I wanted to talk about this when Christmas was closer because it is in fact a Christmas game, but I think holidays are holidays. So I saw the trailer and was blown away but the cinematic sharpness and come on, watching Batman and Deathstroke face off only to interrupted by Deadshot was amazing. So what happened?..
It’s Xmas Eve in Gotham. Batman is relatively fresh being a vigilante only pumping out a year or two at this point. Most of the police are corrupt as hell and a spunky Detective named Jim Gordon wants to take Batman down as well as the other trash in Gotham. The cruel gangster Roman Sionis, aka Black Mask, is fed up with Batman and decides to deliver an enticing offer to eight assassins to have Batman dead by Xmas morning and the killer will have a shit load of cash. These assassins are Killer Croc, Deadshot, Deathstroke, Firefly, Copperhead, Shiva, Electrocuitoner, and Bane. I loved it so far until one question popped up, and after that I groaned…”Who’s the Joker?” Yep, this entire game boils down to the first time Batman and Joker met, oh and the first time Bane used super roids.
For the most part, Origin feels like a glitchier version of Arkham City with a Xmas skin on it. Without internet, this thing kept freezing more than my experience with the trilogy combined. Not to say there isn’t fun. Fighting is just as fun and many of the boss battles are fun to play. Deathstroke steals the show as probably the best Arkham boss fight to date, followed closely with Firefly. The story isn’t bad on a whole but it becomes apparent a lot of the Dark Knight trilogy found its way into this thing: Joker’s face has been cut, Bane looks and speaks like Tom Hardy’s version, and Batman growls when he talks. Ugh, Batman pissed me off in this game. He ends up being a selfish, know-it-all asshole most of the game; Conroy doesn’t do the voice either, nor did Hamil return as Joker. Baker does a fair shot at Joker, I give him that. I’d say if you loved City, Origins is worth a single playthrough but not much further than that. I ain’t going to trash it but I won’t count it among the trilogy. Best wishes everyone and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Savior Gaming 
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