"Batman: Arkham Origins" Is it Weird I Really Like This One?

 

    Look, I get it, at this point I've come to accept that maybe the Batman Arkham games aren't for me, but I have to say this one almost kind of impressed me? At first, I was prepared for another slog, after all this game technically isn't even a mainline game, and considering the fact that the graphics seemed a little off then what Iwas used to, I wasn't exactly expecting much from this game. But frankly, I'm impressed. My biggest complaint with the Arkham games is that they felt way too repetitive to get the full experience. And yes, I am referring to the Riddler trophies which I think really killed Arkham City for me. Though, while this game still suffers from that, I can safely say that this might be the most fun I had playing a Batman Arkham game.

    Let me explain, for too long, have the boss fights and endings of these games felt anticlimactic. I absolutely hated how Arkham City ended on the equivalent of a Clayface fight, and I always preferred the other boss fights to the final one in Arkham Asylum. With this game however, despite it's worse reputation, I think does it better. I do mean it, all of it. There are more bosses, the variety is much better, and having these unique challenges for you to face really helps freshen up games that I think are too repetitive. To be fair, I am playing all of these games sequentially, and since the core gameplay mechanics are present in all of them there is a good chance that the only reason it feels like so much of a slog is because I have to earn back my old powerups every time. Despite this all, I can safely report that this game has some of my favourite boss fights in this game, and should not be discounted.

    What can be discounted is the story though, which is a bit wonky to say the least. First of all, I understand he was a DLC and the Freeze grenade was only introduced in Arkham City but they really should have found a better alternative than the glue grenade. It was so stupid watching what was basically the equivalent of a cum gun for you to do exactly what the freeze grenade did. Don't even get me started on the whole Bane amnesia thing, while I do think it's actually cool that they show off some of his intellect, having him know who Bruce Wayne is, go attack him, and then magically forget who he is really makes me laugh. It's just too convenient and it really makes you stop taking the game that seriously. I mean Wayne Manor is magically attacked and he somehow finds the Bat Cave? Don't even get me started on the whole Alfred plotline either. He's basically anti-Batman the entire time until Bane attacks and he's like, I get it now. What? That doesn't even make any sense.

    On a random side note, can they let you use whatever Batsuit you want during the story? I understand wanting to have the batsuit be damaged slowly throughout the game. But as someone who tries to complete everything before the game is done, I hardly get to use any of the suits even though a lot of them actually look really cool. On a side note, I really loved the DLC. Getting to explore a bit of Wayne Manor and the cave was fun, and the heat suit also looked cool. Was this game longer then I expected? Honestly yeah, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't have fun with it. And if we're being truthful here I think I might have had more fun with it than Arkham City, which I think beats Arkham Asylum, Once again that probably has to do with me playing them all together so closely, so I think to test my theory, I'm going to play Arkham Knight after I binge a long fun game, like Skyrim or some other RPG, and see if I still feel the same way about the Arkham gameplay.

Final Score 78/100

    Look maybe in the moment this seemed like the greatest superhero video game, or maybe a part of me just really doesn't like these games. Or maybe I play too many open-world RPG's and just want basically Skyrim but Batman. Whatever the case may be, I am playing these games that cannot be denied, but I feel as if I should be getting more out of them. Perhaps if I played them when I was younger I would have liked them more. On a side note I think this is the first Arkham Game where I really got the combat system down, and I know people really rave about how amazing it is. Hopefully some of those skills transfer for Arkham Knight, whenever I decide to finally play it.