Batman: Arkham Origins - A (delayed) Review

I got ‘Batman: Arkham Origins’ for Christmas. I had asked for it on the safe knowledge that, given the past two games being fantastic and great (respectively) that this new one was bound to entertain, if not amaze. I was right. And I am sad that I am. Batman in video games was pretty non-existent until the release of ‘Batman: Arkham Asylum’ came out of, seemingly nowhere, and amazed the players and critics. It’s got a fantastic story, graphics, gameplay, fighting engine, voice acting and literally everything about it, were top notch.

Fast-forward to the next release ‘Batman: Arkham City’ and, again the same. Loved by gamers and adored by the critics. I, however, did not care for it much. I’m not sure why but I think it may have something to do with them moving Batman from a nice, tightly scripted prison setting into (yawn) ANOTHER OPEN WORLD SAND BOX TYPE THING! I’ve worn out on these sand box games now. The only time I get excited to play one is when there’s a new Grand Theft Auto coming out, and that’s because they KNOW how to do open world sand box gameplay properly. Moving on…

They then released ‘Batman: Arkham Origins’, a prequel to the first game. Now, playing as Batman was always a thrill. Batclawing your way on top of buildings, taking down numerous thugs with the still fantastic combat system and using all the gadgets at your disposable.  You always FELT like Batman regardless if you were a rubbish player or not.

So what are my issues with the game? It’s hard to pin point exactly, however, maybe one word can give you some idea….boredom. I don’t know if it’s the story, the fact that they’ve not greatly updated anything from the past two games or the fact that their open world they have created is so damn boring. What kind of city is Gotham where the only people to be on the streets are thugs? There is literally no other kind of characters you come into contact with. It’s either a group of thugs chilling on a rooftop or a group of thugs beating up a police officer. And that’s it. Isn’t one of the point of Batman for you to rescue the helpless citizens of Gotham? That would at least give you a reason to beat up the endless parade of thugs they throw your way. But the way they’ve done it, you’re just some guy on a jolly beating people up (kind of how imagine the whole of the North of England).

The superficiality (?) of playing as Batman very nearly hides its flaws; however, maybe it’s not just with repeated playing but periods of long gaming sessions that its flaw really stand out. Maybe I’m just being too harsh. Maybe, I personally, just don’t care for the story which for me, is where the majority of my enjoyment stems from. If the story is rubbish, I’m bound to think the game itself is rubbish, technically amazing as the game may be. Many a game I’ve sat through to just play out the story even though it’s mechanics has been anything less than average. The gameplay of the game is, for me at least, not enough to keep me wanting to play it more, let alone to see the story through.

Now, I must stress (rather a bit late) that I am only about 10%-12% through the game. But I cannot see these flaws being approved on when I’m 40% through (I assume, as with all sandbox games that 100% is only achieved when everything has been collected, not just the story being completed.) Let’s hope they improve the game for the next iteration.

WWE2K14 - A 'review'

The thing with the latest WWE iterations is that, they seem to have hit a technological wall that they just can’t get over until technology itself breaks the wall down. The bugs and issues that arise in the game are the same bugs and issues that everyone used to complain about years ago but now, as they appear here to stay seemingly forever, just casually mention it in passing.

Maybe I am just stuck in the foggy haze of nostalgia? Afterall, WWE2K14 has the phenomenal  30 Years of Wrestlemania mode (the previous year’s iteration had the ‘Attitude Era’ mode that let you play through the big moments of that era.) that lets you play one or two matches from every Wrestlemania from the first to the 29^th, making you complete historical objectives to achieve the golden trophy for each match. These modes are a very welcomed addition to the series and certainly boost the appeal of it. The only reason I’ve bought the last two versions is just to play these two modes. I do hope they continue along these lines and introduce more modes like this and improve the modes they have.

Personally, I find the various bugs and issues very easy to overlook (in any game) if the game as a whole provides an enjoyable and fun gaming environment. My issues with the game is not concerned with the seemingly technologically stunted gameplay but rather the simple fact that after 14 years of the games coming out on a pretty sturdy annual-release basis, not one of the games released has ever matched the majestic beauty of WWE Smackdown 2: Know Your Role. This, for me, is the best wrestling game we have ever had (I do also very fondly remember ‘Here Comes the Pain’ and Smackdown vs Raw 2006.)

It then dawned on me, the reason I feel Smackdown 2, a game released 14 years ago on the PS1, is due to the mechanics of the game (which was a lot faster paced and had a more arcade feel to it) and, one very important game mode that (I think) has been missing on all subsequent releases; PPV Mode. Many hours I spent in a stifling hot room on during summer school holidays, making my own PPV’s, imagining the stories behind each match I made and the way they would play out. Now, I must stress that technically speaking, WWE2K14 is vastly superior in every single way (obviously, how could it NOT be!?) especially with the added ‘Story Mode’ which allows you to create your own story (cut scene’s, text etc.) and then play them out. It’s probably just me but I find this mode to be too complicated and drawn out to use and have fun with.

The beauty of PPV Mode on Smackdown 2 was that you could just throw some matches together and play them out (essentially a list of 7-12 exhibition matches all played out in a single play through), however, the pièce de résistance was that every match and every PPV you made garnered ratings. I was obsessed with getting the highest ratings. I remember, vividly, a Hell in a Cell match between ‘Stone Cold’ and ‘TheRock’ garnered an unbeaten 14.2% rating. Phenomenal stuff! The PPV, however, failed ratings wise as the rest of the matches failed to deliver. Now, this was back in the days before the internet was widely available (for me, at least) so I had no idea if the ratings were just a random number or if there was some sort of checklist system in place to ensure a good rating. I still don’t, nor do I care. The important thing was that I had endless fun with it for, literally, a good few years.

And herein lies MY issue with WWE2K14 (and the majority of all the subsequent releases thereafter), they just don’t have the lasting appeal that Smackdown 2 had. Maybe it’s the fact that it is a yearly annual release now, like FIFA, Call of Duty, Battlefields and Assassins Creed (to a degree) that has seen it, not necessarily floundering, but maybe more like a goldfish; just going around in circles and completely unaware of life beyond the fishbowl. They need to put it out in the open seas (or whatever it is that goldfish live in in the wild) and set it loose. Discover new ways of doing things and inject some much need freshness into the (like the company it’s representing) stale and weary product. With the next release (pretty much guaranteed for Christmas 2014) it will be 2K’s first fully produced WWE title (WWE2K14  was a joint release with THQ as 2K took over the series due to THQ going bankrupt), so maybe they’ll have something different for us…we can only hope.