Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate - PlayStation Vita

The first two Batman games were nothing short of amazing. I was definitely buying Arkham Origins, regardless of the things I was hearing and reading about it. I'll admit that my expectations were lowered due to the fact that a different group made the game. However, might I be so bold as to say this is the best Batman game I've ever played? Lets find out. Combat - It's pretty much the same combat system as before, which will always be a good thing in my book. Some have argued the combat feels a bit 'stiff', but I didn't notice that. The only difference that kind of stood out is the difficulty of some of the fights. I really looked forward to fighting huge groups of enemies in Arkham Asylum and Arkham City because it became easy once I got the hang of things. Arkham Origins' fights are lengthy and difficult, and at times feel like a total button masher. I'll explain what I mean: I've played more than my fair share of action games on the PS3. There's only been two games that caused me to experience forearm fatigue because of the button mashing fighting. Those games are Heavenly Sword (demo version) and now Arkham Origins. This is a prequel, so perhaps the fighting is difficult because they're wanting to emphasize that Batman is early on in his career, I don't know. At any rate, it gets a little easier when you acquire a certain gadget that I'll discuss in the next paragraph. Weaponry - If you've played any of the previous Batman games, you'll know he mainly uses gadgets as opposed to weapons, and that trend continues. The usual gadgets are present, so I'll focus on the new additions. We all know about the remote controlled batarangs; well now there's a remote controlled batclaw! Awesome, right? It doesn't really directly affect combat, I mainly used it to connect to far away grapple points. The concussion detonator actually does affect combat. It'll cause enemies to be momentarily dazed, giving you the chance to move in and put in work! The glue grenade is used to shut off those ever so annoying steam valves (or you can use the grenades on enemies too). Now to my favorite addition - The shock gloves!!! Here's how they work: You build up the battery by pounding on bad guys. Once fully charged, each melee strike will be accompanied by an electric shock. This made the tougher combat more enjoyable and a little easier :-) Enemies - I noticed a few new enemy types sprinkled here and there. The ones that stood out were the ninjas, the dudes with the venom filled canisters on their backs, and the brutes. The ninjas were different because you'll have to plan your strikes against them, as opposed to straight button mashing. I've been hearing a lot of negative things about the boss battles, and I don't understand why. In my opinion, each one was a little different and required some technique. Ok, the first one was a button mashing affair, but the others really weren't. You probably recall me saying I've played several PS3 action type games. Well, the final boss battle is the most terrifying boss battle I've ever encountered! I'm tempted to explain why, but I can't do so without giving spoilers. Some people are smart enough to give details without spoiling the game, but I'm sure in the hell not... Miscellaneous - Don't worry guys and gals, there's plenty of sidemissons with some pretty cool enemy encounters. You will not see the usual Riddler puzzles (thank God), but there are still collectables around town. Also, you'll get an opportunity to solve crimes, similar to how it's done in LA Noir, if you're familiar with that game. If you're into multiplayer, that feature is available in a Batman game for the first time. Arkham Origins didn't feel quite as long as the others, but it took me about 28 hours to complete (that includes the sidemissions and me screwing around in the city). The only negative thing about the game is very minor, but I still thought I'd mention it. The graphics are not as good as the previous two games, but that's not a big deal to me. After finishing Arkham Origins, I felt it was the best Batman game I've ever played. I had tons of fun, and was constantly looking forward to what might happen next. I'll be honest, if you play this game and you don't think it's at least 4 stars, I'll be shocked. Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus, you're up next!

Well I haven't beaten the game yet. I am only about 5 hours in, but I have seen so many mixed reviews on the big name review sites I just wanted to let people who enjoyed the first two Arkhams know that this one is just as great in my opinion. Not better, but just as great. First of all this is the Wii U version obviously and everyone was throwing it under the bus because of no multiplayer. I play Arkham games for the single player experience so I don't care that it is missing, but it is something to consider for those of you that do. I got it for ten bucks cheaper though so there's that. Now the PC version is also ten bucks cheaper and as far as I know includes multiplayer. It was a choice between PC and Wii U and I am glad I chose the Wii U, here is why: *Graphics and Performance:The graphics look outstanding on the Wii U(looks better than AC Armored Edition) and the performance is also much better than the Armored Edition. It has a solid frame rate with the very occasional one second slow down. It looks incredibly crisp on my TV and has excellent textures. The only improvements PC has over it that I have seen from videos are the Physx and Tesselation effects. I have only encountered one minor bug which was a baddie after kicking his butt, he fell through the floor and only his head appeared. *Gamepad.I guess my only complaint so far is hacking is not as fun as it was in Armored Edition(not a big deal though) and it doesn't have all the same gamepad features, but it still has some of them. The map is there and works just like AE. It doesn't have the remote control batarang on the gamepad and you can't pick gadgets from it either(those are selected with the D-pad). It does have the wonderful off-tv play. The detective mode is there and in this game it is unbelievable cooler. For example in AE one of the first things you do with detective mode is finding out were the bullet came from, you scan the evidence and it shows you the trajectory of the bullet. In this game a guy gets blasted through a wall and not only can you see what happened, but you can walk around to get different perspectives and forward and rewind it at whatever speed you like. I just thought that was so cool. The controls overall feel great and I prefer the gamepad now over the other controllers I own. *The Sound: Sounds great to me! I have 5.1 Surround. *The City: This city is tricky to review because I'm still not sure how I feel about. It is the biggest one yet and while there is a ton of stuff in it and it looks fantastic, it can still feel a bit empty at times. It reminds me of Arkham City with the look of it. If you hate Christmas though this game takes place on Christmas eve and has some Christmasy themes. Let's not be a scrooge about it. Starting out it's mostly go from one part of the map to the other and do a task. and it has quick travel by batwing(still wish I could fly it or use a batmobile). A lot of time will be spent in different buildings just like in AC of course. It also fills up with a lot of extra stuff to do as you progress through the game. So far I like it just as much as Arkham City. *The Gameplay: Combat feels just as good if not maybe a tiny bit better. I like that as you progress you get a better diversity of baddies to whoop and a few new moves too. Stealth feels the same(it works but still has its flaws). Flying around has not changed at all. You start off with a lot of familar gadgets and this one has some cool new ones as well although I don't know what they all are yet. You still traverse through plenty of vents which I am convinced now that Batman just loves vents. He must have all kinds of vents in his mansion. No more are the question marks, now they are called relay data, but they are still acquired by solving a puzzle or they hiding out in a vent. *The Vents: I am starting to like the vents myself. Some of the vents look much better than in the previous games and some give you that classic feel. *Story: This is one of the most important things to me in a game and I loved the story of the last two games. I am not sure how it will turn out and so far it is pretty good and it has all the classic villains and some new ones I have never seen before. They all look different than the previous titles. Some of them sound the same like the Penguin. It takes place before the other batman games. It's about christmas eve and Black Mask has offered 50 grand to whoever can kill the bat. It informed me of 8 assassins and gave a little quick background to each. My favorite one is Deathstroke of course. He is just so similar to my favorite Marvel character Deadpool. The boss battles are awesome and the battle with Deathstroke is nothing short of brutal and insanely difficult. He earns his baddassery in that fight with Batman. I hope I see him again. Like I said I am not very far so I can't really tell you more. *The Batman: Yes this is a new batman and not only is this my favorite look so far, but I like the voice actor better too. He is a far more violent and brutal Batman than what he becomes later on. He mostly feels like he doesn't hold back from his brutality until the last second. Overall it has a few differences from the previous games and while it feels like they tried to play it safe and plays mostly the same, for the most part it still delivers one heck of a fun game and when I play video games that is really what it is all about. If you liked the first two then this one is a must. If you haven't played the other two you don't really need to play the first two before starting this one, but I would still recommend them. as they are both outstanding games. Last but not least nanananananananana BATMAN!

When I bought my Wii U last December, the very first game I purchased (not counting Nintendo Land) was Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition. I was incredibly impressed with all of the unique features added to the game via the Gamepad, including the radio chatter being played through the Gamepad's speaker (which made the game more immersive), the map being placed on that screen (which eliminated the need to pause every time I lost my bearings), the placement of character bios, challenges, upgrade menus, and gadget access on the lower screen (making it much easier to read text, especially), and the use of the touchscreen for most of those functions (whether playing on the TV or on the Gamepad itself). Hacking felt more like hacking with having to use the touchscreen to find and activate hidden nodes. Aiming certain gadgets was made butter-smooth by using the built in gyroscope. Blowing up individual explosive gel placements (one at a time) was made possible (and easier) with the touchscreen. And of course playing the entire game on the Gamepad screen with extreme ease was probably the best feature of all. All of these things made the Armored Edition of Arkham City the DEFINITIVE version of an already amazing game. When I heard that Arkham Origins would be coming out for Wii U, I was expecting the same features. While the game definitely kept the best features like off-TV play, radio chatter through the Gamepad speaker, and the map being displayed on the touchscreen, the majority of other features that made the Armored Edition so much better than other console versions have been taken away (in fact, all of the Gamepad features I had listed as positives for the Armored Edition of Arkham City with the exception of the few I mentioned as actually being in Origins are in fact gone). If you've played the Armored Edition of Arkham City, you won't realize how much you miss those features until they're gone. I do realize, however, that none of the extra features are available in ANY of the other versions of the game (and unlike with Arkham City, they weren't adding new features to a completed game but doing certain things with a game as it was being developed), so this doesn't really affect the score. I should be clear though. I gave this game 5 stars because I still think it's great. It's basically what you'd expect from an Arkham game. Fun and fluid combat, pretty much all of the usual gadgets (you start off with the batarang, remote controlled batarang, grappling gun, explosive gel, cryptographic sequencer, and another gadget or two I can't remember) and it doesn't take long to get back into the swing of things. Once you get out into Gotham City, there is a TON of stuff to find and huge environments to explore. There aren't a lot of people out (apart from thugs), but considering the storm warning at the beginning of the game and the fact that it's night time (early on in Batman's career when crime is still rampant everywhere)...on Christmas Eve, it isn't really all that shocking. While there aren't Riddler trophies/riddles to find, there are still collectibles and other Enigma puzzles to find throughout the city. You also get crimes in progress in which you can intervene and plenty of other side quests that I personally have yet to discover (as I've only played a couple of hours so far). My review is based more on the first couple of hours, but I can already tell that this game is going to be great. If you enjoyed either of the other two Arkham games, you'll enjoy this one. While the Wii U version doesn't use the Gamepad in as many unique ways as the Armored Edition of Arkham City, the features it does have (as well as the improved frame rate and the removal of the completely unnecessary and mediocre multiplayer) still make it the best version to own. Update 11/4/13: I wanted to update my review to point out a couple of things for those who may be wondering (after having made a lot more progress in-game). First off, please be aware that this game is very, very similar to Arkham City when it comes to environment, mechanics, and overall gameplay. Where Arkham City was quite different from Arkham Asylum, Arkham Origins is not nearly as different. Much of what you do is very similar and it doesn't feel nearly as unique as the first two games did from one another. But I still think it's a fantastic game. It may not be as great as Arkham City, but it's still well worth playing. You just have to go into the game recognizing that apart from differences in what Batman is like as a character and the fact that the city is about double the size, it's not dramatically different. Finally, I want to point out that while the framerate is consistently smooth, there are occasions where the game will stop for a few seconds to load while gliding. In about 10 hours of play time so far (give or take), the game has frozen completely on me only once. Overall, I would make my rating 4.5 out of 5 rather than 5, but that's only because it isn't as unique.

Batman Arkham Asylum released in 2009 and blew gamers away when they saw that it was not only a good game but a fantastic game, two years later the sequel Batman Arkham City was released and once again blew gamers away by being better than the first game. Developer Rocksteady has set the standard for super hero themed video games and has shown just how committed they are to the Batman Franchise and their two fantastic games show it, but this time around Warner Bros. Montreal has developed the next title in the series, Batman Arkham Origins. So do they live up to the high standard set by Rocksteady? Let's find out. Story: 9/10 The story for Batman Arkham Origins, like the previous games, takes place over the course of a single night, and in this game Batman is only two years into his crime fighting carrier. Because of this not many criminals know who Batman is, some people think that he is just a rumor and that he isn't real, but Batman is always there to prove just how real he is. One Christmas Eve night Batman finds out that a notorious criminal named Black Mask has put a 50 million dollar bounty on his head, this attracts the attention of eight highly trained assassins who are given one night to kill Batman if they want to collect the reward. Knowing that they will put innocent people in danger just to draw him out, Batman chooses to track down Black Mask to discover why he has put this bounty on his head and put a stop to it. Origins story starts out a little SLOW for the first hour or two, but really kicks it up a notch afterwards. The story is very well written and makes for a very believable Batman and I believe it is the best Arkham story to date. What I have loved about all of the Arkham games it it's mature take on all of these characters that we all grew up loving, as well as it's dark and mature story. And much like Rocksteady, Warner Bros. Montreal has done a fantastic job making a realistic Batman story and they should be commended for it. Characters: 9/10 Batman was not always known as Gotham's savior, nor was he always allies with the G.C.P.D. in Origins he has just began his crime fighting carrier and is not keen on working with others, despite how great of allies they may be. Because this is an origins story Batman is younger, much more arrogant, and an all around bad ass, don't get me wrong I loved Batman's personality from the other Arkham games. But this younger more arrogant Batman makes for a much more interesting and very believable character. And of course where there is Batman there is the Joker, and in Origins the Joker is younger as well, but none the less crazy as a lunatic. Both Batman and the Joker have different voice actors in Origins, Batman is voiced by Roger Craig Smith and Joker is voiced by Troy Baker and this drew a lot of controversy when the game was first announced. And I'll be the first to say of course they can't replace Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill, but they were never intended to, both provide their own versions of the characters and there have been many of them. While they are not the best they are among my favorites. Secondary characters in the game are the assassins which include, Deathsroke, Bane, Fire Fly, Shiva, and Copper Head, while they are all very cool characters, my one gripe with it is that the assassins didn't get much screen time. The only one of them that did was Bane and while I like Bane, I like Deathstroke more and wish they had focused more attention on him. Overall Origins has a great cast of characters and really great voice acting, which is among the best in the series. Graphics: 8/10 Arkham Origins graphics are spectacular, much like Asylum and City Gotham City looks very real and yet looks like a fictional city at the same time. The character models are fantastic, but obviously there is a big difference between CGI cutscenes and in game cutscenes but that really isn't a big issue. Though I noticed that the lip synching for the ingame models are still very average, as they have been in all of the Arkham games, and while it is annoying it is not such a big issue that it subtracts from the overall experience. Gameplay: 8/10 The Arkham series is famous for its fast paced free flow combat system that started out great in Asylum and had some good improvements in City. Now there aren't any major changes to the gameplay of Origins, but really that's not a bad thing, the free flowing combat system stays very much intact and is every bit as fun to play as it has been in the last two games. I guess to put it simple, if it ain't broke don't fix it. Like in Arkham Asylum and City, the combat system is easy to play but hard to master, you attack with the square button and counter with the triangle button. Honestly when I first heard that that was all there was to the gameplay I was prepared to be disappointed, but the Arkham series CONTINUES to show that while the gameplay may be simple it is a blast to play.Now of course you wouldn't be Batman without loads of gadgets and Origins delivers, old favorites such as the explosive gel, the bat claw, and your trusty batarang is in the game. But there are a few new additions that I greatly enjoyed, first of all you get the remote grappling hook, which many people like to say it is exactly like the zip line from Arkham City, but I really don't see what they're talking about. The disruptor which can be used to jam enemies guns which will make it much easier should you get caught and above all my personal favorite. The Shock Gauntlets! These are a fantastic edition to the gameplay, you charge up the electric meter and when it is fully charged you activate them and you can just decimate everything in your path. Now some people will say that it makes the game an absolute breeze, but I wonder if those people played the game on hard mode, because I think near the end of the game would be extremely frustrating without them. One addition to the game that is greatly appreciated is fast travel, you can unlock certain areas of Gotham City to fast travel to using the Batwing. But of course this doesn't come without a price, you have to complete Enigma's challenges, which aren't that hard, to unlock the fast travel points. It definitely reminded me of Assassin's Creed IV's view points. Of course detective vision returns as well and is in my opinion a requirement to beat any of the Arkham games, that being said one thing that I found absolutely frustrating is that in certain rooms enemies will use a jammer to make detective vision completely useless. Now you can use your disruptor to stop the jammer, but only for a little while, and because your disruptor only has two shots for that area you can only stop it twice, if you can't take out the enemies with jammers before then, well tough luck. No detective vision for you! But back on topic, another major improvement from the other Arkham games are the boss fights. I enjoyed the boss fights from the others games, especially Mr. Freeze from Arkham City, but Origins greatly improves on the boss battles, each boss has more action and actual fighting to them then before. Now I'm sure some people will not like the action oriented boss fights, compared to some of the tactical boss fights from Arkham Asylum and City, but I thought they were very fun. Mainly because they feel like how a Batman fight would really happen, especially the boss fight against Deathstroke. Arkham Origins gameplay isn't much different from Arkham City, but as stated before that is not a bad thing. Origins is still really fun to play and if you liked the gameplay from Asylum and City then you will love Origins. I myself think this game was poorly criticized for being to much like the previous games, but Call of Duty gets 9's and 8's for staying true to "classic" Call of Duty gameplay. This is a classic example of not trusting everything that PROFESSIONAL reviewers say. Now the game does have some technical issues that are the reason it did not get a 9, one problem that drove me crazy was that during the CGI cutscenes the game would constantly freeze ever few seconds and then go back to playing the cutscene. Another being that there is one Enigma challenge where you can not leave the room unless you fast travel, and it took me a VERY long time to think about using fast travel. Now these glitches happened to me, maybe they will be no problem for you, but I thought I would point out what I encountered in my play through. Verdict: 4 out of 5 stars! Arkham Origins doesn't do much that is new, but it still manages to be my favorite in the Arkham Series. I found the younger Batman and Joker to be more enjoyable character then in Asylum and City, and the appearance of Deathstroke definitely helped. Now as stated the game has some technical flaws that prevent it from getting a higher score, though it may be different for everyone, you may not encounter a glitch in your playthrough, I don't know. Origins definitely lacks the polish of Arkham City, but don't think it is a terrible game because of that, if you can make it through some of the annoying glitches you'll have a blast with this game. So while Origins is not the best Arkham game it is my favorite of the trilogy.

"Arkham Asylum" and "Arkham City" are two of my very favorite games of last gen, from the way they amazingly encapsulate the iconic comic book hero, to the top-notch writing and voice-acting, to the terrifically fun predator and combat gameplay. Developed this time not by Rocksteady but by Warner Bros. Games Montreal, "Arkham Origins" isn't quite as good as the first two, but is in the same league, and delivers a meaningful, well-crafted storyline about Batman's (Roger Craig Smith) first run-in with the Joker (Troy Baker). The game takes place in the open-world environment of wintery Gotham City on Christmas Eve, where it's perpetual night and always snowing. Throughout you'll run into such villains as Black Mask, the Penguin, the Mad Hatter, Deathstroke, Bane and Shiva. Some of them I was unfamiliar with. Once the Joker is introduced, he steals the show. The city you get to glide around in and explore is just big enough and packed with tremendous detail, including numerous landmarks, Riddler challenges and side-quests. Story missions have you investigating the interiors of different locations around Gotham, like the Police Department and the GC Bank, and have hidden secrets to uncover once you've unlocked all your abilities. Predator and combat gameplay work about as well as it always has, though for some reason I found myself getting more frustrated here with the hand-to-hand combat than I did previously. (Maybe due to new enemy types?) "Origins" is not as polished as the previous games. It's also not the leap forward for the series that moving from the smaller, more intimate world of "Asylum" to the gigantic openness of "City" was. New is a kind of online multiplayer that combines third-person shooting with predator gameplay, but it comes off to me as arbitrary and unnecessary. I couldn't get into it. Multiplayer aside, this is a very good game that suffers only by comparison to two better games. --- 4.5 STARS ---

I contemplated giving this review 4 stars just to lower expectations a little bit, but the truth is I played this game probably 6 hours this weekend after opening it when I got home on Friday. This is a MUST-OWN for any Vita owner. If you liked the Scarecrow levels in Arkham Asylum then this game is for you, because it works in a very similar way except that you guide your experience much more than you could in the Scarecrow levels. What impresses me the most about this game is the way Armature transformed the side-scroller and gave it so much depth. There are a lot of "Wow, I can do this too??" moments throughout the game as the gameplay gets deeper and deeper. The combat is great as you would expect from the Arkham series. Maybe not as silky smooth as the PS3 version but not far off. The story is good so far (like I said, I'm just 6 hours in) and the motion comic cutscenes are really charming. The only gripe I could possibly throw out is that this game was obviously made to run on both the 3DS and the Vita, which can only hurt the Vita version. You hardly ever use the right stick (because the 3DS doesn't have one) and the touchscreen implementation is sometimes not used when you would expect it like on the map (because the 3DS uses capacitive touch and pinching to zoom in and out on that would be problematic). So outside of the Vita being a far superior system than the only other one that this game was released on, I love this game. I really think the Vita has the chops to run a game like Arkham Asylum but I'm grateful this game exists and I've had a lot of fun playing it.

Just started playing the game and all I can say is Awesome! The game is set more in the open world of Arkham City rather the Arkham Asylum as you're allowed more free roaming experience around the city then in a set area. The gampeplay controls are pretty much exactly like the previous two games meaning that you have the X or square button(Xbox 360/PS3 controller) for attacks or dive attacks if your on a higher area looking down at the enemies,Y or triangle for the counter attacks when you see the lightning bolt symbol above the enemies heads signalling that their about to attack you or to drop a smoke pellet if enemies or armed,the A or X button to jump or evade certain attacks, and B or the circle button to use Batman's cape to disorientate enemies rather then do the counter move. And of course when you're target with either the Batarang or Batclaw you use L2 or LT to target and R2 or RT to fire. The cross control pad allows you to access Batman's array of gadgets like the batclaw/batarang/explosive gel etc,etc. The LB or L1 allows you to enter detective mode to see certain aspects like enemies or clues and such just like the previous games. The graphics are topnotch a little better detailed then Arkham City though just by a little and the buildings around the city do indeed seem taller allowing you more range to scout and glide down and around the city. The A.I. for the enemies and villains seemed more adept too though again not by much from the previous games. The story so far shows it is before Arkham Asylum where Batman has apparently just started making a name for himself in Gotham so the bad guys still think of him as more a bogey man rather then the known crime fighter he is in Arkham Asylum/City. So if you played or have the previous two games I definitely say this one is a must have though it's not really necessary to have the previous games if you just started as this is a prequel to those games it's still a good choice to add those to your gaming library.

Very good works great still playing it

Pasando de lado que es un juego excelente, obligatorio para tener toda la saga, el precio muy bien para ser nuevo ya que lo perdí y solo lo encontraba usado por el mismo precio en otros lugares, el envío llegó 6 días antes de lo esperado. Muy buen vendedor!

Dato il prezzo mi aspettavo il gioco usato e in lingua inglese... invece audio e sottotitoli sono in italiano, il gioco è arrivato prima del previsto e sigillato... la confezione è in giapponese e inglese, ci sono dei codici da riscattare in inglese, sinceramente non li ho usati. il gioco è sullo stile degli altri batman, ha una durata abbastanza ragionevole, grazie alle missioni secondarie dato che la principale è piuttosto breve. resta comunque molto coinvolgente e vale la pena acquistarlo!

Estaba rayado y no funcionaba.

Also ich finde das ist ein super Spiel für den DS. Klar 2,5 Sicht aber soweit ganz cool. Ich lese sooft alles sähe gleich aus und das man sich deswegen verläuft...aber die Leute tun mir Leid wer hier findet das alles gleich aussieht, verlief sich warhscheinlich auch in dem allerersten Super Mario für den Gameboy. Also mehr Kopf und weniger Mimimi

those who won a Nintendo 2ds or 3DS should definitely go for this game graphics and everything a very good and for all the Batman fans this game is super Amazing