Batman: Arkham Origins

Overview

Batman: Arkham Origins is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by WB Games Montreal and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. It follows Batman: Arkham City and is the third main game in the Batman: Arkham series. It is a prequel, set eight years before Batman: Arkham Asylum, and it follows a younger, less refined Batman. It was written by Dooma Wendschuh, Corey May and Ryan Galletta.

On Christmas Eve, the crime lord Black Mask puts a bounty on Batman and draws eight of the world's greatest assassins to Gotham City. Batman has to bring Black Mask to justice while the police hunt him and other villains, including the Joker and Anarky, take advantage of the chaos to launch their own schemes.

It is played from the third person and built around combat, stealth, detective work and gadgets, in an open world Gotham. New this time are the ability to virtually recreate crime scenes to find the culprit, a fast travel system that calls in the Batwing, and new gadgets such as the Remote Claw and Shock Gloves. It is also the first game in the series with multiplayer: Invisible Predator Online is a three way fight between the Joker's gang, Bane's gang and Batman and Robin.

Development began in late 2011. WB Games Montreal took over from series creator Rocksteady Studios, which was busy with Batman: Arkham Knight and could not have delivered a new game for a long time. Splash Damage built the multiplayer mode separately. Roger Craig Smith voices Batman and Troy Baker the Joker, because the team wanted a younger voice than the usual Kevin Conroy. Christopher Drake composed the score.

It was released worldwide on October 25, 2013 for PlayStation 3, Wii U, Windows and Xbox 360. The PS3 version includes the Knightfall DLC pack with extra suits and challenge maps. Later content included the Deathstroke, Black Mask Challenge and Initiation packs and the story expansion Cold, Cold Heart, released on April 22, 2014.

Reviews were mixed or average on most platforms and generally favorable on PS3. Critics praised the voice acting, boss fights, story and score, and criticized how little the gameplay changed from Arkham City, along with technical issues, and they saw the multiplayer as an unnecessary addition. It was followed by Batman: Arkham Knight in June 2015.

Screenshots

Game details

Genres

Action-adventure

Developer

WB Games Montreal

Publisher

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

Series

Batman: Arkham

Engine

Unreal Engine 3

Composers

Christopher Drake, Don Diablo

Designers

Pierre-Luc Foisy

Writers

Dooma Wendschuh, Ryan Galletta, Corey May

Producers

Ben Mattes

Directors

Eric Holmes, Benoit Richer

Modes

Single player

Yes

Local multiplayer

No

Online multiplayer

8

Release dates

Editions

Buy this game

Subscription history

Trophies

Trophies63

Platinum possibleYes

Platinum

1

Gold

2

Silver

12

Bronze

48

Total

63

Points

1560

• Platinum Congratulations! Platinum 1.54% of players
• City of Assassins Identify Black Mask's assassins Bronze 84.01% of players
• One eye open Defeat Deathstroke Bronze 65.28% of players
• Nobody that matters Who is the Joker? Bronze 63.01% of players
• Everyone wears masks Find the Black Mask Bronze 57.14% of players
• One Rule Save a life Silver 52.36% of players
• Perhaps sooner, Perhaps later Defeat the Joker Gold 46.72% of players
• Shut Down Shut down an entire Tower Network Bronze 43.92% of players
• Counter-intelligence Decipher one Extortion File Bronze 22.96% of players
• Enigma Unravelled Collect all Enigma items Bronze 13.36% of players
• First Riddler Trophy Collect every collectible Silver 13.25% of players
• One down, several to go Complete a Most Wanted entry Bronze 48.06% of players
• The Innocent and the Predatory Capture all of Black Mask's Assassins Silver 28.98% of players
• Shadow Vigilante Master the Shadow Vigilante Dark Knight track Bronze 5.64% of players
• Gotham Protector Master the Gotham Protector Dark Knight track Bronze 7.07% of players
• Worst Nightmare Master the Worst Nightmare Dark Knight track Bronze 3.52% of players
• World's Greatest Detective Master the World's Greatest Detective Dark Knight track Bronze 20.91% of players
• Legend of the Dark Knight Complete all Dark Knight challenges Silver 3.37% of players
• Crime Scene Investigator Complete all Casefiles Bronze 23.22% of players
• Crime Fighter Stop 20 Crime in Progress Bronze 25.29% of players
• Thanks, old friend Hear everything Alfred has to say Bronze 7.37% of players
• Personal Trainer Obtain all the medals on Combat Training maps Bronze 7.17% of players
• Perfectionist Obtain all the medals on Custom maps in Challenge mode Silver 2.76% of players
• I've Got This Acquire all upgrades Bronze 4.24% of players
• Free Flow Fifty Reach x50 Combo in the Main Story Bronze 43.83% of players
• Anyone see that? Complete a predator encounter without ever being spotted in the Main Story Bronze 45.81% of players
• What hit me? Take down 100 enemies who didn't know you were there in the Main Story Bronze 14.2% of players
• Silent Knight Complete a predator encounter using only silent takedowns in the Main Story Bronze 49.62% of players
• Point to Point Glide across Bridge without touching ground Bronze 38.81% of players
• Around the World Use the Batwing to travel to all Fast Travel points Bronze 20.21% of players
• Flawless Display Successfully battle Shiva without taking any damage Bronze 5.21% of players
• Point Counter-Point Complete Deathstroke without failing a single counter Bronze 6.18% of players
• One of Each Use every Freeflow Focus gadget in one combo Bronze 5.51% of players
• Air Marathon Glide 26 miles total in the Main Story Bronze 22.15% of players
• Medalist Obtain all medals on the original Ranked Maps in Challenge mode (as Batman) Silver 2.88% of players
• Olympian Obtain all medals on the original Campaign maps in Challenge mode (as Batman) Silver 2.77% of players
• Voice of the People Scan 20 Anarky Tags in the Main Story Bronze 7.17% of players
• Clean Streets Complete all Most Wanted missions Silver 12.48% of players
• Give Them Something to Believe Complete New Game Plus Silver 6.77% of players
• I Am The Night Finish I Am The Night Mode Gold 2.98% of players
• Predator Paragon Take down 6 different Elites in a match, using 6 different methods as Batman or Robin in multiplayer Bronze Needs online 2.83% of players
• Killing Joke Reach max level with the Joker faction in multiplayer Bronze Needs online 2.99% of players
• Fallen Knight Reach max level with the Bane faction in multiplayer Bronze Needs online 3.06% of players
• Gotham All-Star Reach max overall level in multiplayer Bronze Needs online 2.99% of players
• Clutch Kill a Hero to bring back your entire gang when at 0 reinforcements on a full multiplayer server Bronze Needs online 5.08% of players
• Tales of Gotham Win a round of each map with each faction in multiplayer Bronze Needs online 2.95% of players
• I Like Those Odds As a Hero, defeat 4 Elites within 40 seconds without using melee in multiplayer Bronze Needs online 3.44% of players
• Not An Ordinary Criminal As an Elite, earn 4000 XP in a single multiplayer match Bronze Needs online 8.24% of players
• Arsenal, Awesome Fully upgrade a weapon in multiplayer Bronze Needs online 4.77% of players
• Legend Earn a level of prestige in multiplayer Bronze Needs online 2.88% of players
• Know Thy Enemy Defeat each of the enemy players at least once in a multiplayer match Bronze Needs online 6.23% of players
• Bruce's Revenge Obtain all 72 medals on the original Arkham Origins ranked maps (as Bruce Wayne) Bronze 12.2% of players
• Campaign Ninja Obtain all 108 medals on the original Arkham Origins campaigns (as Bruce Wayne) Bronze 11.67% of players
• Master Wayne Take no damage when playing as Bruce Wayne Bronze 13.31% of players
• Let it Snow Receive the Extreme Environment Suit (XE Suit) Bronze 24.75% of players
• Drilling for Justice Assemble the cryonucleation tunneller - the cryodrill Silver 24.11% of players
• For Auld Lang Syne Stop Freeze and bring Boyle to justice Silver 22.94% of players
• Paint the Town Red Find all Activist tags in Cold, Cold Heart Silver 10.69% of players
• Breaking the Ice Free all civilians frozen in cryogenic ice Bronze 14.02% of players
• Down with the Revolution Stop Anarky thug operations in South Gotham Bronze 20.02% of players
• Snowjob Get 3 enemies frozen in one attack Bronze 21.64% of players
• Stalact-tactician Takedown 2 enemies with one stalactite Bronze 23.24% of players
• Come Out of the Cold Perform 3 ice wall takedowns Bronze 10.81% of players

Space and patches

Space neededAbout 14.1 GB

Update patch01.06

These are the patches Sony still hosts for this disc ID. The game's real history can be longer.

DLC

Challenge map packs, a prequel pack with Bruce Wayne as the playable character, and a story expansion followed the game. The Wii U version of the expansion was cancelled.

Items

Name	Adds	Date
Deathstroke pack	Deathstroke playable in the challenge maps, two alternate outfits and two challenge maps. A pre-order bonus; he is not playable in the main story.
Black Mask Challenge pack	Two challenge maps, Lot Full and Hidden Facility.
Initiation	Bruce Wayne playable in five challenge maps, training under Kirigi in a Korean monastery, with two alternate outfits.	2013-12-03
Hunter, Hunted multiplayer mode	A last-team-standing multiplayer mode with three Joker thugs and three Bane thugs against Batman.
Cold, Cold Heart	A story expansion set a week after the main game, on New Year's Eve, about the origin of Mr. Freeze, with the XE suit.	2014-04-22

Playable today

Reception

Aggregates

Outlet	Platform	Score	Scale	Reviews
Metacritic	PS3	76	100	46

Critics

Outlet	Score	Scale
Game Informer	8.5	10
IGN	7.8	10
Official PlayStation Magazine UK	8	10
Official Xbox Magazine UK	9	10
VideoGamer	8	10
Eurogamer	7	10
Polygon	7	10
GameSpot	6	10
Destructoid	3.5	10

Staff and cast

Staff

Role	Name
Director	Eric Holmes
Director	Benoit Richer
Producer	Ben Mattes
Designer	Pierre-Luc Foisy
Programmer	Olivier Pomarez
Art director	Jeremy Price
Writer	Dooma Wendschuh
Writer	Ryan Galletta
Writer	Corey May
Composer	Christopher Drake
Composer	Don Diablo

Cast

Character	Actor
Batman	Roger Craig Smith
Joker	Troy Baker
Alfred Pennyworth	Martin Jarvis
Black Mask	Brian Bloom

Notes for collectors

• The PS3 version includes the Knightfall DLC pack, with outfits from the 1960s TV series and the Azrael suit, plus five challenge maps.
• Kevin Conroy does not voice Batman here. The team wanted a younger voice, so Roger Craig Smith took the role.
• The multiplayer mode was built by Splash Damage, and the Wii U version has no multiplayer at all.
• Deathstroke is playable only in the challenge maps, not in the main story.
• Eleven of the 63 trophies are multiplayer trophies, and the Platinum needs all of them.
• A companion game, Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate, came out the same day on Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita.
• The Cold, Cold Heart expansion was cancelled on Wii U in January 2014 because of low demand.

Credits

Region

US

Time to beat

about 12.5 hours