Batman: Arkham Origins
Batman: Arkham Origins is an upcoming video game being developed by Warner Bros. Games Montreal and released by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 3, Wii U and Xbox 360 video game consoles, and Microsoft Windows. Based on the DC Comics superhero Batman, it is the sequel to the 2011 video game Batman: Arkham City. The game's main storyline is set several years before that of 2009's Batman: Arkham Asylum and follows a younger and less refined Batman who becomes the target of assassins on Christmas Eve. It is scheduled for release on October 25, 2013.
A spin-off game, Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate, is scheduled for release alongside Arkham Origins for Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita.
Developer : Warner Bros. Games Montreal
Publisher : Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Director : Eric Holmes
Writers : Corey May, Dooma Wendschuch
Engine : Unreal Engine 3
Platforms : Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Wii U, Xbox 360
Release date : October 25, 2013
Gameplay
Arkham Origins will feature similar gameplay to its predecessors.The Remote Claw is a new gadget which allows Batman to target two objects and pull them together allowing him to knock enemies together or hit them with objects.The game introduces a fast travel system, allowing Batman to remotely summon his plane, the Batwing, to transport him to other areas of the game world quicker than gliding or grappling can allow. Enemy tower installations prevent Batman summoning the craft in some areas and must be first disabled using various gadgets and abilities to make the Batwing available: the Batwing is not player controlled.
Arkham Origins offers side missions including: "Crime in Progress", where Batman can assist the Gotham City Police Department (GCPD) to improve his reputation by accomplishing tasks such as rescuing police officers from a gang or preventing an informant being thrown to his death; "Most Wanted" allows Batman to pursue villains outside of the main story. The Dark Knight system offers tasks of escalating difficulty that promote improvement in stealth and combat. Completing side missions is rewarded with experience points and upgrades to Batman's equipment.[4] The game features an emphasis on Batman's detective skills: Batman can scan a crime scene using his detective vision to highlight points of interest and holograms act out theoretical scenarios of the crime that occurred. The crimes can be reviewed on the Batcomputer in the Batcave at will, allowing the player to view the scene from different angles, in slow motion or pause it while looking for clues to advance and solve the crime. Small and large crime scenes are spread out over Gotham City.
Synopsis
The events of Arkham Origins are set several years before Batman: Arkham Asylum, in the middle of winter in fictional Gotham City. Batman is an experienced crime-fighter, but has not yet become the veteran superhero portrayed in Arkham Asylum and Arkham City. Batman has battled with normal criminals and gangsters and is used to being stronger and faster than his targets, but on a snowy Christmas eve he is confronted with far more dangerous enemies: super villains tasked with killing Batman.The sadistic and brutal Black Mask has placed a bounty on the superhero, and Batman must discover why the villain harbors a deep hatred for him. Black Mask is the most powerful man in the city, possessing vast wealth and resources, and controls Gotham's criminal underworld, having eliminated his opposition and begun consolidating his power. His mask conceals his identity, allowing him to operate publicly as Roman Sionis, head of Janus Cosmetics. Black Mask's henchmen help instigate a rise in crime and gang activity in the city. Captain James Gordon and the Gotham City Police Department are wary of the new superhero in their midst, and are not his allies with corrupt cops actively working against him. Arkham Origins will feature the debut of the assassin Deathstroke, Alberto Falcone, and the return of the Penguin and Batman's butler Alfred Pennyworth from Arkham City.
Old Gotham, the segment of Gotham City which will become the Arkham City prison, is not yet walled off or ravaged by flood, and contains slums, lower buildings, a large shopping mall, and docks where Penguin's ship The Final Offer is stationed. Across the bridge from Old Gotham is New Gotham, the more modern metropolitan area of the city filled with towering skyscrapers.
Development
In July 2012, it was reported that Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (WBIE) was looking to make Rocksteady's next Batman game a prequel based on the Silver Age of Comic Books, and featuring the characters Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and the Flash. The report suggested that the game would explore Batman's first confrontation with the Joker, and that it would have a release date of no earlier than 2014. In August 2012, Paul Dini stated that he would not be involved in writing a sequel to Arkham City. He had not been included in writing for any of that game's downloadable content (DLC), including the story-based "Harley Quinn's Revenge" DLC, and said that Warner Bros. and Rocksteady suggested that he take work elsewhere if offered. He added that he had taken on other projects that would prevent his involvement until 2013. In February 2013, it was reported that a new game in the Batman Arkham franchise would be released in 2013, and that Rocksteady would not be acting as the developer.
Batman: Arkham Origins was announced on April 9, 2013 with Canadian studio Warner Bros. Games Montreal (WB Montreal) serving as the developer. The studio previously worked on the Wii U adaptation of Batman: Arkham City, which allowed them to familiarise themselves with the modified Unreal Engine 3 development engine utilized by Rocksteady Studios, developer of the first two Arkham games. WB Montreal opted not to heavily modify the established combat system, believing it already worked well, but are introducing new enemy types to provide opportunities to use new tactics and combat moves to defeat opponents. Rocksteady provided advice on the technology, game mechanics and engine, but WB Montreal was allowed to develop the story independently. The plot was partly inspired by the comic book series Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, and the graphic novel Batman: Year One detailing the first year of Batman's career, with Arkham Origins being described as a "Year Two" story. The story is written by Dooma Wendschuch and Corey May with input from DC Comics and and comic book writer Geoff Johns. Eric Holmes serves as Arkham Origins creative director. Holmes described the choice of a Christmas setting as a purposeful juxtaposition between the joyful time of year and the grim world of Gotham City, such as decorative Santa's by gothic gargoyles, and Christmas lights offering dim lighting in dark alleyways. The city itself was described as a place dislodged from time and space, featuring 1930's stylized and older buildings contrasted with Batman's futuristic technology beyond even modern gadgets. The New Gotham area of the game was designed for vertical movement, allowing the placement of enemies at different heights above and below Batman to create areas dense with activity. Holmes acknowledged that Black Mask is not as well known as some of Batman's other rogues such as the Joker and Penguin, and said that extra work was required to provide enough characterization to make him interesting and scary. The story is also intended to explore the relationship between Batman and Alfred. Batman sees Alfred as a reminder of his parents' deaths, and an overbearing parental figure, while Alfred sees Batman as a spoiled child squandering his inheritance on his vigilante crusade, causing the two to repeatedly clash in the plot.
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