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[Poetic.Injustice]

VideoGamer - 8

Batman: Arkham Origins is a wonderful version of somebody else's game. While a return to the Arkham series is welcome – and if you take only one thing away from this review, it should be that Origins is a worthy entry – there's no denying that Warner Bros. Montreal has taken Rocksteady's tremendous template and crafted a similar experience.

Gamespot - 6

Batman: Arkham Origins is a deeply predictable game. It gives you exactly what you'd expect in another Arkham game, without doing anything to push the series forward. In the absence of new elements, the tried-and-true free-flow combat and predator mechanics feel routine rather than inspired. Origins is worth experiencing for the way it sets the stage for the events of the other Arkham games, but it also resides squarely in their shadows.

Eurogamer - 7/10

In truth, though, what Batman: Arkham Origins really recaptures is the solid middle of an Arkham game - the combat, the traversal, the little stealth arenas, the open-world puzzles and side missions - without really offering any highs. There's no batcave-on-Arkham moment, no shark in the museum. Perhaps the developers were too focused on not breaking all those wonderful toys, or perhaps they were bound to a tight deadline, but the game feels slightly flat as a result.

Polygon - 7/10

Batman: Arkham Origins presents a version of the popular superhero who is still learning and doesn't seem to totally understand why he does what he does. I just wish the game didn't share those vulnerabilities. Where Arkham Asylum and Arkham City surprised me with their ambition, Origins is comfortable taking the best from what has come before without contributing much of its own — or even fully understanding what worked about those systems. It's built on a solid foundation but it doesn't take the world's greatest detective to see that something significant is missing.

IGN - 7.8

Batman games are like pizza: even when they’re not very good, they’re still pretty good. Next to Arkham City, Arkham Origins is a bit of a disappointment in its lack of new ideas and use of win buttons, making it the least interesting of the trilogy. But as excuses to dive back into the excellent free-flowing combat and predator takedowns go, this story isn’t bad.

CVG - 7

Arkham Origins left us wishing the game had followed in the example set by Troy Baker's Joker. Baker's performance follows in the footsteps of previous incarnations, but finds a fresh approach for the icon. Instead, it satisfies, but leaves us hoping for the originators to return, be they Kevin Conroy or developer Rocksteady.

GameInformer - 8.5

Batman: Arkham Origins delivers more of what made Rocksteady's games great, but doesn't break new ground. Like a youthful Bruce Wayne, it isn’t as crafty, and it takes its dings during combat, but still puts on a hell of a show when it needs to. Once Joker steps into the spotlight, it becomes a hard game to put down.

Arkham Origins Blackgate roundup:

IGN - 7.4/10
Games Radar - 3.5/5
Analog Addiction - 7.8/10
Game Informer - 6/10
Gamespot - 5/10
We See In Pixels: "Overall I cannot recommend this game highly enough."

 

[SoundLad]

It begins...


Edit: So after reading the VideoGamer review, it seems that it's very good albeit feeling a tad familiar. Sounds good to me, roll on midnight!

 

[Salsa]

couple of gaffers saying its the best in the series took me by surprise. Cant wait to start it later

 

[jacksepticeye]

Even if it's just more of the same but slightly different I'll be very happy

 

[chickdigger802]

impressions from the OT are quite interesting and probably stuff you won't find in your typical review.

combat is suppose to be about 20% quicker (think AC turbo edition).

 

[Eusis]

couple of gaffers saying its the best in the series took me by surprise. Cant wait to start it later

I kind of expect them to be the most enthusiastic really, but at worst? That means they didn't fuck up, so more of the same and at about the same quality level is good enough for me.

 

[shandy706]

Does this unlock (in the US) Tomorrow?

I pre-loaded yesterday.

 

[AdamMPSP]

Probably gonna hold out for the possible/inevitable next-gen release, but pretty interested to hear these reviews nonetheless.

 

[DJSharpeCheddar]

The embargo timing is making me suspicious...

 

[Milennia]

The rest of the reviews hit at 3 a.m. Est iirc.

 

[UNCMark]

I dont remember the site, but someone posted a 7/10 review the other day that had to get pulled. The main complaint was that although it felt like a Batman game, it was by far the weakest of the 3 due to uninspired mission design and a bad main villain. Looking forward to see how the reviews play out. Hoping this is good.

 

[xxracerxx]

The embargo timing is making me suspicious...

I thought all the Rocksteady ones had the same embargo.

 

[BLACK AMERICAN PSYCHO]

Why do franchises always fuck up on the third game? Crysis 3, uncharted 3, dead space 3, mass effect 3. The reviews for this game aren't out yet but I think it'll all in line with the third game curse.

 

[AHA-Lambda]

Videogamer.com said they weren't getting a copy on time for release, how the hell did they get one pre release?

 

[Some Nobody]

Why do franchises always fuck up on the third game? Crysis 3, uncharted 3, dead space 3, mass effect 3. The reviews for this have aren't out yet but I think it'll all in line with the third game curse.

Reading this, I know how its going to go down. It'll be a decent game and yet the fanbase will call it garbage. Admittedly, aside from Uncharted 3 I haven't played those games, but I liked UC3.

 

[antitrop]

Arkham City was a great game, but I found the review scores to be overly bloated. We'll see how this one comes in.

 

[shandy706]

Why do franchises always fuck up on the third game? Crysis 3, uncharted 3, dead space 3, mass effect 3. The reviews for this have aren't out yet but I think it'll all in line with the third game curse.

I liked Crysis 3 (obviously not as much as 1) and I liked (gasp) Mass Effect 3.

I didn't like Arkham City..LOL

If Origins delivers 8s across the board I'll be happy. How could I be mad about a "good" game for FREE. :-D

 

[Ivieto1138]

Why do franchises always fuck up on the third game? Crysis 3, uncharted 3, dead space 3, mass effect 3. The reviews for this have aren't out yet but I think it'll all in line with the third game curse.

Never played Crysis But UC 3 is by far the best. Mass Effect 3 and DS 3 are fantastic games which are slightly overshadowed by ME2 and DS2.

 

[Hiltz]

If the third game turns out be worse than the sequel, then I'll just plan on getting Arkham City for cheaper once I have a Wii U.

 

[badnewsbeers]

I'm somewhat interested in this on Wii U, but man - so many sequels. What happened to the good old days of letting 4 years go by with each instalment? Get some real innovation?

 

[Hiltz]

Why do franchises always fuck up on the third game? Crysis 3, uncharted 3, dead space 3, mass effect 3. The reviews for this game aren't out yet but I think it'll all in line with the third game curse.

It seems like they tend to have a harder time figuring out what direction to go into. Some of these third games try do to more of the same, or go in a direction that either isn't different enough or feels like it is too different from what fans wanted. Of course, most fans do want more of the same, but with things like a fresher presentation, better graphics and new gameplay mechanics.

 

[TheFLYINGManga_Ka]

So it's basically what BioShock 2 was to the first one.

Waiting for Blackgate reviews.

 

[sn00zer]

This will basically be uncharted 3....great game and improvement over 2 in everyway, but not the same jump in quality from 1 to 2 so people will say its not very good

 

[Noray]

I'm somewhat interested in this on Wii U, but man - so many sequels. What happened to the good old days of letting 4 years go by with each instalment? Get some real innovation?

Oh you mean like Mega Man 1, and then 2 and 3 and 4 and all the rest? Or Castlevania... no wait. Nostalgia goggles, man.

On point, I hope this game is great. I expect the reviews to come out in the low 80s, all told. But I'm pretty much ok with more of the same. This once.

 

[Salsa]

Why do franchises always fuck up on the third game? Crysis 3, uncharted 3, dead space 3, mass effect 3.

It'll be a decent game and yet the fanbase will call it garbage.

So it's basically what BioShock 2 was to the first one.

This will basically be uncharted 3...

these threads are the weirdest

 

[NySpeed]

Why do franchises always fuck up on the third game? Crysis 3, uncharted 3, dead space 3, mass effect 3. The reviews for this game aren't out yet but I think it'll all in line with the third game curse.

Not necessarily: MGS3, Deus Ex: HR, GTA 3, DMC 3, Rainbow Six 3...

 

[TheBaronOfNA]

Not necessarily: MGS3, Deus Ex: HR, GTA 3, DMC 3, Rainbow Six 3...

Super Mario 3

 

[Eusis]

The embargo timing is making me suspicious...

This kind of embargo date has been increasingly common among games period. The only reason this is any different is because people are skeptical about the game and this validates fears, rather than looking at something as big as GTAV and I'm guessing making the assumption it's an overbearing publisher instead.

Not necessarily: MGS3, Deus Ex: HR, GTA 3, DMC 3, Rainbow Six 3...

This one's really weird as you can make the argument it's essentially Metal Gear 5... only to have Metal Gear Solid cover for the third installment.

 

[daman824]

If the third game turns out be worse than the sequel, then I'll just plan on getting Arkham City for cheaper once I have a Wii U.

Imo it's the best game of the three.

 

[Jrs3000]

I'm somewhat interested in this on Wii U, but man - so many sequels. What happened to the good old days of letting 4 years go by with each instalment? Get some real innovation?

1 game. COD fuk it up for us all.

 

[Skilletor]

I'm somewhat interested in this on Wii U, but man - so many sequels. What happened to the good old days of letting 4 years go by with each instalment? Get some real innovation?

When did that happen?

Aside from, like Grand Theft Auto. That amount of time is by far the exception and not the rule.

 

[-tetsuo-]

Arkham City was a great game, but I found the review scores to be overly bloated. We'll see how this one comes in.

Pretty much.

 

[Eusis]

1 game. COD fuk it up for us all.

We've always had annual installments, though I'm guessing CoD being as big as it was was a factor. But I think only Ubisoft took up on the "let's do yearly installments!" angle and applied that to a massive open world series of all the damn things. That HAS to collapse spectacularly on them eventually, it's one thing to blitz through CoDs to catch up (especially as for story threads it's only a few games) it's another to do so with games that take 20+ hours to get through.

 

[TheBaronOfNA]

I liked Arkham City a lot. It seemed overhyped at the beinning but the ending won over me. Want to buy this if is still in the same caliber.

 

[Slixshot]

I'm somewhat interested in this on Wii U, but man - so many sequels. What happened to the good old days of letting 4 years go by with each instalment? Get some real innovation?

Every 2 years is perfect for me, to be honest.

Asylum: 2009
City: 2011
Origins: 2013

 

[Zemm]

This will basically be uncharted 3....great game and improvement over 2 in everyway

I want to play your version of Uncharted 3.

 

[TheCowboyPoet]

Not purchasing any games till PS4 launch, so unless they're going to announce a PS4/Xbone version of this, I'll probably wait 6 months till it's super cheap.

 

[chickdigger802]

I want to play your version of Uncharted 3.

there is video proof that enemies react to hits in batman so its already better!

 

[Zalman]

I really hope Rocksteady is working on something that isn't Batman.

 

[Salsa]

I really hope Rocksteady is working on something that isn't Batman.

they're working on Batman, even Conroy said it

 

[strafer]

Rocksteady should make a Superman game.

hnnnng

 

[Eusis]

Every 2 years is perfect for me, to be honest.

Asylum: 2009
City: 2011
Origins: 2013

Yeah, yearly is where I grow heavily suspicious unless it's the kind of game that CAN go yearly (I doubt Assassin's Creed really is this for instance, the absurd number of people working on them may be validation of that), but every 2 to 3 years is pretty good for sequels. Doubly so when you consider Rocksteady may be going for longer with their next game.

 

[batbeg]

Is this more AC or AA? I didn't much care for city's open world approach.

 

[Andrew.]

Rocksteady should make a Superman game.

hnnnng

And dethrone the greatness of 64? Nooooo

 

[alr1ght]

This is a pseudo open world like City or pseudo Metroidvania like Asylum?

 

[TheBaronOfNA]

Rocksteady should make a Superman game.

hnnnng

An All Star Superman inspired game made by them would be awesome.

 

[Cyberia]

Videogamer.com said they weren't getting a copy on time for release, how the hell did they get one pre release?

VideoGamer.com ‏@VideoGamerCom 4h

@Crazyreyn Just so you know, we didn't sign or receive any embargo. Our pre-order copy arrived early. Just want people to know the deal

https://twitter.com/VideoGamerCom/status/393420519107600384

VideoGamer.com ‏@VideoGamerCom 1h

@ashtonraze @xixBlueWolfxix Just to clarify, review copy was one we received ourselves. Review wasn't rushed: played for just over 12 hours

 

[evilromero]

Why do franchises always fuck up on the third game? Crysis 3, uncharted 3, dead space 3, mass effect 3. The reviews for this game aren't out yet but I think it'll all in line with the third game curse.

Yea! Super Metroid, Super Mario 3 and Zelda III.

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

Even if it's just more of the same but slightly different I'll be very happy

It's more of the same, but slightly better, so far (not very far in at all, though). In some ways it's not surprising to me that they have seemingly turned out the best game in the series. All they had to do was build on what others had created.

Also, as I've said multiple times leading up to release, early Batman is just a way more interesting character. Once everyone knows he is real and become less afraid of him, the character becomes far less interesting.

Does this unlock (in the US) Tomorrow?

I pre-loaded yesterday.

It can be unlocked now with a little trickery. I've been playing all day.

 

[cacildo]

"multiplayer not tested"

well thats the part i wanted to know