Last chance to earn those Achievements

WB is closing down the multiplayer side of Batman: Arkham Origins on December 4, 2016.

It's strange to learn that a game had a multiplayer mode by way of an announcement about said mode's fast-approaching closure, but that's exactly the situation I'm in here. Either I never knew about it, or I just plain forget (surely the latter). Here's how Jim described it in his review of Origins:

"Essentially a mediocre third-person cover shooter with Batman shoehorned into it, Arkham Origins Online pits thre??e of Bane's thugs against three of Joker's goons, with two other players taking on the roles of the Dark Knight and Robin. It's a three-on-three battle, with the rival gangs capturing territory and shooting each other, while the superheroes use gadgets and predatory stealth to take them out. [...] It's almost as if the whole thing was cobbled together quickly to satisfy some advertising department goons, so much so that I'm pretty sure that's what happened."

All that said, and as someone who was way into BioShock 2's competitive multiplayer mode which some folks similarly found to be tacked-on given the series' story-driven roots, I'm sure that Origins' multiplayer mode had its fans -- just not enough? for WB to justify the upkeep any longer. The company has assured that the single-player campaign "may still be played and enjoyed offline."

Batman: Arkham Origins Online Services [WB Games]

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Another Harley Quinn romance

Batman: Assault on Arkham is an upcoming direct-to-video animated film that serves as the direct sequel to Batman: Arkham Origins. Expect more not-so-zany adventures with the Riddler and Joker and the ??debut of the?? Suicide Squad!

Also, a host of veteran voice actors promise to make this another great Batman animated feature. You know, aside from the animated series, which is the standard by which you should hold all Batman animation. 

Batman: Assault on Arkham will be released July 25 via special viewing at San?? Diego Comic Con, but for the rest of us we'll have to wait until July 29 for a digital c?opy and August 12 for a physical copy. You've only got a few more days to go until you can check? it out yourself if you're attending SD??CC!

Batman: Assault on Arkham - opening scene [GoNintendo]

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Cold, Cold Heart DLC out on April 22

DC All Access is showing off what we can expect out of the Batman: Arkham Origins "Cold, Cold Heart" downloadable content, and it looks like DC is taking a page out of Iron Man's playbook. To deal with Mr. Freeze, Batman will equip a suit that wi??ll help him take on all things ice-y.

There will be civilians you need to save frozen in ice, some enemies will use ice guns, and they're all messing up Bruce Way?ne's mansion. The video als?o teases that Mr. Freeze is working with another major crime lord of Gotham.

The Cold, Cold Heart DLC will be out on April 22 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. The Wii U gets NOTHING. Also I think the voice actor for Mr. Freeze is the guy who voiced Brain from Pinky and the Brain.

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Out now on PS3, Xbox 360, and PC

I'm not currently playing Batman: Arkham Origins' multiplayer. Are you? Are your friends?

WB Games has release a new mode for the game, and I hope someone's out there enjoying it. "Hunter, Hunted" is a free addition on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 in which three Joker thugs, three Bane thug??s, and Batman try to outlast each other with no respawns.

As appealing as it is to play as the Caped Crusade?r, man, talk about pressure. Glad to see this mode arrive in a free update so as to avoid splitting up the player base.

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It's out tomorrow

As you may have heard, Batman: Arkham Origins is getting psuedo-story related DLC. It'll hit the PS3, 360, PC and Wii U tomorrow, and will focus on Bruce Wayne's? pre-Batman training. You'll net a new mini challenge oriented campaign for your troubles (over four new maps), and two skins -- both Bruce Wayne related.

The challenges take place in the Paektu-San Mountains of North Korea, and will ?take you through a bambo??o forest and a monastery. If you already bought the Season Pass, you can just pick this up tomorrow.

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It's ninja related

Batman: Arkham Origins is no stranger to DLC, and alongside of the lackluster Season Pass comes the announcement of the first story related add-on. I use the word "story" lightly, as the game is actually a challenge map pack with a narrative built into it. It'll follow Bruce Wayne's trials to become a ninja, while still keeping the challenge arena theme -- so think Batman Begins.

More ancillary DLC has launched today, including the Infinite Earth Skins Pack (with six new costumes for $4.99 on PC, PS3 and 360, and $3.99 on Wii U), the Black Mask Challenge pack ($1.99), and Online Supply Drop #1 ($2.99). Some of this is Season Pass related -- some isn't, so check the listing first before you buy anything.

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Where's WayneTech when you really need it?

I'm in no rush to play Batman: Arkham Origins, especially after hearing about the frustrating technical issues some players are encountering. WB Games has reached out to affected players and set up what's in the immediate pipeline. An update which addresses three major problems -- infinite falling/falling out of the world, the inability to "continue" the story, and FreeFlow ?Focus mode not unlocking properly -- is e??xpected to go out "within the next week."

The team is working to fix corrupted saves and crashing/freezing on Xbox 360 in a future update. "We believe we know what is causing these issues and need a few more days to validate before pushing this patch through," wrote WB Games. For what it's worth, some players have been able to avoid freezes by playing Arkham Origins offline. What a mess.

Updates on Major Fixes [WB Games]

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Defective Vision

Batman: Arkham Origins had to endure a lot of cynicism from the peanut gallery as it rushed headlong from sudden announcement to pre-Christmas release. It's hardly surprising, too -- after the Arkham series earned h?igh critical acclaim, the third installment appe??ared to be little more than a hollow cash-in.

It was set to be a contentious prequel, Warner Bros. announced downloadable content in tandem with the reveal of the full game, a pointless multiplayer mode was added, and it had switched developers from the beloved Rocksteady to the less lauded Warner Bros. Games Montréal and Splash Damage. Most people had come to expect little more than a stopgap release -- a bit of filler, made to scrape a quick buck off the Arkham name simply because that's what could be done.

Guess what. Arkham Origins is exactly what most people expected?. Except slightly worse.

Batman: Arkham Origins (PC, PS3, Wii U, Xbox 360 [reviewed])
Developer: Warner Bros. Games Montréal / Splash Damage
Publisher: Warner Bros.
Released: October 25, 2013
MSRP: $59.99

Arkham Origins is, as the name implies, a story set before the events of Arkham Asylum and Arkham City, featuring a younger and more hotheaded Batman as he def?ends himself against assassins hired by Black Mask. They have one night to "kill the Bat," though things grow significantly more complicated when Batman has his first ever encounter with The Joker and, conveniently, a load of other supervillains who also have never faced Batman before now.

The problem with prequels rears its ugly head. Just as the Star Wars prequels awkwardly shoehorned chance encounters with previously established characters, we're supposed to believe that Batman met not only the Joker, but Bane, Deathstroke, Mad Hatter, Killer Croc, and a whole bunch of other Gotham City antagonists in a single night. It could only have been a couple of years ago, too, if the environment and visible technology are anything to go by. This is despite everyone looking at least a dec??ade younger.

One of the real thrills of the previous Arkham games was in seeing which members of the Batman rogue's gallery would turn up next, a thrill that simply isn't in Origins. The assassins hired to take out Batman are mostly D-list baddies at best, while more credible opponents have simply been pulled from previous games. Apparently, we needed far more Bane, a character who has been in every Arkham game to date, than any newer, more interesting characters. With the excep?tion of Deathstroke and Firefly, fresh introductions to the villain roster inspire little more than apathy.

The lack of excitement inspired by the villains permeates Origins' entire story. While the plot has one or two interesting moments, events seem rushed through and barely fleshed out. The whole assassin storyline becomes an unresolved mess, while the relationship between Batman and Joker condenses years of animosity into a handful of hours. One of Arkham Asylum's biggest strengths was that it avoided any sort of origin story, allowing us to delve straight into a world we knew without trying to sprint clumsily through a back story. In Origins, a team of lesser writers attempts to do what superior talent wisely avoided, and the results are what any reaso??nable person could expect.

Arkham Origin's narrative simply doesn't feel very fleshed out, a problem made all the more galling by Warner Brothers' presumptive promises of inco??ming downloadable content to "pick up where the story left off." With that in mind??, the entire campaign feels like little more than a delivery system for more paid content, which is fairly despicable.

Reusing much of the map from Arkham City, Warner Bros. gives us another open-world game set in Gotham's streets, but one that makes far less sense. Gotham was full of criminal gangs in City because we were in a gated section of town designed solely to house criminal gangs. Gotham was apparently Arkham City years before the events of Arkham City, at least according to Arkham Origins. Makes you wonder what it was that Dr. Strange actually did to change anything in the previous game.

Alongside of the map, most of the gameplay has been recycled too. Yet again, you'll be gliding from rooftop to rooftop, collecting Riddler trophies (now called "extortion data"), and punching out bad guys. Combat is yet again a case of pounding on opponents and obeying button prompts in order to counter enemy attacks, while utilizing the same arsenal of gadgets found in previous titles. Something about melee combat in Origins feels off, with Batman frequently failing to target foes properly, punching thin air, and failing to perform ground takedowns. I replayed Arkham City a few months before this, and found none of the problems with combat that Origins has given me.

One fresh addition to the game is quick travel. After clearing out data scrambling devices in key areas of Gotham, Bruce Wayne can use the Batwing to quickly enter a new section of town. This is a welcome ne?w addition, especially since m??ission destinations seem to force players to cross the same lengthy, interminably boring bridge. That said, one has to watch the same dreary cutscene every time they use the Batwing, but it's better than the lengthy alternative, even if you do have to navigate some poorly designed environmental hindrances to unlock the travel points.

The only other added feature enhances crime scene investigation. Using Batman's trusty Detective Vision, players can examine evidence in crime scenes to build a virtual reconstruction of events. Taking a blatant page from Capcom's Remember Me, these reconstructions may be rewound and replayed in order to find fresh evidence. The attempt to add more detective work into a Batman game is respectable, but the execution leaves much to be desired. Funnily enough, it turns out that watching a blue virtual reality man fly backwards through the air so that you can hunt for little red triangles is very boring.

There are a number of boss fights, though few of them are anywhere near as inventive as the ones in Arkham City -- which weren't all that inventive to begin with. Many of them are just straightforward combat encounters laced with quick-time-events, with the battle against Firefly providing the only truly unique encounter. As for the several Bane fights, they are uniformly repetitive and utterly chaotic. It should be common knowledge that tossing more and more regular enemies into a boss fight doesn't make it more difficult so much as it makes it more of an anarchic bloody mess. It should be common knowledge, but WB ?didn't? know that, apparently.

On top of that, Arkham Origins is littered with glitches. I had the game crash on me twice in a row while fast traveling, and I encountered a number of physics bugs that saw enemies become almost untouchable or completely disappear. At one point, I needed to restart a checkpoint because a character I needed to interrogate couldn't be interacted with. These are just the issues I had, with many other users reporting other bugs, such as important ledges that can't be climbed, and horrendous framerate drops. Warner Brothers' pr?oprietary little online account system -- an aping of Origin an?d uPlay -- also appears to be broken, as using it can further make your game unstable.

Because this product seems to be going out of its way to epitomize the concept of the cynical cash grab, online multiplayer has been crammed in with all the grace of a cat in a bathtub. Essentially a mediocre third-person cover shooter with Batman shoehorned into it, Arkham Origins Online pits three of Bane's thugs against three of Joker's goons, with two other players taking on the roles of the Dark Knight and Robin. It's ?a three-on-three battle, with the rival gangs capturing territory and shooting each other, while the superheroes use gadgets and predato??ry stealth to take them out.

As a gang member, you can look forward to awful movement controls, with the character wildly swinging when trying to run, sometimes not running at all, and occasionally refusing t??o fire his weapon. As Batman or Robin, you get to be frequently stuck on walls, or have diving kick attempts halt in mid-air for no good reason. The demented controls and obnoxious errors were able to be experienced almost instantly, and consequently, I managed to withstand only a few rounds before having to turn it off, utterly appalled.

Add to that a general sense of lag and graphical texture pop-in, and you have one buggy, unwieldy, ugly, deeply unpleasant bit of ?online guff. It's almost as if the whole thing was cobbled together quickly to satisfy some advertising department goo?ns, so much so that I'm pretty sure that's what happened.

Is there any good in Arkham Origins? Well, when it works properly, there's still a general satisfaction in getting to be the Batman. There is still a basic amusement in stalking criminals, stringing them up by their feet, popping out of vents to tackle enemies, and tossing Batarangs around. It's still neat to grapple up onto buildings, and utilize classic gadgets. WB Montreal can't really take any of the credit for whatever good Origins does, however, considering anythin??g "new" in the game? is a malingering disappointment.

It must also be said that Troy Baker does an impressive turn as the Joker, whose scenes are sometimes pretty damn fun to watch. There's also one genuinely well done section of the game involving the Clown Prince of Crime, though to detail it would venture into spoiler territ??ory. It's a shame many of the other voice actors, as well as the script, make for difficult listening. Anything involving the Penguin and his "British" ?assistant is so badly written and terribly acted that I felt almost offended.

There are few things more dismaying in the videogame industry than a publisher that's willing to throw its own creative successes under the bus for a chance at easy money. This is what Warner Bros. has done with Arkham Origins. It's contemptuously pissed all over what Rocksteady accomplished with the previous Arkham games and shat out a soulless wreckage of a game. The only good in Origins comes from work already accomplished in previous games, with a whole lot of bad added in. If all you want is to re-experience Arkham City's gameplay, I'd recommend you just replay Arkham City, because at least t?hat packed in a lot more fan s?ervice and didn't make such blatant concessions for narrative DLC and utterly contrived multiplayer modes.

If Batman: Arkham Origins does one thing wel??l, it's epitomize the kind of exploitative garbage that has steadily eroded so much faith in the so-called "AAA" gaming scene. When publishers whine and moan about piracy or used sales, this is the kind of game you can point to when ?you ask if it's any surprise that so few customers are willing to gamble $60 on a brand new game. This is the kind of game that, when publishers panic over flagging sales, you can hold up and say, "You did it to yourselves."

In that regard, Batman: Arkham Origins is not the game this industr??y needs.?? It's the game it deserves.

The post Review: Batman: Arkham Origins appeared first on Destructoid.

That must be a depressing feeling

Much like Washington and his famous trip across the Delaware River, Batman doesn't care much for taking the holidays off. Well, to be fair, he can't. Not when the entirety of?? Gotham City's underground is trying to kill him.

Alas, that's the situation Mr.?? Wayne's found himself in. Black Mask has put quite a large bounty on his head, and Batman's only recourse is a whole lot of w??ell-timed punches, kicks, and grunts. Somehow, that doesn't surprise me. 

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Walkthrough

Want the jump on Batman: Arkham Origins ahead of its launch this week? Watch this video, which gives you 17 minutes of hot Bat action, courtesy of game producer ??Ben Mattis and director Michael McIntire. 

It's a nice long look, but understand that as they're taking on a game mission, it could be considered a spoiler. I wou?ldn't sweat it, but if you're one that likes to go into a game fresh, take note. 

Batman: Arkham Origins lands in stores this Friday, October 25, on just about everything: PS3, PC??, Xbox 360, and Wii U. 

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Such art. Wow.

It's like I can hear Sarah McLachlan pressing me to dona??te money to sadfaced baby Bruce Wayne. Except for the fact that he could buy me a million times over. 

You see what you're missing out on when you don't watch television? Buzz cut Batman getting his dumb face shoved into a mat. Also, those plump lips on young Arkham Origins Batman getting punched in a light snowfall.

Such art.

This TV spot, directed by Tim Miller, comes from the excellent Blur Studio. Blur also created the ridiculously good-looking Arkham City trailer and probably a bunch of other amazing trailers you've loved. For example, the AMAZING Prey 2 trailer set to Johnny Cash's "Rusty Cage." RIP, Prey 2. Long live Blur.

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Proper naughty

Proper naughty.

Batman Arkham Origins is out in less than two weeks, but Batfans at New York Co?mic-Con were treated to what should be one last surprise: Electrocuti??oner was announced as one of the assassins targeting Batman in the upcoming prequel.

Quick, comic fans, tell me if this news is pleasing or not. As it stands, I'm unfamiliar with the chara??cter. Any good stories to get acquainted? Or is Electrocutioner uninteresting beyond his seemingly malleable accent in this trailer? Actually, I don't even think that's an accent c??hanging, I think it's just me being too good at picking Steve Blum's voice out of the character.

Electrocutioner is an assa?ssin in ‘Batman: Arkham Origins&rsq??uo; [Batman News]

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As it should be

No, there likely wouldn't have been a large multiplayer audience for Batman: Arkham Origins on Wii U if the performance of prior multiplatform games on the platform is any indication. Since WB Games has decided against including the component altogether, we'll never know for sure.

It's been suggested that given the comparatively lacking content, the Wii U port of Origins should be priced lower than its PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 counterparts -- this is happening, thankfully. Warner Bros. ?has confirmed the $49.99 price point with Kotaku and if you visit retailers like Amazon or GameStop, you'll see the change reflected.

That's something????. Potentially even good news, if you'd rather save the ten bucks over having multiplayer. I would've rather that been a choice for consumers to make, however.

Multiplayer-Free Wii U Version of Batman??: Arkham Origins Will Cost Le??ss [Kotaku]

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$19.99 for four skins, a mission, and a side mission

Batman: Arkham Origins will have a season pass. Yawn.

For $19.99, you'll get these five downloadable content items: Gotham by Gaslight Batman skin plus Brig??htest Day Batman skin, new millennium skins pack, Infinite Earths skins pack, Arkham Origins Initiation, and an all-new story campaign.

The Initiation content will see you playing as B??ruce Wayne before he becomes Batman, facing his final test to prove himself against his teacher Kirigi. This sounds like it will be kind of fun. As for the rest of it? Really? More skins?

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It's only on PS3, though

The Arkham series is no stranger to offering extra costumes, but this Knightfall skin -- which is exclusive to the PlayStation 3 version of Batman: Arkham Origins -- is so damn cool.

There's also the Classic TV Series character skin, which looks especially silly and out of place in the dark, serious world of Arkham Origins, and five bonus?? maps: two Combat, two Predator. I wouldn't worry so much abo?ut the extra challenge maps, as there's never really been a shortage of them in these games, but they are a nice bonus.

As for Origins itself, I'm cautiously optimistic. I got ?to try it earlier this year and while much of the combat and traversal is exactly what you'd expect coming off of Rocksteady's last two titles, the new detective elements seemed like a neat addition.

Batm??an: Arkham Origins PlayStation-Ex?clusive Knightfall Pack Detailed [PlayStation Blog]

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Becoming the Invisible Predator

A common pattern f??or when a successful single-player IP has turned into a series is to tack on a multiplayer bit of some form. Unfortunately, when t??his happens, the multiplayer portion is often a half-assed attempt thrown in simply to appeal to a key demographic. Usually this portion is handled by a separate studio to varying degrees of success, and may have little relation to the main game.

In the case of Batman: Arkham Origins, I'm relieved to tell you that while there is a new? multiplayer mode in the game and it is being developed by Splash Damage studios, "Invisible Predator" online mode is an incredibly fun and appealing addition that works within the storyline framework and is a great addition on its own merit. During a recent playthrough in the Blackgate Prison map, I got a chance to see how it all works and just how badass it is to be Batman against live players.

Batman: Arkham Origins (PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U)
Developer: Splash Damage Studios (Multiplayer)
Publisher: Warner Brothers Interactive
Released:  October 25, 2013
MSRP: $59.99

In a presentation by Alistair Cornish, the creative Director of Splash Damage, the two core elements of the Batman series that have attributed to its success are a merging of fighting in the great free-flow combat system and becoming an invisible predator to stealth takedown enemies when things get too hot for the Bat. The developers wanted to really focus on bringing over these elements when creating a multiplayer mode, and thus "Invisible Predator" mode was created.

You play as a character in one of three teams. Either you're part of a group of three within Bane's or Joker's gang, or else you can play as Batman or his loyal sidekick, Robin. As part of a gang??, you're tasked with taking on checkpoints and holding them down against the rival gang while also keeping your eye out for Batman and Robin swooping down from the shadows.

As Batman or Robin, you are the "invisible predators" who try to intimidate both gangs from taking any checkpoints. This is achieved by varying your takedowns (Silent, Grate, Gargoy?le, or Gadgets) to fill up the Bat Symbol in the center of the screen. While the gang warfare primarily plays out similarly to any other multiplayer game with checkpoint matches, the truly interesting twist comes in with the addition of the heroic masked vigilantes. After playing a round as one of Joker's gangsters -- taking some checkpoints and getting some easy kills off of Batman and Robin, the next round saw me as Batman and I soon realized the true potential of the Invisible Predator mode.

As B??atman, you are given Detective Vision and a few of your trusty gadgets including your Batarang, smoke pelle??ts, and explosive gel. The gangsters get their own version of Detective Vision known as "Enhanced Vision"  that runs on a limited recharging battery power and can easily be scrambled. They also have various weapons such as assault rifles, pistols and shotguns. Batman and Robin are not capable of using any of these weapons as would be expected, though they are entirely capable of one-hit knockouts provided they choose their attacks wisely.

Much like in the single-player campaign, there are vents a-plenty for the duo to lurk in and take out thugs from underneath. Also like the single-player, it is entirely possible to grab a thug from a ledge high above and quickly and quietly dispatch him before anyone is alerted. The controls to? get around as Batman and Robin versus the thugs may take awhile to get used to as you no longer can rely on the usual multiplayer run and gun style. Instead you play in a way very similar to the single-player campaign. Once you're familiar with how to play as the vigilantes, the gameplay opens a whole host of exciting and fun scenarios agains??t the rival gangs.

Of course, no gang operating under a super villain would be complete without an appearance by the main men themselves, and another cool feature of the Invisible Predator mode comes in when one of the thugs is able to switch to Bane or Joker (in a way similar to the Big Daddy switches in BioShock 2?'s multiplayer, but better handled). This opportunity arises at cer??tain times during the match and any thug from their respective team can become Bane or Joker provided they make it to the meeting location in time.

Though I didn't get a chance to really see Joker in play during my matches, I tried to take down Bane both as an opposing thug and as Batman, and both times were met with my bitter end as Bane??'s incredible strength made short work of me before I could get in first for the kill. I wish I did have a chance to take down Bane though, as taking down the super villains gives a large intimi??dation bonus.

Somehow I ended up being Batman for at least three different matches, so I got a chance to really get a feel for playing as the main vigilante, and it only took a short matter of time before I was leaping from ledge to ledge, observing rival gangs at war, and swooping down to pick off members before their buddies were alerted. Even though I didn't get nearly as much time with the multiplayer in general as I would have liked, the time I did have with it was thoroughly enthralling and I could already imagine the intense matches with players who have had ?enough practice playing both sides.

Much like in other multiplayer games, progression in each match works towards unlocking different skins, costumes, and enhanc??ed abilities. I di?dn't get a chance to see upgrades beyond cosmetic changes, but what I did see was pretty cool, such as outfits for different eras of Batman and Robin and a great deal of customization options for your generic thug from each gang.

My overall impressions of the Invisible Predator mode for Batman: Arkham Origins are quite high after on?ly a couple hours of hands-on ti??me, and it's something I'm looking forward to now.

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And some bonus screenshots

WB Games Montréal's big San Diego Comic-Con reveal for Batman: Arkham Origins is the inclusion of Copperhead as yet another would-be assassin out to hunt down the Bat. The skilled contort??ionist is, in this tak??e on the character, a woman. And there's also the whole lack of a ridiculous snake outfit, too. You know the one.

As someone who isn't particularly familiar with Copperhead, this seems like a decent enough choice for Arkham Origins given ??what's left to choose?? from and the prequel nature of the title.

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After a confusing advertisement, we have confirmation

A few weeks ago, I held off on a story regarding the lack of Wii U DLC for Arkham Origins, as I was waiting on an official statement from the publisher. A few outlets had advertised that "not all platforms" were getting Origins DLC, and Amazon had contended that the? Wii U was included in the lot, but now, it's official -- the Deathstroke content pack (which allows for use of the character in Chall??enge Mode, as well as skins and maps) is coming.

The pack itself is a pre-order bonus, and knowing Warner Bros., it will most likely hit each marketplace eventually as a paid download. Although I'm not ectastic to play as Deathstroke in a limited capacity, I'm very interested in seeing if Arkham Origins lives up to the Arkham name.

Batman: Arkham Origins [Aussie-Gamer]

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People have the right to be cynical, says creative director

It's always a bit scary when a new, unproven developer takes over a well-loved franchise. Sometimes the results are really good, and other times they are downright disastrous. Batman: Arkham Origins creative?? director Eric Holmes (no relation to our Holmes...I think) i??s aware of this, and confident their work is up to par.

"I would say that people have the right to be cynical; they have the option to be cynical," Holmes said in a interview with GameSpot. "I think as soon as you've got the pad in your hand, you're going to see that this game is authentic and uses the same underpinnings and core mechanics of the previous Arkham games."

I suppose a good amount of skepticism is healthy, so long as it doesn't leave that "Wait and see" zone. Personally, I'm not a fan of prequels, yet actually have hopes that Origins can be a better game than Arkham City, as the fol?low-up just didn't click with me like the first.

In any case, the story is still my biggest draw. WB Montreal is staying very hush-hush about it, but certainly doesn't lack for confidence, saying, "I think it's a very important Batman story and I think fans are goin?g to love that probably mo?re than any other thing in the game."

That's a bold statement, Mr. Holmes. Still, seeing a young, green-as-grass Batman going up against criminally underrep??resented villains like?? Black Mask and Deathstroke -- yeah, I'm in.

WB defends Batman: Arkham Origins [GameSpot]

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A pair of exclusives

Sony Computer Entertainment America president Jack Tretton announced some exclusive content for the PlayStation 3 version of Batman: Arkham Origins during the company's E3 press conference. There's a 1960s Batman skin that looks goofy in all the right ways, as well as Knightfall DLC.

Gotta love Knightfall!

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Hot new prequel to everybody's favorite franchise

Warner Bros. has just announced a brand new game, a long-awaited prequel to its critically acclaimed Preorder DLC series. Preorder DLC: Origins ??has be?en revealed today, and it'll put players into the boots of the villainous Deathstroke. 

Deathstroke will boast "unique weapons and special moves" and will be playable in a variety of challenge maps. As usual, players are saddled with the burden of buying some extra unwanted content to access this hot new prequel. In order to obtain Deathstroke, you'll have to shell out for some bottom feeding game calling itself Batman: Arkham Origins. 

A small price to pay, I think you'll agree, to access what is shaping up to be the best Preorder DLC entry in the series!

The post Warner Bros. announces Preorder DLC: Origins! appeared first on Destructoid.

Deathstroke gets his assassin on

Batman battles the relentless Deathstroke in this new teaser trailer for Batman: Arkham Origins, and honestly, that's about all you're going to get. Batman sco?wls, the sword comes out, and he blocks it with his ar??m blades like a champion.

I'm not completely sold on Origins yet due to the fact that Rocksteady isn't involved, but I do have hope that it could be just as good as the first two in the franchise. As it stands, I'm more interested in the 3DS and Vita Metroidvania, Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate. In case you're wondering, Origins is coming on October 25th, 2013.

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