Batman: Arkham Origins: A face punching simulator
Batman: Arkham Origins is an action adventure game in which the player glides around the city of Gotham and stops crimes by repeatedly punching dudes in the face. It is the third main game in the Batman Arkham series, and is the weakest out of the three. That isn't to say that the game isn't fun, but just that it has issues that the user should be aware of before they decide to play it or not.
The biggest issue with this game, is the fact that while it is a Batman game, it doesn't feel like you are playing Batman. This complaint is very subjective (as are reviews as a whole, but this one is especially notable) since it depends on what your view of Batman is. My impression of Batman is that he is some kind of high tech, ninja like, super detective that wants to help people by using fear to deter criminals from doing crime. And this game does not have Batman acting out this role. While the game has a lot of gadgets, and some super basic detective parts (these parts are more or less find the red triangle, scan the red triangle, repeat until done) for the most part you'll find yourself just jumping into groups of enemies over and over again in order to advance the plot. And this is very un-Batman like. My favorite parts of this game (and of the series) are the stealth segments. It is during these segments that the game feel like you are playing Batman, since you are outwitting your opponents, sneaking around, and using your arsenal of gadgets to your advantage. Sadly these parts are few, and most of the time you are just charging head first into groups of enemies in arena like environments.
The other big issue with this game is the story. The game is a prequel that takes place before Arkham Asylum (the first game in the series) and is suppose to setup the events for the series. However, the game's story feels like it is just repeating story elements from the other game's in the series, and not adding anything new or worthwhile. Usually when I play an open world game, I try to do all the unique story elements in order to see as much as the game as possible (am kind of OCD about it, but not about extra stuff like collecting items). However, with Batman: Arkham Origins, I ended up skipping/missing a few major villain fights, and not caring. And I think that speaks a lot towards to the problem I have with this game's story since I didn't feel the need to see all of it.
In the end, I did have fun playing this game, which I know seems odd since I spent most of this review complaining about it. It just that while I had fun with this game, I never felt like I was playing a Batman game, or that this game was something special that needed to be experienced. If you can get this game on sale for cheap, and have some free time, then I would suggest you go for it, otherwise, you can just ignore this game, since you aren't missing out on anything significant.
