Batman: Arkham Origins Critic Reviews

A brilliant prequel story that retains the high standards of the series to date, Batman: Arkham Origins is a superlative third instalment that perfectly embodies the spirit of DC's darkest and most enduring hero. The Dark Knight rises once again, and he kicks ass.

Yes, it’s frustrating at times, but it sure as hell got our blood pumping. Plus, the animations look unbelievably organic — especially contextual finishers that incorporate the surrounding environment —and the sound effects give every hit a satisfying sense of bone-crunching devastation.

Warner Montréal proved to be fully capable of following in Rocksteady's footsteps, delivering a very entertaining game. If you were expecting a revolution in gameplay or setting you'll probably be disappointed, but despite that Batman: Arkham Origins is great fun and deserves to be played by any fan of the series.

Arkham Origins has a lot to live up to. I think it gets close but sadly not close enough. You still feel like Batman, but it’s missing... something. Perhaps Batman isn’t just a man with a bunch of extraordinary gadgets, maybe he needs that creepy weirdness as well.

The quality of the combat, the diversity of the dialogue from lead characters to two-bit crooks, and the sheer amount of things to do make this stretch of Gotham an enjoyable place to visit. Origins proves the Arkham formula is strong enough for another team to tamper with, but if the series wants to really break free of its restraints in the next generation, they’re going to have to teach this old bat even more new tricks.

Arkham Origins is a fantastic game, and one that is worthy of the Arkham legacy, but that being said, one can’t help but feel that WB Games Montreal played this one safe. They relied on the strength of Rocksteady’s rock-solid foundation, and simply applied new coats of paint and some extra decorations that weren’t there before.

Batman: Arkham Origins delivers more of what made Rocksteady's games great, but doesn't break new ground. Like a youthful Bruce Wayne, it isn’t as crafty, and it takes its dings during combat, but still puts on a hell of a show when it needs to. Once Joker steps into the spotlight, it becomes a hard game to put down.

Another strong Batman outing, but one left bruised by the Arkhams Asylum and City.

Arkham Origins is very fun to play and very easy to forget as soon as you're done. Kicking butt as Batman is still a joy and the Invisible Predator scenes are as excellent as ever, but the game's almost complete lack of surprises weighs the experience severely down.

Arkham Origins is a very good game that stands on its own and delivers the same excellent adventure, exceptionally timed fights, clever puzzle-solving, hauntingly beautiful graphics and characters as memorable its predecessors...However, there are a few areas where it doesn’t quite match Rocksteady’s lofty achievements, writing being the most noticeable shortfall.

It's not necessarily Batman's finest hour and doesn't move the series forward in any significant way, but it's likely to attract fans the same way that crime attracts Batman.

Arkham Origins is not a bad game, in fact, it is really well made. The problem is that it feels like a lateral move for the series.

It's a case of more of the same, but with such good source material this isn't a bad thing.

That it's so thoroughly entertaining despite being mostly identical to its predecessors speaks volumes about the quality of Rocksteady's original design, and of Warner Montreal's understanding of same.

Batman: Arkham Origins is a wonderful version of somebody else's game. While a return to the Arkham series is welcome – and if you take only one thing away from this review, it should be that Origins is a worthy entry – there's no denying that Warner Bros. Montreal has taken Rocksteady's tremendous template and crafted a similar experience.

It doesn't bring many new tricks to the table, but Origins is still thoroughly entertaining.

It may not be the best or most innovative game within the series, but it definitely feels like it fits with the two games made by Rocksteady Studios.

Can Batman: Arkham Origins be considered a failure? Definitely not, but it certainly is a game without a spark of genius. The developers have used previously constructed assets and prepared a well-crafted ending to the trilogy. It's not as good as Asylum or City, but fans shouldn't be disappointed. Origins is still a very good Batman game - not original, but extremely effective.

It’s really good. Just not, ironically enough, all that original...What ultimately keeps Arkham Origins from being as exceptional as its predecessor is the weight of the franchise itself. Origins has the disadvantage of being a prequel to a game that’s nearly impossible to top, by a new studio that understandably doesn’t want to drop the ball.

A good homage to Arkham Asylum and Arkham city. Forcefully derivative, but Warner Montreal can feel proud of releasing such a competent, focused and well-made sequel that captures the elements of the two previous games.