14 DAY TRIAL // Comic book-based games haven't exactly had the greatest of reputations over the years but, in recent times, the Batman Arkham titles made by Rocksteady and published by Warner Bros. Have been shinning examples of how to do things right and how to carefully recreate a huge comic book character such as Batman.
With the third installment, Batman: Arkham Origins, however, Rocksteady has handed things over to Warner Bros. Montreal, a new studio founded by the publisher to take care of its established franchises.
With the premise of a younger Batman who's only now coming to grips with his role as a vigilante in the city of Gotham, Arkham Origins promises to deliver a new experience that makes the Caped Crusader a bit more vulnerable, especially since the story sees a bunch of different assassins trying to take him down right on Christmas Eve, thanks to a multi-million dollar bounty posted by villain Black Mask.
While Batman may be a bit less experienced, he can still use the impressive FreeFlow combat system that guarantees great transitions during combat from enemy to enemy.
The Dark Knight can also use great new gadgets, like special Shock Gloves that collect kinetic energy that can then be dispersed in the form of electric shocks on the end of Batman's gloves when they touch his unfortunate foes.
Depending on the style and diversity displayed by players in battle, they'll get awarded special XP points and grades at the end of different encounters, and the points can then be used to unlock new skills and abilities for the Dark Knight.
Besides the story, Batman: Arkham Origins also features a special Challenge mode sequence called 1 v 100, and sees Batman, or other playable characters like Deathstroke, take on 100 different foes. These enemies start off rather harmless but, as one is eliminated, an increasing number of tougher foes appear in the arena, making it quite a challenge to reach 100 knocked out foes.
Batman: Arkham Origins is out this fall for PC, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.