Batman: Arkham Origins

[thetoddo]

Colour me interested but it's starting to sound like a game set apart from the previous two Arkham ones. Different studio, different voice actors, prequel. At this rate, I'd almost prefer if it wasn't set in the same timeline/"universe" as Asylum and City.

You know, I could really get behind that idea. Or if they want it in the same universe they can just say "This is on Earth 2" (WHY did they bring that back?!?! Wasn't the whole point of the New 52 so that they didn't need Earth 2?) and thus would be able to go way off the rails as far as canon and have a lot more freedom to tell a story.

Asylum and City both work together to tell a Batman story. I'd like to see a greater emphasis on telling a compelling Batman story than just a "this is how he met some of the rogues gallery" series of loosely tied together set pieces.

I'm not saying I think this would be what they do, but Arkham City did have certain parts of the story that seemed more like padding to shoehorn in a villain (Bane, I'm looking right at you, don't pretend you don't see that) than really needed to tell the story. Asylum was a lot more focussed, though having a smaller overall map makes it easier to keep it tight.

 

[Goofguy]

Asylum and City both work together to tell a Batman story. I'd like to see a greater emphasis on telling a compelling Batman story than just a "this is how he met some of the rogues gallery" series of loosely tied together set pieces.

Well they've already indicated that the plot of the game involves 8 assassins hired on Christmas Eve to hunt down Batman. Sure, the game will be waving some of the rogues' gallery in our face but with a premise like that, I'd like to think it'll be a very trying and personal ordeal for Batman. Time will tell.

 

[Auron]

Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy both said they wouldn't be doing voice work for any more batman games after Arkham City right after City was released, and the writer, Paul Dini, said he wasn't involved with the new prequel Batman game back when it was first teased in 2012.

Good riddance on Paul Dini. He can write the Joker in his sleep, but pretty much every single other character turns into a one-dimensional, moustache-twirling, pun-spewing idiot.

I'd be excited about it even if Mark Hamill was returning. But he's not, hence no big role for the Joker, hence nothing at all to lose.

I have to disagree with you regarding Paul Dini. For example, Mr. Dini completely reimagined Mr. Freeze and turned him from the Joke villain of the 60s into the morally complex, broken figure that he has been protrayed as in every medium since the "Heart of Ice" episode of Batman: The Animated Series (an episode he wrote). The problem with Batman's most recognizable villains is that they pretty much were all one-note schtick based caricatures when they were introduced. Some great writers managed to add depth and at times pathos to the characters, I would consider Dini amongst the best within that club.

As for this game, Dini not coming back does make me sad and I really really hope Conroy comes back to do Bats, but I'll likely pick it up anyway as long as the stealth/combat stays at the same quality level.

Wow didn't see this at first... Paul Dini and Bruce Timm are both absolute geniuses and they've revitalized and added a lot to Batman in the 90's. I think the comment is rather unfounded, the other villains are far from cardboard madmen, I completely echo thetoddo's thoughts on this.

And about Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy, this will not be a Batman game if they're not in(unless there's no Joker or Batman but then it would be called Nightwing origins I suppose.)

I'd actually like a Batman Arkham year one kind of thing, it's awesome when the police hates him and he's running from everything while trying to break the mob and the eventual "supervillains" rise it's a great story to be told in a Batman game but there's already a LOT of stuff fighting against this game, it'll have to be extremely flawless to work.

The main villain was pretty lame. Least interesting villain in the whole game.

He is one of the most interesting characters in the entire Batman mythos and has many a great story written about him, I actually quite liked the representation in City, drug fueled sand CGI sequence aside.

 

[takemeouttotheblack]

I think this is at the very least worth watching. A younger Batman would certainly be interesting to watch, but what I'm perhaps more interested in is the game taking itself back to basics, and having a little less focus on all the gadgets; I kinda felt that City was too reliant on all the whizbangs and the like, and especially the Riddler challenges felt like a chore compared to Asylum.

I'd also like something of a smaller scale (perhaps somewhere between City and Asylum) and maybe fewer villains better fleshed out? There's a lot of room to do some serious digging into what these characters are like in real time (you don't get much development within the other two games), so this might be a good opportunity to bring it in.

 

[prowll]

...Yeah, this is rapidly falling into 'shut up and take my money' categories...