The Batman Arkham series of video games
LegoBatman008
USAPosts: 189MI6 Agent
Have you ever played Batman: Arkham Asylum or Batman: Arkham City? Or Batman: Arkham Origins? If you haven't then don't worry, I haven't either. But I plan on doing so. I already have the right television set, now I just need a Playstation 3 and PS3 copies of Asylum, City, and Origins...It'll take me awhile to get a Playstation 4 and a copy of Arkham Knight, but I'm a patient man. I can wait.
"Ahem, you know in the future if you're going to steal cars, don't dress like a car thief, man." - Spider-Man
Comments
If you can wait I could sell you my Xbox and my two Batman games, although I'm not sure how much life my Xbox has left (I have to thump the Xbox to get the tray open sometimes).
I think I'd prefer to get the Arkham games on the PS3, along with the PS3 itself. But thanks for the offer.
I've played all three games; Arkham: Origins is actually a prequel to the other two games so the timeline would actually go like this:
Arkham Origins -> Arkham Asylum -> Arkham City
Personally, I think Arkham City is the best of the lot; Arkham Asylum is very good; Arkham Origins is also fun but terribly buggy (not surprising as it is the only game in the series not developed by Rocksteady Studios).
You might change your mind about Arkham City being the best of the lot, as soon as you get your hands on Batman: Arkham Knight....
It's so hard finding a decent NES System though.
Arkham Asylum is just rather dated and has some cheesiness (it is at a mansion island asylum, after all).
Arkham City is certainly more thrilling and feels more mature, but I just have issue with a lot of the very cheesy comic book elements still holding strong. Talking plants and hyper-strength super mutants are sort of off my radar when it comes to impressive story and mood. I am not much into comic book powers and such to start with, so when the game leaves the beckoning streets of wilting old Gotham and heads for mutants and colors of no specific range besides 'colorful', appeal drops fast.
I'm a little more into the Watchmen or The Dark Knight cinematic approaches. And that's where Arkham Origins aimed.
While Origins is supposed to simply be a prequel to the other titles, it takes on the setting of a snowy, larger, and yet-undamaged old Gotham. The art style is far more defined and cinematically inspired, with a restrained palette of cold stone met occasionally by bold reds and neon signs. It captures a cold winter out there in the wild of a criminally troubled, but rather beautiful city. The villains and allies are more of the gadgetry and grit range from the Batman universe (over the impossibly mythological uses of mutant abilities that the Rocksteady villain selection goes with).
Joker's initial obsession with confronting Batman is addressed in the story of Origins and chasing down this new foe for Batman is the central plot, incited by run-ins over Batman's head being priced high for a group of 8 villains in the city on Christmas Eve (all of whom are villains of the series known for nifty attack skill, such as a sniper, swordsman, and bomber that fans may recognize). Batman's reputation as a genius detective gets a more thorough approach here than in other entries, with crime scenes playing out in eerily calculated detail via Batman's electronic visor (which of course leads to one curiosity of this entry - why Batman would't have some of these superior gadgets later in the series).
All-in-all, Origins strikes me as the most in touch with modern film trends, including those of the Nolan Batman films. It has a darker look and a colder feel. While Arkham City does a great job driving those who are interested into the intense chaos of a city taken to hell by a plethora of sinister comic book villain roles, Origins gives players an introspective look at the staggering free fall that led to Batman's entanglement with the Joker as both character's witnessed it, without being outside the bounds of the Arkham series' presentation of this comic book-invented universe.
There's just something about that snow-covered Gotham for me.
Some of the boss battles also went on way too long; the confrontation with Deadshot is good example of this and having to fight Bane three times also got a little tedious.
So while I agree the story was well presented and the Christmas eve setting unique, the haphazard support for the game itself was a real turn off, especially considering the original $60 pricetag, and some of the boss battles were really uneven.
I don't know how many people still have bug issues, but I played the game a couple of months ago on 360 and had no problems.
And as for no more bug fixes, they actually said they would still be working on the bugs that are preventing some people from progressing through the game. It was minor bugs that don't affect progression that they said they will no longer put resources towards as they have to also make good on their promise to support the game with single-player DLC, so that's where most of their resources are going.
Dawn of Justice.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-27516492