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Batman: Arkham Origins |OT| Justice from the head of Prototype And Hulk: UD

Stayed up till 4am this morning and beat the main story. Now I'm going to complete all the side stuff this week. I really enjoyed it overall. The last half of the game is much stronger than the first. I like that they decided to delve deeper into the detective side of Batman. It had a similar feel to my favorite Batman comics that had him solving murders. I really wasn't feeling the slight combat changes at first or the new annoying skill tree system (wanted x5 counter ability WAY sooner. This resulted in me grinding a bit for xp). I would recommend to anyone having similar gripes to make it a point to tackle the side missions which will unlock unique character upgrades for Batman. I was getting pissed off thinking that they took out the disarm ability, but it is there...you just need to complete a specific side mission for it to unlock. It definitely will come in handy later in the game, especially after you get the ability to link takedowns if you are in focus mode.

Speaking to the comments about crowd control. I had similar views. I was hoping they would have a gadget that was as good as the shock gun in combat. The cluster grenades are ehhhh. The glue grenades *cough freeze grenade cough* do come in handy when you use the enhanced version of them in focus mode, giving you some breathing room.

I haven't really touched multiplayer yet, but am really disappointed they didn't decide to make a coop specific gametype. At least coop predator rooms would of been amazing. Splash Damage, if you are listening....EVERYONE wants to play Batman and Robin from the start. Totally a missed opportunity to not have some sort of coop challenges. Please, can we get something in future DLC.
 

No Love

Banned
Wow at the Sterling review.

Wow at the Sterling 9.5 for MW3.

Yeah, Jim should maybe focus more on industry commentary rather than trying to quantify games with numbers.

Sterling must be high off the smell of his own farts again. All the praise he's been getting on his industry commentary must be going to his head as well. Poor guy.
 

Ephemeris

Member
I'm doing more flips than an olympic gymnast in battles. You're pretty much forced to unless you want to stand there mashing the counter button.

I dislike this. So very much. It's the Ephemeris antithesis.

The gloves does help get me back to that direction. Still a little OP tho.
 
Ah okay then. Haven't played the Wii U version.

Also, how good are you guys at doing dodging knives takedowns? I'm still mastering it.

you just needa hold back and hold counter, let go, hold counter, let go, hold counter ( i think 1 boss has 4 swipes).


I find it better to time if you let go of the stick too. so, down+ hold, let go, down + hold, let go, down + hold.
 

Ephemeris

Member
something i love doing in the open world while traversing.

front roll off a ledge before gliding or w/e, he does this cool looking ninja front flip.

yisss... One of the AR challenges had me doing this too.

off topic: the two avatars above me are laughing and it freaks me out. JOKER GAS?
 

Screaming Meat

Unconfirmed Member
haha yeah. My style is akin to fierce as fuck.

I was able to post a beastly score in the first challenge map (with zero upgrades) because I somehow was able to play it AC style.

Fair play, sir. My style is akin to Yoda in Attack of the Clones. I'm always after that Variation Bonus!
 

Ephemeris

Member
Fair play, sir. My style is akin to Yoda in Attack of the Clones. I'm always after that Variation Bonus!

I can see that. I can see that. I do mix things up a bit. For the record, my score was 7th on the global leaderboards this time yesterday. I imagine it's dropped further as people started to upgrade their bats with combos and gadgets.

Maybe that's why I loved the deathstroke fight so much. I was purely on the offensive. The occasional flip-over-the-back sure, but it was almost non-stop attacking. After I learned how to cool it with the instinctive quick-counters, no damage on hard was a walk in the park.
 
not a fan of gadgets. i don't think i ever got a batclaw off in combat without someone thomping me mid animation. And batrangs and other stuff break my internal metronome for this game, killing all combos and flow.


Is there a challenge room or anything where you only fight martial artists? They seem to be the most interesting new thing about the game, but they are sooo rare.
 

Rnr1224

Member
I wish there was a way to replay the
Shiva and deathstroke
boss battles. They were really fun but I don't want to start a new game for it. Let's hope they add the ability to do so in a patch or something. Ive finished all of the side quests so now I'm just hunting for the enigma data packs. Gonna take a while but I'm switching between that and the challenge maps so it doesn't get completely repetitive. Overall I like the game about the same as arkham city. Some things are worse (such as the grappling points and the flow of combat) but there are a lot of other things that it improves on as well. Well worth the price I played for it.
 

zainetor

Banned
not a fan of gadgets. i don't think i ever got a batclaw off in combat without someone thomping me mid animation. And batrangs and other stuff break my internal metronome for this game, killing all combos and flow.


Is there a challenge room or anything where you only fight martial artists? They seem to be the most interesting new thing about the game, but they are sooo rare.

play the shiva sidequest. Only ninjas and kung fu boys as enemies.
 

SJRB

Gold Member
not a fan of gadgets. i don't think i ever got a batclaw off in combat without someone thomping me mid animation. And batrangs and other stuff break my internal metronome for this game, killing all combos and flow.


Is there a challenge room or anything where you only fight martial artists? They seem to be the most interesting new thing about the game, but they are sooo rare.

The training room in the Batcave has an option to fight martial artists, but it's a group encounter so there are a couple of regular thugs too. No 1-on-1 option. I can recommend trying it out though, it explains the different attacks and it's a great way to practice. After doing some training I actually understood the different attack patterns and the ways of countering them.

I think the training room is a pretty clever idea, you can practice on any enemy, from the martial artist to venom thugs all the way to all-out group encounters with mixed weapons.
 

Dave1988

Member
Question for people who found all the Enigma Data Handlers. So, I'm sitting at 19/20 Enigma Data Handlers and I'm 90% done with the story. Does the last guy appear after a specific point in the story that I haven't reached yet or did it glitch out on me? I still have locked datapacks in Extortion Tape 12 so I'm assuming that the guy has yet to appear on the map but I'd like to have some imput from people that interrogated all of the handlers whether or not this is a glitch or if it's supposed to be this way. .
 
play the shiva sidequest. Only ninjas and kung fu boys as enemies.

yep beat that. everyone should do that asap because you get critical strikes there.

The training room in the Batcave has an option to fight martial artists, but it's a group encounter so there are a couple of regular thugs too. No 1-on-1 option. I can recommend trying it out though, it explains the different attacks and it's a great way to practice. After doing some training I actually understood the different attack patterns and the ways of countering them.

I think the training room is a pretty clever idea, you can practice on any enemy, from the martial artist to venom thugs all the way to all-out group encounters with mixed weapons.

yep, did all challenge rooms. I don't need to 1 on 1 them, i wanna fight just martial artists lol.

Give me that ipman vs karate dudes fight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1Cb2d0ZUVs
 
I'm doing more flips than an olympic gymnast in battles. You're pretty much forced to unless you want to stand there mashing the counter button.

No you're not. The key is to not mash the attack button on one single enemy unless you stun him. For example a key way of getting 60 hits combos is to stun the biggest guy in the room and go for a beatdown and counter every punk that comes begging for a beating, then resume the beatdown on the bigger guy. Once the bigger guy is done for you go for 1 or two attacks for each character, without every breaking flow. Preparing for the battle also plays big dividends in true Batman style, as you have an array of gadgets that really allow you to enter a combat scenario as some sort of maestro.

If there's one thing I've noticed in the combat system here, your ability to proper choreograph a fight is much more important (at least I'm having a much better rythm than before). I've had some kick ass fights, from 3 way counters to wall counters etc. I love love love just how much I can affect the beauty of the combat sequence. Stealth has been great too.
 

Screaming Meat

Unconfirmed Member
I can see that. I can see that. I do mix things up a bit. For the record, my score was 7th on the global leaderboards this time yesterday. I imagine it's dropped further as people started to upgrade their bats with combos and gadgets.

Maybe that's why I loved the deathstroke fight so much. I was purely on the offensive. The occasional flip-over-the-back sure, but it was almost non-stop attacking. After I learned how to cool it with the instinctive quick-counters, no damage on hard was a walk in the park.

I love that fight, myself. Love how it plays with the player's understanding of countering. Deceptively clever, boss fight, that. I didn't perfect it though. I didn't know there was an achievement for it...
 

strafer

member
No you're not. The key is to not mash the attack button on one single enemy unless you stun him. For example a key way of getting 60 hits combos is to stun the biggest guy in the room and go for a beatdown and counter every punk that comes begging for a beating, then resume the beatdown on the bigger guy. Once the bigger guy is done for you go for 1 or two attacks for each character, without every breaking flow. Preparing for the battle also plays big dividends in true Batman style, as you have an array of gadgets that really allow you to enter a combat scenario as some sort of maestro.

If there's one thing I've noticed in the combat system here, your ability to proper choreograph a fight is much more important. I've had some kick ass fights, from 3 way counters to wall counters etc. I love love love just how much I can affect the beauty of the combat sequence. Stealth has been great too.

Your avatar fits.
 

Sober

Member
You misunderstood me. The problem is not about the "variations" score you get at the end of each round when you use every gadget.
First, you didn't get points for gel explosions in City during the match.
Second, in AO you get 25 points for every gel explosion and they still don't do any damage at all, which means that if I get to 100 hits and start spamming gel explosions, I can spam them as long as I want and each time I get 2500 points more. Basically it's the exact same thing of the Titan glitch in AC: the scores become meaningless.
Oh boy. Yeah I was wondering why damage-less gadgets started giving out points. Unless the quick gel can actually KO attackers now.
 

Nephrahim

Member
I can see that. I can see that. I do mix things up a bit. For the record, my score was 7th on the global leaderboards this time yesterday. I imagine it's dropped further as people started to upgrade their bats with combos and gadgets.

Maybe that's why I loved the deathstroke fight so much. I was purely on the offensive. The occasional flip-over-the-back sure, but it was almost non-stop attacking. After I learned how to cool it with the instinctive quick-counters, no damage on hard was a walk in the park.

Aren't there sections of the Deathstroke encounter that counter for unavoidable damage if you attack? I felt like when he had his sword out, he would sometimes counter my strike without giving me the chance to counter back.
 

Screaming Meat

Unconfirmed Member
Aren't there sections of the Deathstroke encounter that counter for unavoidable damage if you attack? I felt like when he had his sword out, he would sometimes counter my strike without giving me the chance to counter back.

Nope. You must have been spamming the attack button. You have to use restraint, my young padawan :p
 

neorej

ERMYGERD!
Aren't there sections of the Deathstroke encounter that counter for unavoidable damage if you attack? I felt like when he had his sword out, he would sometimes counter my strike without giving me the chance to counter back.

Nope, DeathStroke deals un-counterables if you counter too soon. Nail your timing, and DeathStroke can be done damage-free.
 
How do you trigger this sidequest? I've beaten the game already.

i forget which area, but you know that place where a large part of the street is covered by a glass walkway?

You hear a baby cry and see a baby carriage and that starts the sidequests i think.


It's kinda weird that many 'murder mysteries' and some sidequests aren't super apparent and easily missable.
 

Ephemeris

Member
Aren't there sections of the Deathstroke encounter that counter for unavoidable damage if you attack? I felt like when he had his sword out, he would sometimes counter my strike without giving me the chance to counter back.

I've replayed that scene multiple times. Not because I was getting murdered, but because I actually enjoyed it !

I don't believe he has any unblockable attacks. It's just that you (we?) hit counter too early.
 

Nephrahim

Member
I know you can beat deatstroke without taking damage (Or at least, I'd hope so, since there's an achievement for it, ha.) but I was just saying that a "Non-stop attack" seems like it wouldn't work because with the sword he seemed to counter.

Maybe I missremembered or missed something.
 

merrick97

Banned
No you're not. The key is to not mash the attack button on one single enemy unless you stun him. For example a key way of getting 60 hits combos is to stun the biggest guy in the room and go for a beatdown and counter every punk that comes begging for a beating, then resume the beatdown on the bigger guy. Once the bigger guy is done for you go for 1 or two attacks for each character, without every breaking flow.

That sounds great, but I had a problem with the damn camera changing directions on me and either I couldn't see a guy I needed to counter OR Batman would inexplicably change directions to attack someone else. Happened way too often. The camera in this game really needs to be tweaked in a future patch.
 

Nephrahim

Member
That sounds great, but I had a problem with the damn camera changing directions on me and either I couldn't see a guy I needed to counter OR Batman would inexplicably change directions to attack someone else. Happened way too often. The camera in this game really needs to be tweaked in a future patch.

Tip: There are moves that make you invincible and sometimes slow down time (Most combo movies) When they happen, you always want to be moving the camera to a better position so you can see WTF you're doing.

That said, this camera did seem a hair worse then AC's. There were a few fights where it was basically stuck in a wall and I had no choice but to mash and/or flip out until I could see.
 

Sullichin

Member
That Sterling review is really harsh.
Can't say I agree with him that the story lacks excitement. It may have the most "d-list" cast of villains, but the story itself is a step up from the previous games (so far, I'm only a little bit past the
Joker is Black Mask
reveal) and I even think the voice cast is better this time. I also think the boss fights have generally been improved.

I do agree that this is a weird rendition of gotham with the only people on the street being thugs and corrupt police. What's up with that? It made sense in City because it was a quarantined zone for criminals. Now it just seems bizarre. The streets feel way too wide and empty. I'm not a huge fan of the reused AC portion of the map, but the story specific (usually indoor) setpieces have mostly been great.

The more aggressive enemies/whatever changes to the combat they made are really throwing me off. On one hand I like that the game is harder, but the combat does not always feel as satisfying as it could because I'm constantly losing my combo or having to counter like 10 times in a row. And yeah the camera is definitely worse.
 

Ephemeris

Member
yep beat that. everyone should do that asap because you get critical strikes there.

I remember you mentioning that. I should go do it next then.

i forget which area, but you know that place where a large part of the street is covered by a glass walkway?

You hear a baby cry and see a baby carriage and that starts the sidequests i think.


It's kinda weird that many 'murder mysteries' and some sidequests aren't super apparent and easily missable.

I find that the game leads me to it.

Crime in progress.
Arrive to scene.
Generously Dispense Justice.
Something nearby (in this case, a crying.. baby?)

That's how I've found the murder cases as well too.
 
Does every cop have a cousin that works at blackgate? :p

Kinda wish there are more random dialogue off thugs in the open world. hear tons of repeats while i don't think i heard any in AC.
 

Ephemeris

Member
I know you can beat deatstroke without taking damage (Or at least, I'd hope so, since there's an achievement for it, ha.) but I was just saying that a "Non-stop attack" seems like it wouldn't work because with the sword he seemed to counter.

Maybe I missremembered or missed something.

I've done it (no damage) on hard.

While you're doing your non-stop attack schtick, just remember to look out for those times where he seems to attack you *without* having the counter-prompt appear at the beginning.

That means there's a prompt (or 3) coming a little later. I've countered his sword attacks before.
 

Sullichin

Member
Does every cop have a cousin that works at blackgate? :p

Kinda wish there are more random dialogue off thugs in the open world. hear tons of repeats while i don't think i heard any in AC.

The corrupt cop dialogue during combat is the worst

"No need to call this one in"
"Let's call this one in"
 

SJRB

Gold Member
I remember you mentioning that. I should go do it next then.



I find that the game leads me to it.

Crime in progress.
Arrive to scene.
Generously Dispense Justice.
Something nearby (in this case, a crying.. baby?)

That's how I've found the murder cases as well too.


Pretty sure you are naturally supped to stumble on the baby stroller after the
Black Mask/Joker bank heist
mission. I mean, it's right there if you step outside.
 

Nephrahim

Member
I've done it (no damage) on hard.

While you're doing your non-stop attack schtick, just remember to look out for those times where he seems to attack you *without* having the counter-prompt appear at the beginning.

That means there's a prompt (or 3) coming a little later. I've countered his sword attacks before.

I guess I'll have to be more careful. I wonder if he'll be any more difficult on NG+ or he'll just hit harder.
 
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