Batman: Arkham series turned our ideas about the superhero genre. Rocksteady did not just release the game about the Avenger in the cloak, they made it understandable for a wide audience. If Christopher Nolan in his movie trilogy retreated as much as possible from the DC mythology, then Rocksteady on the contrary, they buried with his head in the comic book piles. The British fished out from the archives of far from the most obvious and famous characters, not forgetting about the iconic villains – Bane, Penguin, poisonous ivy and, of course, Joker.
Batman: Arkham did not scare away with geek, the depth of the described world attracted not only fans, but also beginners. The story told by Rocksteady is interesting outside the context, in itself, and this is her main charm. In addition, the games of the series perfectly conveyed the gloomy atmosphere of original graphic short stories and films by Tim Burton. Elements of gameplay also worked for the surroundings – for the first time you yourself did everything that Batman has been engaged in the pages of comics for so many years now.
Arkham Asylum turned out to be an innovative, original game, Arkham City – its improved and supplemented version. It was obvious that in the third part it was necessary to go beyond the usual formula. It seemed that the question of who would take care of the Batman sequel is not subject to discussion – who, if not the British themselves? But in Warner Bros. They reasoned differently. The publisher decided to postpone with experiments and therefore was transferred to the series in the hands of Warner Bros. Montreal, punishing to make "the same, and more".
Christmas Eve
One of the most important qualities of the narrator is the ability to stop in time. In Arkham City, the story reached its logical conclusion: the plot threads were rash, and the final is unequivocal.
Fortunately, Warner Bros. It was enough to leave everything as it is, Origins is not a continuation, but a prequel to Batman: Arkham. The game originates five years before the events of the first part.
The action of "Chronicle" fits on one Christmas night. Black Mask escapes Blackheit prison and hires eight killers, promising them a lot of money behind Batman's head. But what is strange – a little earlier the police found the fugitive dead, recognition confirmed the identity of the deceased. Who then walks around the city, portraying the king of the criminal world? Wayne begins to suspect that the hunt for his alter ego is just a trick designed to divert attention from what is actually happening in the city. The dark knight begins to investigate this mysterious case.
How young we were
Batman recently stood for the night service Gotham. He is young, iWild Casino cunning and not so experienced, many bandits take him beyond the city legend and at a meeting refuse to believe their eyes. The disguised Wayne enjoys the advantages of his ambiguous reputation – the thugs have no idea who he is and what he is, because Bruce without a twinge of conscience intimidates their reprisals. Criminals are not aware that murders are not included in the list of methods of the greatest detective.
[[Bullet]] Arkham Origins should be released closer to the New Year, just under the festive mood and snowball outside.
Origins turned many familiar things upside down. The most interesting thing is to observe the change of status quo, compare the images of the characters at the beginning and end of their path. The new chapter Arkham makes this difference to feel. Even law enforcement officers do not trust a person in a baton of a bat. Commissioner Gordon, the eternal ally of Batman, in the "Chronicle" considers the dark knight a threat, an anarchist who performs a lynching. He questions the techniques of the master Wayne, asks him to give up: “I am on the side of the law. We do not break the bone suspect and do not knock out our teeth ".
[[Bullet]] BET Peschera in all its glory.
And partly the commissioner of rights. Young Bruce is a cruel and arrogant personality. He does not disdain excessive violence (which is the episode in which the superhero interrogates the bandit, hanging him from the roof of a high building), not without pleasure gives the villains for nuts and justifies his actions in the name of justice. Gotham’s guard without hesitation comes into conflict with the police: “They are all sold to one and are in my way”. The late Batman is more gloomy and harsh, but his severity does not develop into open sadism, time has made the night avenger smarter and more restrained.
Good and bad cop
However, Origins is the history of the formation of not only Batman, but also many other heroes of the universe. At the start of the game, Commissioner Gordon only starts his work as a police chief. He is an idealist who is sharply contrasting with other ministers of the order. Like Wayne, Gordon is obsessed with the idea of cleansing Gotham of crime and dishonest cops, with which the department is flooded. If in Arkham Asylum and Arkham City we mainly met brave and selfless police officers, then everything is wrong here. The villains conclude underground transactions with GCPD, officers sharpen the commissar tooth and plan to teach him the local laws. The commander of the special forces even declares the hunt for Batman – not only hired killers, but also leaders of the law wishes to get fifty million.
[[Bullet]] Using the Destructor, you can temporarily turn off the weapons and jammers of enemies.
The system was rotten to the base, and Gordon is going to fix it. Demonstrating the difference between Gotham from Chronicle and Gotham in other parts of the series, Warner Bros. Montreal give additional depth and other ARKHAM releases. We see visual changes in the structure of the corrupt city, behind which the painstaking work of commissar and Bruce Wayne lies.
[Bullet] It is strange that after spending so much time in ventilation, Bruce has never quoted his namesake, playing the role of John McLein: “Now I know how the minced meat in a meat grinder feels”.
The developers went the same way as Naughty Dog In the case of p Uncharted 3 , where we were first given to play for young Drake. Fans will probably be happy with the scenes of the heroes dating and important GIK deals: in Arkham Origins you will meet Barbaru, and without a wheelchair, personally talk to Alfred (before all negotiations were held exclusively by walkie-talkie), experience the prototypes of famous gadgets. Well, when Batman asks his butler to get information about the joker, comic book lovers simply will not be able to restrain a smile-after so many years of open confrontation it is difficult to imagine that the worst enemies once did not know about each other's existence. And this is perhaps the strongest side of Origins: the game is generous with the pleasant reference to any fan and almost entirely consists of allusions to the most significant events of the world of Batman.
One river three times
And yet Arkham Origins – to a lesser extent independent work. This is rather a large -scale addon that expands the universe than a full -fledged product. In isolation from the previous parts of the "Chronicle of Arkham" it is not so interesting to take place – you miss a lot of little things. But here another problem arises: Warner Bros. Montreal brought to the usual concept of a minimum of changes. That is, the new audience will not be able to catch all the references, and the veterans of the series will be forced to do exactly the same for the third time as four years ago. Simply put, Origins nothing more than an attempt to repeat the success of Rocksteady, behind which the fear of stimulating is visible. The keyword is “repeat”, and not “surpass”. Even the scene – Gotham – is not much different from the fenced area from Arkham City (which is quite natural). As a result, Arkham in its evolutionary development remained in the same place as he was.
[[Bullet]] For the sake of fifty million dollars, special forces will not regret even their own commissioner.
On the other hand, do not fall into the dirt face, making the game in the ARKHAM universe, is not the task of simple, and, perhaps, chosen Warner Bros. Montreal Strategy is just the most correct (in the end, for Canadians this is the first project of this scale). Amazing thing, but the usual mechanic still serves in earnest. At one time, Rocksteady came up with a brilliant formula: a changing open world, a two -button battle system, riddles tied to the use of gadgets, moving from the pots to the pitch and the detective regime.
For comparison, series Assassin’s Creed Little older than Batman, but over the past years, stealth and battles in games Ubisoft Irrevocably outdated. Moreover, no one was able to surpass the fighting in Arkham asylum, although it would seem that it could be easier to assign an attack on one key, and to the other block. In many ways, our fears were connected precisely with fights – no other studio was able to reproduce the special magic of hand -to -hand fights Batman: Arkham, although many tried (the same United Front Games , Authors Sleeping Dogs ).
[[Bullet]] Batman does not stand on ceremony with bandits. However, they are with him too.
However, Warner Bros. Montreal everything turned out. Canadians even dared to add their elements to the battle mechanics. The Dark Knight now knows how to attract enemies with controlled Batkogtom and stun them with the help of adhesive detonators. Electric gloves came to the place, which would be especially useful against rivals armed with shields.
Flapped in a crowd
However, not everything is so rosy. In the "annals" the enemies became less aggressive, if not stupid. It is worth hanging one of the patrolmen, and then cut off the rope with a backing, as the rest will certainly run to his body – take a look at what happened. Then they can be taken warm. Enemies begin to crowd directly in the capture zone under the pots, and nothing will prevent you from “outweighing” them all one at a time, over and over again cutting the cables for the next maneuver. Such incidents do not always happen, just in Arkham Origins – suspiciously often.
[Bullet]] How many years have passed, and the one incorporated with the sneak of slooper still makes you cling to the sofa with delight.
There is an acute lack of interesting bosses. Arkham City in this regard was a real masterpiece. To the big guys had to choose tactics for a long time, each battle crashed into memory – not least thanks to the experienced excitement. Ro’s al Gul, Mr. Frieze, Penguin with his giant shark – you can list for a long time. Rocksteady showed a fantasy and withstood the perfect balance between complexity and fascination.
But Warner Bros. Montreal cannot. Where you need to get off the beaten path, Canadians begin to get lost. Most bosses are made according to the template "The leader and his gang". The developers do not know how to keep the pace, the fights are too light, then, on the contrary, long and tedious. Anarka is cut down with a simple blow, a copper head (her own projections act as a retinue), you have to take excrete, and the whole battle with a deflapse is built on counterattacks. With a crazy hatter, everything is completely sad – go through the traditional level with hallucinations, overtake the enemy and cut it down … with one bearand. Hilyak, what to say.
Rocksteady found talented apprentices, and yet-Canadians lack fiction, experience and places of sense of style. If desired, you can throw a third of the locations from Arkham Origins, and the game will not lose anything. The plot is intriguing, but due to the fact that it is artificially stretched all the time, sending us to distant locations under any pretext, the tension reached subsides. Whether in the "annals" a little fewer corridors and mission-fillers, our assessment would have increased by at least half a point.
But even despite this, it is worth recognizing that the Canadians got quite close to the original. Apply Warner Bros. Montreal is a little more effort, let a little more liberty and extravagance, and Origins would have shut up the belt of their predecessors. But now you can at least be worried about the series – Arkham is in good hands (and Rocksteady, let's hope that the next generation is currently working on a new part of the saga for consoles).
Reigracy:
Cool plot:
Originality:
Easy to master:
Gameplay:
8
Graphics:
9
Sound and music:
9
Interface and management:
7
Waited?
Another chapter Batman: Arkham, allowing you to look at old heroes from a new angle. Despite the shift of the developer, the game practically did not lose its style and charm, mainly because the new authors chose to leave everything as it was.
Mania rating: 8.0
"Great"
Elementary!
The main advantage of the "annals of Arkham" was an improved investigation regime. Amazing, but Warner Bros. Montreal – the first who managed to convincingly show Batman as a detective. The dark knight now really restores the events in pieces. Without jokes: after analyzing the situation and finding the necessary evidence, Wayne will be able to recreate the picture of the crime and carefully watch each segment. Participants will replace computer models.