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.
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