last night. When you can't even get the first boss fight right, that's not a good sign of things to come. I'm gonna give it another right now, try to get past that annoying boss fight, see what lame letter grade I get for it(since I'm apparently playing Batman May Cry now) and try to move on with the rest of the game.

[Gamerforlife]

Well, contrary to what I've heard from some people around the net, I'm happy to say that the combat seems the same as Arkham City. There's the occasional odd occurrence that reminds you that this isn't a polished Rocksteady game, like one of Batman's attacks on an enemy just not registering for no apparent reason, but I've found these occurrences quite rare. The combat is far better than Blackgate's broken system and I've found myself back in the flow like I was in the last two games.

The stealth areas though, just don't feel very well designed from what I've played so far. This is the one thing that has felt the most "off" to me so far

The game has annoying frame rate issues too, another thing you never saw in the last two games, at least on the PS3 version I'm playing. And the city seems so barren and devoid of life. It's just thugs everywhere. There's no innocents that need saving, no cop helicopters flying around, no random cameos from other characters in the Batman mythos like Azrael, no cool little visual easter eggs to find. It's just this lifeless, huge hub world.

The upgrade system is...weird. You're forced to get a bunch of useless damage reduction upgrades and other useless crap before you finally unlock access to the good stuff, and some of the better upgrades are locked behind these new Dark Knight challenges, forcing players to jump through a bunch of annoying hoops, figuratively speaking, just to have access to all the game's upgrades

I don't know how I feel about the game. The combat still works for me, as a beat 'em up fan, but everything else about the game just feels kind of "meh". The story hasn't really done anything amazing so far and the game hasn't managed to grab my attention quickly in this area the way the first two games did. Part of the problem is that I've not seen any of Gotham's major players in the story yet, just Penguin, Black Mask and Croc, who are kind of B listers in Batman's rogues gallery. No Joker, no Two Face, no Catwoman, no one who actually matters. I know Joker's in the game though, and I hope I run into him soon, so he can liven things up a bit. It feels like Arkham Origins just doesn't have any star power. Batman's voice actor is good, but it hurts not hearing Kevin Conroy, especially when I know from videos I've seen that Baker does a perfect Mark Hammil impersonation in this game as Joker. I've heard his Joker already in Blackgate, and it's spot on.

It would be a much more impressive game I think if it had come out before Arkham City

[Violent By Design]

Isn't Blackmask supposed to be the main bad guy?

[Gamerforlife]

From what I've played so far, nobody really feels like the main villain. I feel like the real big bad of the story hasn't been revealed yet.

Also, the Deathstroke fight was seriously badass. I've seen it on video before, but it was cool to actually get to play it myself. The only thing keeping it from being one of my favorite boss fights of all time is that I swear my counter attacks just refused to register at times, making that point counter point trophy a royal pain in the ass to get. This just feeds into the general lack of polish that this game seems to have. The game actually crashed on me at one point while I was exploring Gotham. Had to shut down my PS 3 because the game lock it up. And this is after I've been forced to download TWO patches for this game

This game's been a very up and down experience. I don't hate it. I don't love it, which is sort of the same way I feel about Blackgate since I've now finished that game. The core mechanics of the series are mostly intact here in Origins, which is nice. For all the complaints you can make about the game, it still gets the fundamental stuff down, and that stuff is still fun. Course the very fact that it's all so familiar and unchanged is also a problem in and of itself. And everything just feels a bit less inspired and at times not as well designed as previous games

[Gamerforlife]

Hate these stupid new martial arts enemies. They completely throw off the flow of combat and why is Barbara Gordon just a stereotypical, uber nerd in this game? I guess this version of her never becomes Batgirl as I really can't see this girl becoming anything other than Oracle.

[emwearz]

Apparently the WB Humble Bundle is set to include some Origins DLC.

While I understand the game is meant to be a bit darker, there are times where it feels like Batman gutter stomping people is a bit against his character. Really enjoying the game though.

[SpaceBooger]

Just came back from Akron ComicCon and meet Adam Beechen, who was proud about writing Origins Blackgate. He forgot what handheld systems it was on - blurted out Vita and 3DS. He then commented on my Aquaman shirt and prompted a mini conversation, that included the fact that I do not own the game he wrote or any of the systems it is on.
Moral of this story is RacketBoy.com helps you strike up conversations with people in industries you may never have talked to.

[Gamerforlife]

People who designed Origins are such idiots. You have this gadget that disables signal jammers that interfere with your detective vision. And every time you disable one, the guy with the jammer TURNS IT BACK ON!!!

Which begs the question...WHAT THE HELL IS THE POINT OF ME HAVING THIS GADGET THEN!!!

God, why are game designers so ****ing stupid!