Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate Puts The Dark Knight in Your Hands - Preview
by Jake Weston , posted on 14 June 2013 / 4,576 Views
Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate is one of my most anticipated handheld titles in quite some time. Not just because it’s a spin-off of the excellent-looking console title Batman: Arkham Origins, but because it’s a side-scrolling, “Metroidvania” title being made by Armature Studios, a development team which includes former Retro Studios employees who had worked on the Metroid Prime trilogy. Yes, more of that, please.
So with much enthusiasm I rushed to play the demo of the PS Vita version of the game on E3’s show floor, but unfortunately I was a bit disappointed by the linear nature of the demo. The Metroidvania aspect is what I’m looking forward to most in this game, after all, but I ran with it. The demo seems to indicate that this is the beginning of the game, and even the greats like Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night begin with highly linear segments. Oddly enough, the narration at the beginning of the demo indicates that Arkham Origins Blackgate takes place three months after its console counterpart. Sticklers for story may want to play the home console version first, then, but I didn’t see anything that indicated that Blackgate would spoil Arkham Origins.
The demo begins with Batman chasing down Catwoman across the rooftops of Gotham. Blackgate is a side-scroller, but it exists in many planes of depth as Batman travels left and right. The camera often shifts perspectives as Batman turns a corner, and he often goes into the background or the foreground when traversing to a new area (think Donkey Kong Country Returns).
Gameplay is almost exactly like previous Arkham games, just in a 2D plane. You still must hold down the X button to run and jump over obstacles, with Batman using his grappling hook to reach higher places with a quick press of the R button. I appreciate the authenticity towards translating the last Arkham games to handheld, but I have a feeling that not having a designated “jump” button in a side-scroller will become frustrating as the game progresses.
As Batman chased Catwoman across Gotham’s rooftops, thugs would periodically appear to let me try out Blackgate’s combat system. The combat system is almost exactly how it is in past Arkham games, with Batman juggling strikes between a variety of foes while attacking and countering enemies who get that familiar blue zappy thing over their heads. Unfortunately, the only gadget I had access to was Batman’s batarangs, so there definitely wasn’t the finesse and rhythm to the combat that made Arkham Asylum and Arkham City so great. Plus, the loss of the Z-axis makes Blackgate’s combat system feel much more simplistic. I hope that the combat improves considerably as Batman unlocks more gadgets throughout the game.
Next I got to see Blackgate’s version of “predator mode”, where Batman silently takes out thugs while zipping around between conveniently placed gargoyle statues. Again, this mechanic plays almost exactly the same as its console brethren. The camera even shifts perspectives so that these sections are technically played in the three-dimensional plane. The only difference here is that you have no control over the camera, but it didn’t bug me during the demo.
The chase culminated with Batman catching up with Catwoman and the two engaging in a fist fight. Of course, Batman being Batman, I was able to easily counter her as those oh so familiar little zappy symbols appeared over her head. But then things got uncomfortable, as Batman violently slammed her against the wall. I get that Batman is acting in self-defense, and that this is Batman and Catwoman’s first meeting in this canon, but it definitely seemed a bit out of character for Batman and made me concerned about the quality of writing for this game. The way Batman and Catwoman talk to each other sounds like it was written by fourteen year-olds who have never actually talked to women before. To be fair, I was also made uncomfortable by Catwoman’s depiction in Arkham City, but Blackgate takes it to a new level.
Writing previews for games is hard, because you’re only shown a small part of the entire experience, typically towards the beginning of the game where you don’t really get the chance to see all of its depth. I have confidence that Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate will open up with more exploration and gadgets to play around with, and if it does - combined with the solid translation of Arkham City’s combat system and art style - it will have the potential to truly be great. I just hope that the writing gets better.
