Batman Arkham Origins– The road well taken…..


batman-arkham-origins


One of the important reasons that I was so excited about this game was for its purported story and the subject matter it chose to talk about. Which is, needless to say, a road less traveled.
Every Batman story tries to talk about him at his peak, his most badass awesomeness of being Batman and the cool use of gadgets and the secret thrills of soaring the skies of nighttime gotham terrorizing street punks. The previous Arkham games have been guilty of the same. They were fun-filled games with heavy emphasis on the gadget/stealth/terror part rather than on the actual story of Batman and what made him to be what he is.
When one emphasizes on the fun part of being Batman, he clearly forgets what it is to be Batman and what the highly demanding, soul destroying cost was to become Batman. Sure, Batman is amazing and at his best while he takes down thugs sneakily, but one has to understand that after all that is done, he goes to brood in a cave filled with nothing but bats and his cool gadgets. To deny that tragic part of Batman is to deny the core of the character.
When I came to know that Origins was supposed to be based on the early years of Batman, I was excited for it. I was hopeful that there might be one game in this series which would capture his essence as a character and not as an icon, for a strong story has never been the strong suit of the Arkham series.
Arkham Asylum felt overtly-cartoonish with it being mostly apparent on the dialogue section. City improved on that a bit but the story didn't fare much better either. And then came this trailer and I was exuberant. It was perfectly telling of what Batman had to go through and what he will have to live with to the end of his life.  And the story was revealed to be about the early years of Batman, when he was young, inexperienced, prejudiced and too headstrong for his own sake and him being hunted by 8 assassins for a huge bounty placed on his head by one of the most notorious Crime bosses of Gotham.
Did Origins prove to be the story that was to be so full of turmoil, tragedy, terror and intensity that I hoped it would be? Frankly speaking, No. It wasn't.
While the story could have been tons better, it was apparent that they didn't have any idea what to do with the plot, exciting as it is. 8 assassins hunting for Batman while Batman himself hunting them. This could have been a explosive story considering the fact that it featured a much younger, angrier, headstrong Batman. But sadly, the story meandered a lot when it had to deal with this part of the story and it was apparent that they didn't know what to do or where to concentrate upon and the story gets exciting only after joker enters the picture. Evidently, they needed joker to make anything look remotely interesting and that in itself has become a problem with Arkham series. The story, in the end, ended up being heavily reliant on Joker, much like the previous games.
The gameplay was exactly the same as the previous games too, but this is not a bad thing in itself. It is still fun to punch the bad guys, soar the skies and to take out thugs by sneaking on them but it is precariously at the point where it might turn mundane and eventually boring. The Music by Christopher Drake was a real surprise and it was perfectly fitting of the theme of the story, especially the theme music for Joker, which was delightfully whimsical, innocent and terrifying at the same time.
But credit is to be given where it is due and I would congratulate the developing team for trying to capture the turbulent and troubled Batman and for actually trying to analyze the relationship between Batman and Joker, twisted as it is. The best moments of the game were mostly when it was trying to analyze the warped relation of this crazy duo and an especially comical moment when Batman looks dumbstruck when a thug he was on the process of scaring the truth out of just faints, scared as he was. The strong part of the game lies not in the story of the game but in the gameplay, environment and the music. While it makes for a not-too-bad gameplay owing to the fact that it has nothing majorly new and sticks to the previous one vehemently, it begs the question was this game even necessary if it couldn’t be bold enough to address the subject it chose to concentrate upon. To add up, Origins is not what I hoped it would be. It's not bold, not daring nor is it defining. It much rather prefers to stick to the road well taken and tries to get a peek at the road that could have been taken. Occasionally. And not often enough.
Rating: 3/5.

Comments

  1. The joker theme.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WPEl81C97s

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  2. good review mate ! you should write more about games.

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    1. I was thinking of writing one for asylum and city but with the exception of their gameplay, I thought that it wasn't worth it. ;)

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  3. Please write more about the games with good plot and screenplay.
    I know you play games a lot . And Continue writing in English.

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    1. Ha ha... I think you are the only one who asks me to write in english. ;)

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  4. சூப்பர் ரிவியூ .
    என்ன தான் சொல்லுங்க..பேட்மேன் கேரக்டர்ல நம்ம விளையாடுற பீல் ஒன்னே போதும். Arkham Asylum, Arkham City செமையா இருந்திச்சு. என்னோட பெஸ்ட் "City" தான்.
    "Arkham Origins" பத்தி நிறைய பேர் நீங்க எழுதி இருக்கிற மாதிரி தான் பீல் பண்ணுனாங்க. இருந்தாலும் "Better GamePlay" Bigger Map, "Multiplayer", Music போன்ற விசயங்களுக்காக நானும் வாங்கி இருக்கேன்.
    அது போக கடைசி ரெண்டு கேம்லையும் ஜோக்கரை சுத்தி தான் கதையை பின்னி இருப்பாங்க. மிச்ச வில்லன்கள் இருந்தாலும், அவங்க எல்லாம் ஜோகரை depend பண்ணி தான் இருப்பாங்க. அது தவிர்க்க முடியாது.

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    1. Gameplay சிட்டி மாதிரியே தான். பெருசா எந்தவிதமான மாற்றமும் கிடையாது. என்ன புதுசா ரெண்டு மூணு அடியாள் டைப் சேர்த்து இருக்கானுக. போக போக கேம்ல ஒவ்வொரு சண்டைக்கும் ஆள் அதிகமாகிட்டே போகும். அவ்ளோ தான்.

      மியூசிக், முன்னேயே சொன்னமாதிரி அருமையா வச்சுருக்காணுக. Maybe the best of this series. கொஞ்சம் டார்க்கா, அதே நேரம் கிறிஸ்துமஸ் பீலயும் சேர்த்து பக்கவா போட்டுருக்காணுக. ஜோகர் தீம் அதிலும் கிளாஸ்.

      சிட்டி என்னை பொறுத்தவரையில் நல்ல கேம். இந்த சீரீஸ்ல மிக முக்கியமான கேம்ன்னு கூட சொல்லலாம். Asylum முத கேம். Origins பத்தி பெருசா சொல்ல ஒண்ணுமேயில்லைங்கறது தான் பிரச்சனையே. இதுல கதை நல்லா இருந்திருந்தா இத தேவையான ஒண்ணுன்னு சொல்லி இருக்கலாம். பட், அதுவும் வழக்கமான அரைச்ச மசாலா. ஜோகர் இல்லாம batman கதைகள்ல பல அருமையான கதைகள் இருக்குது. இவனுகளுக்கு அத சரியா யூஸ் பண்ண தெரியல. இல்ல, விக்காதுங்கற பயம். இதுலேயே கூட deathstroke, croc, bane வச்சு இன்னும் பக்காவா பண்ணியிருக்கலாம். Deathstroke எல்லாம் ஒரு ரெண்டு மூணு சின்ன சீன் ஒரு fight ன்னு சொதப்பி வச்சுருக்காணுக.

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    2. Asylum series ல Batman ஆ விளையாடுறது நல்ல பீல் தான். ஆனா உருப்படியான improvement இல்லாம புதுப்புது கேமா ரிலீஸ் பண்ணுறதுக்கு பழைய கேமையே திரும்ப திரும்ப விளையாடிட்டு போகலாம். காசாவது மிச்சமாகும்.

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