Batman: Arkham Origins revealed, release date Oct 25, 2013 for PS3, Xb360, Wii-U and PC

[Earthquake24]

Prequel to Arkham Asylum and Arkham City. RockSteady isn't working on this one, instead it'll be Warner Bros. Game Montreal. A handheld Arkham game will also be released the same day as Origins, Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate.


http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2013/04/09/may-cover-revealed-batman-arkham-origins.aspx

May Cover Revealed: Batman: Arkham Origins
cover reveal by Bryan Vore on April 09, 2013 at 09:45 AM

Warner Bros. Games Montreal has taken the mantle of the bat from Rocksteady Studios this time around for Batman: Arkham Origins. WB Montreal has full access to Rocksteady's custom modified Unreal engine to capture the look and feel of the Arkhamverse. As the title suggests, the game takes place years before both of the previous Arkham titles when a young, unrefined Batman encounters many supervillains for the first time. On our full cover image below, fans will recognize the assassin Deathstroke, who appears for the very first time in a core Arkham game.

Heading up the vision for Arkham Origins is creative director Eric Holmes, known for being the lead designer of open world action hits The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction and Prototype. A self-professed lover of comics, Holmes even wrote the miniseries Transformers: Megatron Origin for IDW.

Gamers won't have to wait long to experience Batman's lastest adventure. Batman: Arkham Origins releases October 25, 2013 on Wii U, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and PC.



But that's not all. We also have a feature on the first handheld Arkham game, Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate. Releasing on 3DS and Vita the same day as the home console version, Blackgate is a completely separate experience that takes place after the events of Arkham Origins. Armature Studio is developing the 2.5-D Metroid-style exploration action game. Industry followers will recognize Armature Studio as the company founded by several of the leads from the Metroid Prime trilogy.

Story

- Takes place on Christmas Eve
- Years before the previous two games
- Mob boss Black Mask will give a fortune for Batman’s head
- Top assassins and supervillains from the DC Comics universe are out to get Batman
- Cops on the take from the mob join the manhunt as well
- Batman needs to outsmart his enemies, find out why Black Mask wants him dead, and prove to what good cops that he’s on their side


General

- Porting Arkham City to Wii U let the team get familiar with Unreal 3
- Doing a prequel lets the team carve a unique territory if Rocksteady were to move the Arkham timeline ahead down the road
- Rocksteady’s project is tightly under wraps
- Younger Batman also “gives us the opportunity to refresh things a bit”
- Combat system still in place
- Will have “new layers, new opportunities, and new tactics”
- New enemy types
- Batman not as finely honed as in the previous games
- Won’t control the Batwing directly
- Batwing will figure into story sequences and acts as a universe-appropriate form of fast travel
- Has the traditional predator mode in which players swing from perch to perch, glide kick, string guys upside-down, etc.
- New remote claw that is like the grappler in Just Cause 2
- Batman targets two objects and fires out a claw
- This hooks into the first object and launches another claw and rope to the second object
- Can then pull the two objects together
- Use this to knock enemies together, slam heavy objects into foes, string objects or people under a perch
- Can string up an explosive barrel under a perch, lure enemies with a sonic batarang, then cut the rope with a normal batarang, dropping the explosive on their heads
- Team knows Black Mask isn’t the most popular villain
- Old Gotham is only half of the game world
- Another new entire area is across the bridge called New Gotham
- New Gotham is classier and has much taller skyscrapers
- New zone doubles the size of the game world
- Players can dismantle the hacked tower network
- Towers emit a jamming signal that prevents the Batwing from flying into the area, meaning no fast travel
- It also halts Batman’s sensors from placing points of interest on the map
- Taking down the towers are varied and require all of Batman’s navigation, puzzle solving, and combat skills
- Some can be taken down quickly, others must be returned to later with an upgrade
- “Crime in Progress”: ex – saving some cops from a group of thugs, rescuing a snitch from being tossed off a roof
- Activities give Batman a chance for experience point bonuses
- Completing side quests also contributes to the GCPD’s understanding and appreciation of Batman
- They will begin to know Batman and which side he stands on based on how much you take on the optional missions
- Most Wanted system gives players a chance to go after villains outside of the core storyline
- These optional side missions can be tackled when you discover them
- Many optional missions offer upgrades
- Batman’s butler Alfred may notice that he had a tough time in that situation and give him a new gadget
- Dark Knight system is slightly more behind the scenes, though it’s still important
- Dark Knight system provides a lengthy string of tasks that slowly goes up in difficulty as the game progresses
- The team wants to avoid boring tutorials while still training players to be masters of predator and combat systems
- Complete a certain number of counters or silent takedowns to receive XP rewards or a specific upgrade
- Dark Knight system doesn’t replace challenge mode
- Team wants to make challenges more meaningful

Game demo

- Takes place about an hour into the game
- Batman is perched above Jezebel plaza
- Black Mask’s assassins have stirred up the local thugs
- No towering walls keeping villains in check and many citizens call Arkham City home since there isn’t a prison
- Amusement Mile hasn’t been flooded
- Batman is looking to find out why Black Mask is trying to kill him
- Batman decides to go to the party to track down Penguin, who hears about everything
- Eventually, Penguin gives some intel on a murder at Lacey Towers
- Claw grips Batman’s ankle and drags him out of the room before he can finish his questioning
- Batman reaches for the door, but his arm is stomped by a mysterious figure
- Batman ends up suspended upside-down from the rafters
- Deathstroke circles Batman with a drawn sword
- Batman blocks and disarms Deathstroke, using the sword to cut himself free
- Thanks to Penguin’s tip, Batman goes to Lacey Towers
- The cops say it’s a double homicide
- One victim is supposedly Black Mask
- Inside the apartment, Batman sees Black Mask’s girlfriend strung up on a chandelier
- Black Mask’s assumed body is laying face up across the room
- Batman goes into first-person detective vision to examine the situation

 

[ViolentStorm]

Arkham asylum and Arkham city were both fantastic games and I hope this is just as good as the other two but seeing as Rocksteady are not developing it is a setback.

 

[Taiso]

Releases on my birthday. Nice!

Conceptually, it sounds solid. Hope it's great!

 

[Renmauzo]

I'm worried, but cautiously optimistic. Not having Rocksteady make the game had me concerned, but having Eric Holmes at the helm (let's be realistic here, TIH and Prototype aren't great games) takes that concern up a notch. On the plus side, the concept and story from what the describe so far seems pretty interesting, and the Christmas Eve setting in Gotham gives it a haunting feel. The last 2 games were incredible, so I really am hoping for the best!

 

[da66en]

No Rocksteady. No Mark Hammil.

Maybe I got a bad ending, but didn't AC end on a cliffhanger? If so, why a prequel?

Wii U version: good!

 

[genjiglove]

They explain why it's a prequel in the article.

 

[Earthquake24]

Here are the details for the handheld Batman title, Arkham Origins Blackgate. I might actually be more excited for this right now than the mainline game, at least until we get some more details and footage:

- Warner Bros. wanted to have a 2.5D-style Arkham game in the style of Metroidvania
- The company chose Armature because the studio was familiar with that style of game
- Takes place after the end of Origins
- Set on the isolated island at the Blackgate Penitentiary
- Prison uprising has occurred
- Intro level in Gotham
- Batman goes to Blackgate in order to put a stop to the riot
- 2D animatics with full voices tell the story
- Batman moves through a side-scrolling game world
- He’ll pick up near gear and take on enemies along the way
- Interconnected passages and prison secrets
- Not focused on leveling up abilities like the console games
- Instead, it stays true to the subgenre’s formula
- All of Batman’s improvements came through gear pick-ups and upgrades
- Team wanted to give players more of a sense of collection
- Mostly set along a 2D plane
- Takes full advantage of the visual three-dimensionality of the environments
- Explore, fight, and interact with the foreground and background
- Can grapple up to gargoyles on a background balcony while a crowd of armed inmates pass by
- Enemies will go after Batman from all angles
- Go to the foreground or background to tackle a designed foe
- Combat similar to the console Batman games
- Button taps to attack, counter, and use gear are in place
- Freeflow combat system
- Built from the ground up
- Batarang: stun enemies or hit distant objects
- Line launcher: cross wide gaps
- Explosive gel variation: shoot from a launcher onto spots around the screen
- This lets you get involved with entertaining takedowns such as dropping a chandelier on enemies from above
- More gadgets will also be in the game
- Has a version of the predator mode
- Game has a few more layers of feedback
- Ex: can see the sightlines of enemies
- This lets you know if enemies can see you or not
- Same kind of vantage points, floor grates, silent takedowns, glide kicks, weapon use, and breakable walls as in the console games
- Game is split into various sections
- Each can be accessed once you figure out a way inside
- No save rooms
- Modern checkpoint system
- Can manually save whenever you desire
- Can defeat the bosses in any order if you find out where you want to go
- “We don’t want you to break the game, but if you can exploit it in a certain way that we haven’t thought of, that’s awesome. So it’s conceivable the players will have abilities that don’t necessarily jibe that great with the boss. We’ve taken some cues from other games where if you have a particular item against a boss, you’ll just rip them a new one, but we don’t tell you what that item is”
- Will have detective mode
- Tap a button and the screen fades into a digitized overlay with detailed info
- Green enemies: enemies haven’t seen you
- Red enemies: enemies are onto your location
- Move a reticle around the screen to focus Batman’s attention
- Can use this to uncover secrets
- Uncover clues and analyze dangerous situations in detective mode

 

[genjiglove]

That game sounds pretty cool.

 

[SouthtownKid]

I'll wait for reviews. A whole new team means a whole new set of teething problems minus a bunch of lessons learned. That is a formula for disappointment. I wonder what made WB feel like mucking with success? That's what I would love to see covered in one of these interviews.

 

[Moon Jump]

I'm with STK. Going to wait on the reviews before I dive into this. Not having Rocksteady at the helm makes me leery. From what it sounds like the new team knows what made the games great. I worry that their trying to add in more stuff that's not really needed. The combat was perfect and I don't see why they need even more gadgets. And yes, not having Mark Hammil as the Joker's going to suck. But I did like the way John DiMaggio did the Joker in Under The Red Hood. I like the idea with Black Mask trying to hire DC bounty hunters...Could we see The Main Man in this?

 

[MilkManX]

I am optimistic. They have the 2 games to build on and I am sure it will be similar but with its own sensibility. Will wait to see more.

 

[SouthtownKid]

I am optimistic. They have the 2 games to build on

That's how I would feel if it was any of the same people building. But it sounds like an all-new team who were basically just handed the engine and told, "Good luck. Hope you can make something with it." I doubt Rocksteady is trembling by the phone waiting to answer questions for the new developers.

 

[Eric]

I'll wait for reviews. A whole new team means a whole new set of teething problems minus a bunch of lessons learned. That is a formula for disappointment. I wonder what made WB feel like mucking with success? That's what I would love to see covered in one of these interviews.

I take it as a hopeful sign that Rocksteady is working on a new IP or franchise. I can take a throwaway game (while hoping it turns out good) if it means they can try new things in the meantime.

Or maybe WB has decided to run this series into the ground like Ubisoft is doing with Assassin's Creed.

PS: I actually did like the first Prototype game. I'd be the first to admit that it wasn't a great game like the Arkhams, but it's not like Rocksteady's first game was a huge success.

 

[SouthtownKid]

Or maybe WB has decided to run this series into the ground like Ubisoft is doing with Assassin's Creed.

I think that is the most likely scenario. WB realize they've built up enough steam with two great games that they can continue for a while purely on momentum. That people now will continue to pick up further games on the strength of the name alone, so they can cut costs and bring development in-house.

 

[Magician]

So this arrived today. Is anyone playing it? Online reviews are positive, although the census seems to be that this is the weakest entry in the series. But considering the previous two games were GotY candidates I suppose that's not such a terrible thing.

I'll check it out as soon as there's a price drop next year.

 

[Normdog]

Final (Launch) Trailer

 

[evil wasabi]

It looks so good. Makes me sad I don't have a PS3 or anything to play it with.

 

[Magician]

Looks like the Wii U version is $10 cheaper.

Hmm, I wonder why...

Edit: ah, the Wii U version doesn't have multiplayer.

 

[CORY]

Looks like the Wii U version is $10 cheaper.

Hmm, I wonder why...

No online mode iirc.

 

[Taiso]

Looks like the Wii U version is $10 cheaper.

Hmm, I wonder why...

Edit: ah, the Wii U version doesn't have multiplayer.

And no great loss, either.

 

[scrubsy]

I have to say I am really disappointed already. I am about 5 hours into it and it feels rushed and sloppy. While all the same mechanics are there, they feel off. Countering has different timing than the other games and it has gotten me killed more than once. My game has glitched about 3 times already and one of those froze the game so I had to reset the system. This is coming from a huge fan of the first two games, but as of right now I only give it a 5/10. I will say I do like the new crime scene recreations and the new remote claw weapon.

edit: And one minor change they made that has really messed up my playthrough is they switched detective mode and quick gadget buttons around so now detective is L1 & the gadgets are used with L2. Such a minor change, but damn is it throwing me off my game.

 

[Moon Jump]

I played the E3 build of the 3DS version at NYCC and I thought it was alright. It was pretty straightforward. Chase Catwoman, fight off thugs, chase Catwoman again, fight thugs. The rep told me the final game would be more open like the last game and they improved the combat. I just laugh at how people are shelling out big bucks for the collectors edition. With this one since it's not from Rocksteady and after seeing some impressions like Scrub's above I'm going to sit back and wait. Considering how the last two games had GOTY editions that came out a few months later with all the added DLC and 25 dollars cheaper I'll just go back and finish one of my other games in my backlog before digging into this.

 

[Force]

 

[evil wasabi]

so I feel like I'm not missing out now.

 

[Magician]

PS3 version is suffering some serious framerate issues.