4) Batman: Arkham Origins
Developer: Warner Bros. Montreal
Genre: Third-Person Survival Horror
Available For: PS3, Xbox 360, PC & Wii U (Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate will be available for the Playstation Vita and 3DS concurrently)
Release Date: 25th October 2013
After delivering two excellent games in Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City, the development team at Rocksteady have passed along the winged mantle to Warner Bros. Montreal for Batman: Arkham Origins. Just like the title suggests, the third entry in the series is a prequel of sorts and will focus on the caped crusader during his preliminary days as a vigilante. The studio have promised a raw yet faithful rendition of Gotham’s dark knight and have announced their intention to draft in several villainous stalwarts for the game’s narrative.
In terms of story, Batman: Arkham Origins will be set against the festive period. As Christmas Eve descends on the streets of Gotham, Black Mask places a bounty on Batman’s head peaking interest from eight deadly assassins – including Deathstroke and Deadshot, which the studio recently confirmed. Though we haven’t witnessed any gameplay from Origins, it’d be safe to assume that Warner Bros. Montreal will build upon the core fighting mechanics that made the first two games so much fun to play, while tweaking the system here and there for increased realism. We do know that the garden variety enemies will have the ability to counter attacks in the game, which will lend credence to the immature feel of controlling a younger, wet behind the ears Batman.
Behind the scenes, however, the ongoing saga of Kevin Conroy remains rather ambivalent. At one stage he was ruled out of the game and then let slip that he has in fact voice acted as Batman and was simply abiding a NDR. However, with Roger Craig Smith voicing the younger Bats in Origins and Troy Baker replacing Mark Hamill as The Joker, how Conroy will fit into this prior universe remains to be seen. Perhaps Rocksteady are focusing on a next-gen title with Conroy and Arkham Origins is acting as a generational stop-gap in a similar vein to God of War: Ascension and Gears of War: Judgement. Unfortunately, that’s a question we’ll just have to stick a pin in until next week.
What we want to know:
- Will players face each villain sequentially or in a random order?
- Does Warner Bros. Montreal plan to implement a multiplayer component?
E3 2013 Hype-O-Meter: 8/10
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