Great game but something feels off

I picked up Arkham Origins this weekend and based off reviews and opinions from Giant Bomb I was expecting a mediocre game at best . I'm just past the Copperhead boss fight and am surprised to find that Arkham Origins is actually quite good and does a bunch of stuff better than Asylum and City. Splash Damage does a good job mixing up the enemy types in the hand to hand scenarios, I love the new gadgets especially the Just Cause-like Grapel Gun thingy, I like how detective scenarios are handled, so far the boss fights are genuinely fun, unlocking moves by performing certain task is neat and gets me to try to change things up, and despite not having Hamil or Conroy the new guys are really good.

That's not to say this game isn't without faults like there seems to be a lack of Predator scenarios and the ones they have just aren't as fun as the ones in the last two games, the reused assets from City is lame, the Riddler stuff isn't as fun, the Batman villain selection is less than ideal with a lot of rehashes and third tier villains, the indoor environments aren't as good as City, thugs seem much more resilient and Batman seems weaker, and I'm not a big fan of what total dick Batman is in this game.

Anyway I can't describe it but despite being a very competent and enjoyable game it seems to lack that little je ne sais quoi that made the first two games so memorable. Maybe the Arkham formula has run its course or the story seems a little too formulaic even for Batman. I just can't place what it is about Origins that just feels off. Anyone else feel the same way about Origins? Ever feel that way about another game that was seemingly great?

Also if you feel you must use spoilers than go ahead but please mark them as such.

Picked this up for the PS3 (I could have just gotten it on PC but dat trophies) and a few hours in and really enjoying this. I played Arkham Asylum and didn't really like it and haven't played Arkham City yet so perhaps I'm getting a tainted experience. The music has been movie quality and absolutely incredible, story is pretty good so far. The set during Christmas setting is pretty darn awesome too. Definitely another collector fest that I don't care about radio towers, random things in a sector to pick up/destroy etc etc. Seemed like this went sort of unnoticed by most people. If anyone is lurking it's a great game and super cheap at this point.

@savagemanlove: Are you experiencing any problems with the PS3 version? I played it a few months ago and had several moments of slow down, stuttering, and just terrible frame rate.

Yeah I felt the same way about Origins. Arkham City is one of my favorite games of all time, and I really enjoyed Origins, but as the credits rolled I was surprised that it was over, and I thought it was pretty forgetful.

My biggest problem with Origins was the size of the city. I thought in Arkham City it was the perfect size, and was filled with a lot of side quests. In Origins, the city was so big that it made gliding to other parts feel like a chore, when it should be fun. This made me rely on the fast travel more, and I didn't see much of Gotham as I did in City. Also Gotham felt kind of empty, which I understand with the story and stuff. But somehow Gotham felt more crowded in City, even though it takes place in a walled off section of the city.

Damn, now I am probably going to reinstall City when I get home and play through it again.

@bartok said:

Splash Damage only worked on the multiplayer; the main game was developed by WB Montreal.

I had a number of issues with Origin: weird collision detection, random difficulty curve, objectives that failed to register, that didn't happened in City or Asylum. Overall, the game was decent but, as you said, it lacks that extra layer of polish that makes the previous games instant classics.

I have it on PC. I have a pretty hefty gaming rig and it looks and plays amazing. The only thing that felt off to me is that the world just felt dead and empty compared to the other 2 games. At times when moving around the city it feels like you are in some sort of empty tutorial world. How the story plays out seems a bit bland too but its not bad.. Other then that its a great game. The first 2 were better for sure.

Also Iron Galaxy was deep in the ending credits, doing something, along with 3 other studios. It was a modern video game development.

@crithon said:

IG probably had a hand in the PlayStation version, since Unreal on PS3 seems to be their wheelhouse.

It's not a leap forward, like the last two games. Arkham Knight looks like a leap forward.

You can really tell Origins was a throwaway cash-in. Competent but nothing special at all, besides the awesome writing.

Yeah, the names of the studios at the end was just... Yowza. It was hard to keep up. You could tell everyone was on board for this game because its just so mediocer. Considering this game sold poor, poor compared to Arkham City but still a good sales, I was wondering if this would be like CoD? "this year it's done by this developer, next year the other developer. And so on and so on." The delay on Arkham Knight and the Assault on Arkham animated film doesn't give me that impression.

I finished it this earlier this year and agree. Its a solid game with some good levels and play, but it never builds anything as a starting point for Batman. Thats ultimately its weakest point and also knowing, as with any superhero origin story, you will live to fight another day.

Arkham Origins is straight up a bad video game but I can't play Arkham City's campaign anymore after having played this one. Oh sure I'll have a bunch of fun revisiting the challenge maps in City but I cannot manage to care about the story in City and by extension have no interest in the story of Arkham Knight. I feel like minus the Mr. Freeze fight City's bosses ruin the campaign on repeats when compared to almost all of Origins' even though the core mechanics are better in City. Poor bosses weren't that big an issue for the campaign in Asylum I feel due to the structure of the campaign being a good enough draw.

I agree 3 month old thread. I played it and it wasn't as bad as I was told. Although, I thought the story (the writing- where exactly is the origin in this origin story?) was terrible and the new Joker voice was super awful. As a game, though, it was a pleasant experience.

I should say, too, it's my understanding that on release it had a ton of really bad bugs. I guess they're fixed now. I remember a friend of mine rage quitting the game because of them- or at least that's what he told me.

You are 100% right about SOMETHING feeling off but not quite being able to place what.

Moves didn't seem QUITE as responsive nor impactful. That's the best way I can describe it...I actually even really enjoyed the Deathstroke fight. It made you think about your moves and counters because his timing was SLIGHTLY (intentionally) off from almost everyone else's in the game. Actually made him feel like a unique fighter.

Funny that people are talking about this now just popped it in after a several month hiatus from games. It's ok but I'm not feeling as interested in the city this time around. Last couple of times felt more like exploring and seeing random side things. So far in this one I am just going from story to story which isn't bad but it isn't hitting me in the same way anymore.

@finaldasa: Yeah the PS3 version definitely gets wonky and framey in spots. For the most part it has seemed ok but there are spots where it just randomly seems to dip into low frame rates etc. Haven't had anything crash or break really other than one spot where Batman kept saying "I need to get the access code before I can get through the door" or something like that every few minutes even after I passed the door, but a quit and restart fixed that. After playing PS4 and stuff it has definitely been a little jarring to play a last gen system/game. I'm kind of secretly hoping they do a "trilogy" of sorts for the new consoles.