Batman: Arkham Origins
Batman: Arkham Origins is a prequel to Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City. Arkham Origins was released October 25, 2013 for the PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii U. This title will not be appearing on the Xbox One or the Playstation 4.
As the title suggests, Batman: Arkham Origins takes place long before both of the existing Arkham titles, when a young and inexperienced Batman will encounter many villains for the first time. Arkham Origins follows Batman through a variety of familiar locales throughout Gotham City.
Characters
Batman: Arkham Origins includes a large cast of Characters.
Does he need any introduction? Batman, aka Bruce Wayne, is the protagonist of the Batman: Arkham Series and will return to kick some more supervillain backside in Arkham Origins.
Since the game is confirmed to take place in a currently unspecified time frame (all we know is it's before the events of Arkham Asylum and Batman is much younger), the title will focus on Batman's first encounter with a band of supervillains who are out for his blood.
For the first time in the Arkham series Batman will not be voiced by longtime Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy, instead The caped crusader will be voiced by Roger Craig Smith.
Robin, the Boy Wonder (Dick Grayson) appears as a playable character in the online multiplayer modes. As there will be no multiplayer on Wii U, there is no confirmation that Robin will be playable on the console.
Jim Gordon is a Gotham City Police Captain in Batman: Arkham Origins.
Gordon begins the game as an adversary of Batman, though he hopes to capture the Caped Crusader rather than to kill him.
Along with Bane, Joker is the leader of one of the two playable gangs in the Multiplayer game modes. Players can let the Joker in the match via point streaks, and even play as the character, as was shown in footage of the Multiplayer Beta.
As seen in the E3 demo, it doesn't seem that he intends to kill Batman, as he is just threatening to bomb buildings throughout the night.
In Arkham Origins, the Joker will be voiced by Troy Baker.
Oswald Cobblepot, better known as The Penguin, is shown to be a returning villain in Arkham Origins.
His appearance is very similar to how he looked in Arkham City, though the game does take place before the bar brawl that took his left eye.
Nolan North has also been confirmed to reprise his role as The Penguin from Arkham City.
Gadgets
In Batman: Arkham Origins, the Caped Crusader supplements his intellect and training with an arsenal of non-lethal weapons and utility-belt gadgets.
Though many sequences in Batman require fistacuffs, some puzzles can only be solved through gadgets. Additionally, Batman’s distance weapons can soften up a group of enemies and equalize an otherwise dangerous melee encounter.
Batman's newest weapon is easily his most effective. While not an instant "I win" button, the Shock Gloves are ridiculously effective, breaking through all defenses and allowing Batman to attack previously unblockable foes. Shock Gloves begin an encounter disarmed and charge as your combos progress, and reach an activation combat after you land several blows. Once switched on, they deal tremendous damage, damaging even bosses with relative ease.
As a secondary function, Shock Gloves can charge capacitors to activate some machines.
Batarangs are stunning shuriken employed by the Batman. Batarangs do very little damage on their own, but knock many enemies to the ground where they are vulnerable to takedown.
Batarangs are also useful for hitting switches from a distance. In sufficient quantity they can incapacitate single foes.
Remote Controlled Batarang
The Remote Controlled Batarang is mostly a puzzle-solving tool. Thrown through an electrical field, it can short out fuse boxes, opening doors. Its controls are aircraft style, operating inverted.
Gas Pellets render your foes blind for a few seconds. Thrown next to a foe, they allow Batman to attack with Detective Vision with little chance of being counter-attacked. Thrown next to Batman, they protect him from gunfire for a short time.
Gas Pellets disperse after a few seconds of use.
The Batclaw allows Batman to climb to high ledges and swing between Vantage Points. The Batclaw also allows the user to attack single enemies, slamming them into hard objects. The rope can also be used to tear Vents from walls. Additionally, the Batclaw can help Batman direct any raft he is standing on by grappling and pulling toward the desired grapple point.
When upgraded, the Batclaw can also disarm opponents.
Challenges
Batman: Arkham Origins includes three types of special Challenges: Combat Training, Combat Challenges, and Predator Challenges.
The goal in challenge mode is to earn all 288 medals. You can play the same challenge in different modes (Ranked, Campaign, Custom) to earn new medals. The requirements will always be the same for each map, no matter what mode you are playing.
Beat the story and play through campaign challenge mode (which is a mix of combat and predator) to unlock all 24 challenge maps.
As the name suggests, these are just some basic training episodes that introduce you to the fighting system of Arkham Origins. There are 12 of them in total.
All of these challenges are very easy. To unlock all of them you need to buy upgrades for Batman in story mode.
There are 12 different Combat Challenge Maps. You can play them in different challenge modes and add modifiers, but the requirements will always be the same. You just need to reach a certain point threshold by the end of the fourth round. You get points for every attack and counter you perform.
The most important thing is your multiplier. There's a very easy trick to avoid being hit. Land one standard strike, then jump over an enemy and repeat. None of the enemies will be able to hit you if you are jumping quick enough. It takes a little longer than countering and fighting the normal way, but it's much safer and easier to do. If you have already unlocked the Shock Gloves you should activate them to get a x2 multiplier with each hit.
Always kill the last 2-3 enemies with a ground pound finisher at the end of each round. If you manage to keep your multiplier going, you will get massive points for performing a ground pound. You can use the ultra cape stun against the last few enemies to knock them out for a while. Gives you more than enough time to perform a ground pound on an enemy.
The best combo finisher to farm points is the batswarm. It will hit and confuse all surrounding enemies without causing damage. Doing this in large groups of enemies, while having a x50 multiplier or higher, will give you insane points.
There are 12 different Predator Challenge Maps. You can play them in different challenge modes and add modifiers, but the requirements will always be the same. Challenges automatically become available when playing through the story. To unlock the six extreme versions you need to beat campaign challenges. Certain abilities and gadgets are needed for some of the medals, so it's highly recommended to complete the story first and buy all of Batman's upgrades.