{"id":59934,"date":"2013-11-10T14:14:50","date_gmt":"2013-11-10T12:14:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/?p=59934"},"modified":"2013-11-10T15:43:29","modified_gmt":"2013-11-10T13:43:29","slug":"5-bugging-bits-about-batman-arkham-origins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/reviews\/59934-5-bugging-bits-about-batman-arkham-origins","title":{"rendered":"5 bugging bits about Batman Arkham Origins"},"content":{"rendered":"

While I\u2019d love to wax lyrical about superhero lore and crack a whole new round of idiomatic bat jokes, a new review for Batman: Arkham Origins is superfluous if you\u2019ve read the review of 2011\u2019s Batman: Arkham City<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Feeling more like a slightly flawed carbon copy of the series\u2019 two preceding titles, Origins is pretty much more of the same, but MyGaming is here to save the day with five points to help you decide if it\u2019s really worth your hard-earned pennies.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s buggier than a prototype Batmobile<\/h3>\n

Don\u2019t assume for a second that the sub-headline is exaggerating here. Origins is chock full of different glitches and technical faults, ranging from freezing, terrible stuttering audio, clipping problems, and faulty combat takedowns. Worst of all though are the framerate drops, where often there\u2019s so much slow-down that it feels like you\u2019re watching a painful slideshow of your in-laws\u2019 Batman-themed holiday snaps.<\/p>\n

These issues seem to be more prevalent on the PC version, although my playthrough on the PS3 suffered plenty of restarts and cursing. Of course there\u2019s the possibility that some of these problems will be addressed in a patch, but you\u2019ll need a fair bit of patience if you\u2019re looking to fight evildoers right this minute.<\/p>\n

\"Batman<\/a>

Batman Arkham Origins<\/p><\/div>\n

There\u2019s a batty amount of fluff<\/h3>\n

Like that unnecessary bat joke, a lot of the game would have you believe that its new stuff makes the experience more engaging, but it\u2019s not long before you realize that most of it is just window dressing.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a Detective Mode where players must piece together evidence from crime scenes to solve murders and the like, and these are recreated in a wireframe 3D style as you fast forward and rewind the scene to figure out what happened. Although this looks suitably technologically advanced and totally down Batman\u2019s alley, it\u2019s impossible to get wrong or misinterpret, and ends up just being a speedbump rather than a proper use of Batman\u2019s keen detective skills.<\/p>\n

The story \u201cmechanic\u201d too is mostly a tacked on element over the narrative, where eight assassins are out to kill our hero in one night. Each assassin is unlocked as you progress, but it\u2019s really just a cheap way to draw things out, and actually obscures what\u2019s otherwise a decent plotline. Redeeming the delivery though is a boss fight for each assassin at the end of their sub-plot, and these actually do quite well in providing a fresh challenge and varied gameplay to the experience.<\/p>\n

A couple of actual new things<\/h3>\n

Some stuff is genuinely new to Origins, like the Shock Gloves and Concussion detonator weapons, and the Remote Claw which lets you create tightrope wires or whip objects into enemies. They\u2019re all decent enough additions to an already solid set of combat mechanics, although it felt odd to be getting new gadgets when playing a prequel to the previous two games. (Did Batman leave them in his other Batmobile on the way to the Asylum?)<\/p>\n

Fast Travel is also introduced, and it\u2019s a welcome change if you want to quickly nip to the many districts of the city. Sadly I quickly grew to loathe it though, as the FMV sequence that plays every time it\u2019s used stutters terribly and ended up crashing my game several times. Consequently, I often resorted to missioning around the old fashioned way once I\u2019d restarted my console more than once in one play session.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s apparently a multiplayer mode\u2026<\/h3>\n

\u2026but mine refused to connect to the server, so I never got to try the damn thing. Community feedback has largely been negative though, with most players reporting a clumsy shooting setup and wonky weapon targeting as major gripes. Though I\u2019m in no position to comment, I again can\u2019t help but feel that like so many bits of Origins, the multiplayer is a poorly implemented addition that should never have been there in the first place.<\/p>\n

\"Batman<\/a>

Batman Arkham Origins<\/p><\/div>\n

New developer, new problems<\/h3>\n

My final complaint is rather unspecific, but it\u2019s an important one nonetheless. Developed by Warner Bros. Montreal, Origins marks the first time the series has left the capable hands of Rocksteady. While the new team has successfully managed to cookie-cutter almost all the major elements from the last two games into this one, there\u2019s a pervasive sense that it doesn\u2019t all gel together quite like it used to.<\/p>\n

The simple yet challenging combat mechanics, for example, remain largely untouched apart from some tweaks, and the navigation through grappling and gliding feel just as effective as ever. However, it all feels a bit slap and paste as the city has a sense of emptiness and pointlessness to it, never really feeling like more than the sum of its parts. Entire sections look a little too recycled from City, and for some reason the lack of any other life on the grungy streets feels apparent for the first time.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to pin down why everything feels so disjointed, but I never really felt like I was the Caped Crusader like I did before. The flow of elements and the whole vibe seems to have been lost in crafting parts individually instead of looking at the package holistically, a likely side effect of teething problems from switching devs mid-stride in the series.<\/p>\n

Final thoughts<\/h3>\n

While Origins isn\u2019t an atrocious title, it certainly isn\u2019t what we\u2019d expect from the third outing in the series after the first two entries. It\u2019s still fairly fun to play when you\u2019re not repeatedly rebooting the flipping thing, but it\u2019s easily the weakest of the three games and a major disappointment considering the pedigree already established by Rocksteady.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re still dead-set on caped-crime-fighting fun though, I suggest waiting for a hefty patch to manage the bugs, or preferably a bargain bin sale to manage what should be some particularly below-the-bar Batman expectations.<\/p>\n\n\t\t