Came out not too long ago Batman: Arkham Origins is a cross-platform video game developed by Canadian studio Warner Bros. Games Montreal and published by Warner Bros. interactive entertainment. As with previous games in the series, Batman: Arkham Origins has a huge number of secrets and easter eggs, some of which are presented here.
Posters and posters of Gotham
Traveling around Gotham, you will be surprised by the number of posters hung up. The city itself apparently has a fertile history of theatricality, and certain posters depicting and promoting circus performances will be references to famous DC Universe characters and other events.
This poster shows inscriptions, as well as the name - Basil Carlo. Basil is the first villain to call himself Clayface.
And here, one of the posters shows Carlo before his breakdown, after which he becomes a criminal and subsequently turns into Clayface.
This poster depicts Thomas Reese Blake, a hunter and tiger trainer who later became Catman, a supervillain and Batman's main adversary.
This poster features the great illusionist and sorceress Zatanna Zatara. Known for her involvement in the Justice League and her childhood encounter with Batman.
This billboard on the roof of Parkovaya Street is an advertisement for a private military organization Ferris Aircraft. It was in it that the superhero Hal Jordan, better known as the Green Lantern, worked.
And here on the wall there is a poster that refers to the superhero nicknamed Steel. John Henry Irons worked as a scientist at Amertek Industries.
Crime of the century
Not far from Park Street Church, as in Arkham City, there is Crime Alley. This is the infamous place where Bruce's parents were killed. After completing the main storyline, there will be a small side quest, reminiscent of this tragedy.
Arkham's origins follow the same thread, including the same chalk schemes and indeed the same single red flower in Crime Alley from more early game, which of course comes later in the series.
Green Arrow
In the debut trailer, the Queen Industries logo was seen on a crate of explosives. The owner of this company is the billionaire Oliver Queen, who is better known around the world as the superhero Green Arrow. He is also a member of the Justice League.
In the game itself, on the Penguin's ship, you can find the same logo, only already depicted on the container, in which, most likely, weapons were transported.
In one scene of the trailer, there is a logo graphic that looks suspiciously like the entrance to Green Arrow City.
Deadshot Rifle
Here is a suitcase sniper rifle and ammo scattered around, which we saw in the game's debut trailer.
AmerTek Industries
At the end of the debut trailer, we see a bullet while slowing down, which depicts an engraving with a certain symbol. For many, this is invisible, but this symbol is a brand. AmerTek is the name of the company that originally hired John Henry Irons, a military engineer turned superhero named Steel.
Frozen Criminal
Well, here we see a gang criminal frozen in ice. Apparently, this is a consequence of the war between the Penguin and the Falcone family.
Red Cap
If you explore the cave, you will find a notice board where you can see a mention of the Red Hood.
There is also a similar board on the wall in the police department, which clears things up a bit between some Gotham characters.
Calendar Man's hideout
Calendar Man is a fictional supervillain from the DC Comics universe who is an enemy of Batman. You can visit his lair, which is covered in calendar pages and other doodles related to key calendar events like New Years.
Batmobile
The latest easter egg from the Montreal team, where we see drawings and diagrams of an early model of the Batmobile.
Batman: Arkham Origins, the harsh superhero everyday life of the Dark Knight is extremely varied and intense. Within just a couple of days, Batman manages to clean up criminals for all kinds of criminal elements of the city of Gotham, and restore the infrastructure of his native streets, and conduct a dozen detective investigations - with the collection of evidence, forensic examination and knocking out testimony from suspects. In all this turmoil, it is not difficult to get confused - and that's when we come to the rescue.In this material you will find the most important tips for passing Batman: Arkham Origins, solutions to the most difficult problems, as well as a useful video that will allow you to complete the game at 100%. With this guide, you can easily deal with all the hardships of Gotham - so that Bruce Wayne can finally have a human rest for Christmas.
To get started, here are a few simple but very important things to understand about Batman: Arkham Origins that you need to know. Follow these tips and your Dark Knight will not leave the villains a single chance.
Respond to requests for help as often as possible. While moving around Gotham, you will now and then receive up-to-date information about the debauchery that is happening right now. Since such squabbles usually occur in close proximity to your current position, it is best not to ignore them. As a rule, you are required to appear at the scene of the crime and beat all the opponents - the work is dustless, fast and profitable. On the one hand, for each help you will gain experience, and on the other hand, such collisions will quickly teach you how to fight effectively in Arkham Origins. The benefit of the latter is difficult to overestimate.
Not everything you see is immediately available. All sorts of trophies, secrets and alternative paths that you will encounter during the game will not necessarily be available to you right away. Very often, in order to receive a particular reward, you will be required to have one or another gadget or ability that opens up during the story campaign. This means that the most best time to collect, for example, Enigma data blocks - after the completion of the story part of the game, when you have collected the entire arsenal of the Dark Knight.
Hidden passage gives much more experience than head-on collisions with opponents. If possible, try to stun enemies without being noticed - after a little practice, you will certainly get it easily and naturally. The secretive Dark Knight will gain experience much faster, and as a result, new abilities.
Stealth is good, but strong armor is better. To make your life easier, first upgrade Batman's armor. First for close combat, and then - ballistic. This way you will ensure better survival in the early stages of the game and save yourself a lot of nerves in battles. As master of stealth as you are, Arkham Origins will often have you fighting dozens of bandits in open combat - better be prepared for that.
It's important for Batman to fight beautifully. At the end of each skirmish with enemies, you will be given one or another amount of experience. The following points affect the battle rating: maximum length chains of hits (or combo multiplier), the amount of damage received (it is better to minimize it), the variety of gadgets used in battle. In other words, you will get the most experience if you do not "miss" hits, while using your entire arsenal in the fight.
Don't skimp on the side quests. Capturing villains and ruining their plans are richly rewarded large quantity experience, as well as the new abilities of Batman. Side quests will not only help stretch the fun of Batman: Arkham Origins, but will also allow you to come face to face with the most famous characters of the DC Universe.
Complete the Dark Knight system challenges whenever possible. The achievements built into the game itself, on the one hand, will help you get to know certain aspects of the game mechanics better (for example, you can practice the technique of moving around Gotham or stealth), and on the other hand, they will give you a lot of experience upon completion.
PROBLEM BOSS
During the passage of Batman: Arkham Origins you will meet a lot of villains varying degrees lousy. Some of them can cause a lot of problems for a novice player. About where the main difficulties may arise - below in the text.
How to beat Deathstroke
Deathstroke, one of the first bosses in Batman: Arkham Origins, is a good test of your reaction. The main difficulty in the battle with him is to hit and counterattack in a timely manner. It is very important to take your time and press the counter button only when the corresponding indicator lights up above Deathstroke's head. If counterattacked too soon or too late, Batman will get a slap in the face from one of the most skilled close combat fighters in the DC Universe.
How to beat Bane
We will meet Bane in battle twice. During the first battle, the player is required to dodge Bane's strongest blows and strike back in a timely manner with lightning-fast series. In general, your first meeting with him should not give you much trouble if you have successfully beaten ordinary opponents before.
During the second meeting, the battle will be divided into two parts. If the first one follows exactly the same scenario as described above, then the second part will make you tinker a little. Under the influence of Venom, Bane cannot be attacked in the forehead - Batman is forced to attack him covertly, using ventilation, gratings in the floor and electrical circuits. Keep in mind that Bane will not fall for the same trick twice, so you will have to show maximum ingenuity. You can see the successful battle with the pumped Bane in the video below.
How to beat the Mad Hatter
The entire boss fight takes place in the Hatter's world of illusions: in order to defeat the villain, you only need to reach the end of the stage using your gadgets and ingenuity. But this is easier said than done - a few insidious traps and non-obvious scenes may well become a problem for the player. How to overcome all this - again, in the video.
How to defeat Firefly
One of the final bosses in Batman: Arkham Origins. However, the fight is quite simple - if you know what gadgets to use at any given moment of the battle.
How to open suits
Batman: Arkham Origins features wide selection Batman costumes - each not only changes your appearance, but also gives certain advantages. Suits are unlocked for certain actions and achievements in the game, and you can change the armor in the corresponding section of the Batcave. Here's what you need to do to unlock costumes for all occasions.
Batman- given at the beginning of the game.
Batman One Million Skin- Register for the WBID service.
New 52 Graphic- capture all the villains from the list of the most wanted.
Dark Knight- pass all tests.
Noel- Find all Enigma data blocks.
Injustice- get all the medals in the trials.
blackest night- get a level in multiplayer.
Caches of Enigma
For one hundred percent completion of Batman: Arkham Origins, you will need to collect all the Enigma data blocks that the villain hid well throughout Gotham. Interrogating Enigma agents will help you find out their location (they are marked on the city map), and this series of videos will help you figure out how to get to them.
Which greatly changed the idea of \u200b\u200bwhat a game about superheroes should look like, came out, not at all a continuation of the story, as the name implies, but a prequel, a kind of return to the past. The game tells about the time when the Dark Knight seemed to the inhabitants of Gotham more like an urban legend, a myth or a horror story for criminals. Some villains who have already encountered the avenger are afraid of him and want to destroy him, others doubt that he really exists. The police at this time are also hunting for Batman, considering him the same violator of the law as the rest of the bandits, a dangerous unbalanced vigilante who commits lynching.
Developer: Warner Bros. GamesMontreal.
Publisher: Warner Bros. interactive entertainment.
Publisher in Russia: 1C-SoftKlab.
Release date: October 25, 2013.
Batman assassins
So many opponents - the most common battle
This time we are not limited either to the closed territory of the hospital, or to just one district of the city, we have the whole of Gotham in front of us. This is a fairly large, open space with a variety of locations and attractions (church, commercial Bank, steel mill, bridge, ice statues, amusement park, etc.). The transition from one area to another, as before, is not interrupted by any downloads. For speed of movement, you can use not only a cloak, but also a bat-plane. The events of the game take place right on the eve of Christmas, there is a heavy snowfall in the yard, everyone is preparing for the holiday, and only Bruce Wayne has no peace even on this day. Batman is on the trail of Black Mask, a violent villain who controls much of the city's criminal business. Black Mask can do whatever he wants, because the police have long been doing what he says, and look at all his crimes through their fingers. The only obstacle in the way of the villain is Batman. There are almost no honest policemen left, it seems that only Captain James Gordon has not yet forgotten what honor and law are. But ironically, it is Gordon who is assigned to lead the task force in pursuit of Batman himself. The hero here has to fight not only with criminals, but also with the police, who do not even let a step go. And from the very beginning of his activity, Batman adheres to the rule of not killing anyone, which greatly complicates life. True, it is not forbidden to use torture and threats, break bones, intimidate and beat suspects and informers. You have to interrogate people in this way all the time, which happens with an admixture of characteristic dark humor.
Gordon refuses to trust Batman
Batman's Christmas night will be very difficult and filled with a lot of events, battles, meetings, investigations. The peculiarity of this particular case is that Black Mask offered a huge amount of professional killers to rid the city of Batman. Instead of holed up in the Batcave, Bruce goes looking for the mercenaries himself. Gradually, we will have to meet with each of them and neutralize them all. Most of the killers, bosses of the game, each of which has its own location and its own characteristics of the battle, faces familiar to all readers of comics: Bane, Deathstroke, Deadshot, Copperhead, Shiva, Firefly, Taser. Fights with them are thought out well and are characterized by increased complexity. Each of the killers in this case has their own motives, not all of them are after Batman for money. Shiva, for example, wants to test an avenger for his boss, whose identity can be guessed at once.
The past still haunts Bruce 
Anarky
First meeting
It's worth saying that Arkham Origins- it's still not year one like in comics or cartoon, but rather year two. Batman is not yet a symbol of the city, but he is not a ninja apprentice, not an adventurer either. Bruce is already fully formed, has chosen his image, they have already heard about him. For the first time, Batman meets the Joker, Bane and some other heroes. The Joker is still a new and unknown criminal, without whom, of course, they could not do without in the plot of this game. And how nice it is to see him again, after he died in Arkham City. The Joker is currently operating without Harley Quinn, with whom he is just meeting - she is still a psychologist-trainee, undergoing practice in Arkham prison. Harley, as you remember, is experiencing an unhealthy craving for all kinds of maniacs and psychos, he is very interested in them. The Joker has not quite become what we are used to seeing him, he is turning into a real psycho right before our eyes, which amazes even Batman. Their meeting here is quite symbolic, the circumstances under which the Joker flared up with such an unhealthy interest in his opponent are interestingly thought out. Batman practically gave him a new meaning to life. The level of madness and chaos that the Joker spreads around him will increase over time. It’s not at all the Black Mask that will become our main opponent, but the Joker, which, however, one could guess. It is curious that we will even let them play. In general, there are many memorable and worthwhile moments in Arkham Origins. In addition to the very remarkable mercenaries, we will meet with other criminals and heroes. Barbara Gordon, James' daughter, is neither the Oracle nor Batgirl yet, she is just a schoolgirl who is already interested in fighting crime and helping Batman for the first time.
In the Hatter's World of Illusions 
Battle with Deathstroke
Among the non-mercenary minor villains, one can note Anarky, an anarchist revolutionary who believes that this city can no longer be saved and is trying to destroy it. To do this, he planted bombs everywhere, which we need to defuse in time. The Mad Hatter also appears here, who still seems to think that he has fallen into the fairy tale of Lewis Carroll. In terms of gameplay and style, the task with him stands out from the rest and is quite interesting. Of the old acquaintances, there are also the Penguin, who does not particularly stand out here, and the Riddler, who has collected dirt on important people in Gotham. Ridler wants to put all this information on the Web, after which chaos will ensue. Batman, exploring Gotham, turning off the radio towers (immediately recalled Far Cry 3), destroying relays and collecting blocks of data, should prevent this. By collecting data, we can listen to incriminating audio recordings, update information about the characters. Whoever manages to solve all the riddles will be given a unique chance to capture the Riddler by sneaking into his hideout. Unfortunately, I did not collect several files, so I could not do this, and I do not know what will be there, whether it is worth it. Minor missions also stimulate the study of Gotham: investigations, crimes reported on police radio, signs of Anarky. Secondary quests, alas, are monotonous and almost uninteresting, although you can do them for the sake of pumping the hero.
Perfect Predator
There are not so many changes in the gameplay of the game compared to the last part. Although we are playing backstory, most devices from Arkham City are also used here and become available not at the end of the game, but rather quickly. There were also new devices and techniques. The fights have become a bit more difficult: there are strengthened and armored enemies that require a special combination of moves, and the number of opponents has also increased. By the end of the game, the city is teeming with fighters of various villains, snipers are sitting everywhere on the roofs, most often among the groups of criminals there are people with firearms. Fights look beautiful, they are dynamic and varied. You can let your imagination run wild and combine a variety of attacks and devices, gaining additional rating and gaining experience. I didn’t particularly like stealth in this series of games, in Arkham Origins nothing has changed much either: it is best to eliminate enemies covertly and silently, using various devices, crawling through the ventilation, jumping out from below, etc. Enemies react quickly enough to the slightest noise and are very stubborn and suspicious - it will not be too easy for anyone.
Handiwork of the Joker 
Looks like someone is going to get hurt... 
Battle with Firefly on the bridge
Interesting innovation with crime scene investigations. With the help of his computer, Batman examines all the evidence and tries to visually recreate the crime in order to identify the culprit. Scenes can and should be rewound to find the desired item. It doesn't take much effort to solve these cases, but the investigations look interesting and we are kind of reminded that Batman is mainly a great detective. There are also changes in gaining experience and development. Some tricks and improvements become available only when certain conditions and tasks are met. At the same time, your rating as a detective, fighter or predator also increases. Some of the actions from this list will not be easy to perform, but improvements are not at all required for passing.
cold, cold heart
Although many sites scold Batman: Arkham Origins for being secondary, I still liked the game thanks to its design, boring gameplay and well-developed plot, great music, and atmosphere. The scenes with Bane and the Joker falling from the roof, Firefly, Harvey are still memorable. There is drama here, for which the series fell in love, although the share of new gameplay solutions is really minimal. But we see a younger and quick-tempered Batman, learn about his disputes with Alfred, about new heroes. Yes, and the snowy night Gotham is beautiful.
Cold weather suit 
In the cellar of the Wayne mansion
I will especially talk about additions. There were several of them, but only one of them is a plot one - Cold, Cold Heart (or Frozen Heart in Russian translation), that with Mr. Freeze. This is the first meeting with this villain, the story of his personal tragedy. It is much inferior to the main plot of the game, but for an add-on it is quite good. If in a regular game we did not see Bruce Wayne not in a suit and did not visit his house, then the addon corrects this misunderstanding. Freeze himself is not as unpredictable as the Joker, so you shouldn't expect anything special from meeting him. In addition, the addition goes very quickly. Other addons can be completely ignored - there are only additional costumes and challenge cards. You can also try them, but I was cool about them in the previous parts, too. In this series, the most important thing for me is the plot itself.
| Batman: Arkham Origins (Batman: Arkham Origins) | |
| Developer | WB Games Montreal Splash Damage |
| Publisher | Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment |
| Official site | http://batman-arkhamcity.ru/ |
| release date | October 2013 |
| Localizer | 1C-SoftClub |
| Genre | Action |
Rocksteady Studios at one time managed to do what happened with the film image of Batman, whose stories of adventures became the standard for superhero films. Arkham Asylum offered a vibrant story with charismatic characters and spectacular gameplay. In Arkham City, developers have taken the path of "bigger and richer", increasing hunting grounds Batman and carefully filling the playing area with a bunch of additional tasks. Against the backdrop of the success of the duology, it would be surprising for the copyright holder not to make another attempt to look into the pocket of loyal fans. This time the work on the new game was entrusted to another studio - WB Games Montreal. The new team carefully studied the experience of its predecessors, but was afraid to change something. Arkham Origins is a compilation of familiar elements without any attempt to update or improve anything.
You need to start with the fact that the new game offers a glimpse into the past. All events develop five years before the riot in Arkham Asylum. Bruce Wayne recently embarked on the path of the night avenger, so the rumors about him for the most part are still rumors and remain. The hero has no assistants in the police. And the main crime king of Gotham is a mafioso in a black mask, who bears the appropriate nickname. And on the eve of Christmas, the villain Black Mask decides to hunt Batman, gathering the most dangerous villains and promising a huge sum for the destruction of his enemy.
The introduction looks, to put it mildly, sluggish. Past games from the first minutes demonstrated some kind of intrigue and interesting production. In Arkham Origins, we are offered to crush the sides of rebellious prisoners in prison, fight the crocodile-like Croc and find out about the hunt that has opened on Batman. Everything is linear and clumsy. It seems that this will be the end of the game. But at a certain point, the writers make a sharp feint, and the whole story with tracking down the main villain abruptly changes focus. The narrative becomes more cheerful and develops more rapidly, although it no longer presents any surprises. The last game was still more intense and varied. The story was presented from the point of view of two characters (except for Batman they were allowed to play as a catwoman). And the plot did not offer confrontation strictly with one antagonist. One was the main instigator, but the other one always came to the fore - the Joker.
Not without the Joker and here. After numerous skirmishes with this character in past games, trying to beat his confrontation with the hero in the old ways looks like an endless series about family relationships. Repetition is the main problem new game. There are new villains, but there are enough old ones. Croc, Bane, Hatter, Deadshot - all of them have already been in past games. All of them have already been defeated, but here you need to do it again. It seems to be understandable - the old victories will be in the future. And the current victories are just an opportunity to put all the villains in prison, from which then everyone will run away again. But the appeal to the prehistory made it possible to imagine the very formation of some villains, somehow deepen and expand their stories. There is nothing like that. A brief summary of the actors in Arkham City gave more information than local twists and turns. Showed only the beginning of the relationship between the Joker and Harley Quinn. The Joker himself has remained a dark horse.
New villains also found a place. All of them are traditionally excellent psychos, they are distinguished by a certain uniqueness and criminal specialization. The story of the formation of the friendship between the hero and Commissioner Gordon is also told. They will show who the Oracle is. So there are enough pleasant moments for the fans too.
It is a pity that the authors did not try to somehow expand the image of Bruce Wayne. There are small flirtations with guilt from losing parents. There is a scene in the spirit of "I can not help the city." That is, there is nothing new. And the principle of refusing to kill is even brought to the point of absurdity at the end of the plot narrative. Although this principled protagonist, in the light of his general brutality, looked strange before.
The game has one minus, which destroys the overall picture of the representation of the world. If in the previous parts there was some explanation for the absence of ordinary residents, then in Arkham Origins the action develops in an ordinary city until its isolation. But still, the streets are full of thugs, and there is not a single passer-by. And the general pre-holiday atmosphere is not particularly felt. Snowball, garlands are good, but you can’t get rid of the feeling that you are playing in a slightly modified Arkham City.
The gameplay has not changed. Our main activities are fighting and exploring the world. There is no innovation here. The combat system is based on continuous series of strikes and timely counterattacks. At the moment of impact, enemies are highlighted with special indicators. If you have time to press the appropriate key, then you will implement the technique of evasion and retaliation. With only two buttons (punch and counterpunch), the game depicts very spectacular fights. Batman performs different moves and grabs depending on which enemy strike he has prevented. They caught two at once at the moment of the attack - they did an evasion and pressed both of them face down on the asphalt. And if you manage to carry out several ordinary strikes without interruption, then the hero enters courage and begins to jump from one opponent to another, inflicting more and more powerful and swift blows. This combat extravaganza ends with the final blow in slowdown.
In fact, everything seems very simple. At first it is. But gradually more and more large hordes of enemies descend on us, and it is already difficult to keep track of all the attackers and have time to press a counterattack in right time. With the task of the desired direction of impact, there may also be problems if there are a dozen or two fighters around you. On cramped arena levels, you have to constantly turn the camera in order not to lose sight of the overall panorama of the battle. Opponents grow in difficulty as the game progresses through the use of body armor, knives, firearms and shields. You can't dodge these with one button. You have to pretty jump, leaving the attack zone, and carry out more tricky combinations. Someone can only be overtaken from the back, someone can be stunned with a cloak, and then finished off. All bobbleheads are quite resistant and can withstand a lot of blows. And if you knock out a weapon from the shooters, they will then try to pick it up again. Other fighters also do not mind picking up a knife or machine gun from a fallen comrade. At the same time, the advance click of the shutter indicates the preparation of fire from automatic weapons, which makes it possible to orient in time.
In general, the fights are interesting and tense. But this is thanks to a well-established and time-tested system. The only change is shock electric gloves. They are given in the last third of the story campaign, which makes hand-to-hand combat easier, because by the end the number of opponents on the screen just rolls over. Gloves allow for more powerful strikes without being parried by the victim, but take time to recharge.
Boss battles are built on the skillful use of counters, which sometimes turns into a very tough test of speed. In particular, this concerns a meeting with a new villain named Deathstroke. In terms of intensity and dynamics, this battle will surpass the fight with any boss from past games. Looks amazing and very cool. But this is if you just play, not trying to win. It is worth focusing on the execution of counterattacks, as everything that happens is lost somewhere in the background. The authors increase the difficulty by using a trick that confuses the player: at some point in time, the possibility of a counterattack is indicated by an indicator above the head, and at another moment, the counter-attack only works when the corresponding mouse icon appears. At the same time, the icon itself is small (hello to the console interface for low screen resolutions), and haste leads to defeat. Many other fights are built on such an accurate response to counterattack icons, although they have less speed and complexity.
Bane was nominated for the role of one of the main antagonists, with whom he is forced to fight several times, which even begins to annoy. Here, too, there were some small tricks. At some point in time, Bane can be stunned with one hit of the cloak, and after taking a venom, he requires three hits. The funny thing is that in the first case, the triple strike does not work. Every other time, a triple stun is triggered when jumping over a running Bane - Batman often stops after the first swing. If you jump sideways, then a triple swing is then realized with a probability of 100%. Either these are regular game conventions, or flaws, but they are very annoying. Although from the visual side, everything also looks great - powerful series of blows, spectacular dodges in slowdown.
The most exciting thing about Batman is the ability to become a predator that preys on criminals. The game does not always force you to converge to a fistfight in tight arenas. Sometimes we are let out into spacious halls with a bunch of loopholes where you can arrange a quiet hunt. No one bothers here to openly rush at enemies, knock out machine guns, throw smoke grenades or batarangs. But it is much more interesting to wait for the moment at some high point in order to grab and hang the bandit. Or, climbing into the ventilation, watch for him at the grate and stun him with a powerful blow. After that, quickly take off with the help of a tenacious mechanism with a claw to the ceiling and admire how alarmed enemies run below in search of an attacker. Somewhere you can arrange surprise attacks, watching for thin wall or around the corner. You can use an explosive gel that will stun the poor fellow and draw everyone's attention to the desired area.
Exploring the world and overcoming obstacles requires the use of different devices. The set of gadgets has changed little, and some new items do not differ much from old devices. So, the glue grenade replaces the ice grenade from Arkham City, allowing you to block hot steam flows and create a raft on the water surface. The city available for research has become even larger, there are a lot of side tasks in it, but they do not offer anything original. This is a search for hiding places, solving puzzles for extracting data blocks, neutralizing boxes with toxin or weapons. Everything is the same as what we were offered to do before. A more interesting investigation mode offers the study of crime scenes and the scanning of evidence, followed by the neutralization of suspects. Some crimes form a chain of events leading to a major villain with whom a fight awaits us. Some of these skirmishes are worse than story-driven boss fights. But this is also not due to the complexity of the game mechanics, but because of the constantly arriving reinforcements or other conventions. Completing all the side quests will take much longer than completing the storyline.
To encourage the player, Arkham Origins gives statistics on the results of each encounter with enemies, setting an average score and rewarding a certain amount of experience. The more skillfully you go through each fight, the more experience you get. A similar reward awaits for any side quest, up to the collection of hidden items. Pumping is divided into several branches. Some upgrades are only available by completing secondary quests or challenge ratings. The latter is fun for the most outspoken fans. Tests offer to fight in arenas in order to score right amount points, implement some long combo, handle for certain time or do something else necessary condition. Entertainment for those who find little massacre in the main game. Even in the trials, you can play for the same Deathstroke.
There were no technical problems. The first buyers encountered impassable ventilation in one of the story missions, but this was quickly patched up in the update. There are also smaller annoyances. Either the Penguin's box in one place is not destroyed on the first attempt, then Batman in flight begins to twitch strangely, and several frozen motionless figures turn out to be in a gang fight.
Appeared online game which the predecessors did not have. It was developed by the studio Splash Damage. So far, one mode is available, but the very fact that there is a choice of modes indicates the possibility of expanding them in the future. Plays eight people. The Joker and Bane gangs of three compete against each other on different maps for dominating special control points, trying to kill opponents. The third side of the conflict is Batman and Robin, who are trying to stun all the bandits using standard tricks with sudden captures and planning from above. At the same time, the heroes are engaged in hacking terminals at the very points for which there is a struggle. Distinguished bandits can be reborn in the image of the supervillains Joker and Bane. Here you can draw an analogy with the Tank role award in Left 4 Dead.
Three-way conflict with superheroes turns out to be interesting and unusual. That's just in terms of management, everything is a little clumsy. The bandits get a clumsy third-person shooter with a crooked cover system. And the heroes are initially puzzled by a slightly different reaction to control compared to a single game. And quick jumps from one statue to another with a hook do not always work. By the way, in the single-player campaign, there are also problems with this. It's unpleasant, because in the old games everything worked fine, the hero immediately reacted to such actions.
As you gain experience in online battles, players have access to new weapons, armor and various gadgets. There are opportunities to change appearance. Some bonus items are given out as a result of completing tasks in a single mode.
The last game in the Batman series got support for DirectX 11. In particular, tessellation was used quite actively. Wet paving stones with embossed mud and melted snow looked great. Arkham Origins has lost ground a bit in terms of displaying the open world. Paving stones and walls are not so convex, although there are enough relief surfaces - it depends on the location. The city is partially hidden under the snow, which sparkles pleasantly in the light. But in some places the snow cover looks inconspicuous.
Elsewhere, deformable, realistic snow can be seen using tessellation. Mostly this snow lies on the roofs.
Tessellation is also used to improve the geometry of the hero's cape. The folds on it became more detailed, which formed a more naturalistic texture of the fabric. Although the hard material of the cape, which serves as a gliding wing, seems more logical.
Added support for the HBAO+ lighting system, which was developed by NVIDIA as a less resource-intensive alternative to conventional HBAO global illumination algorithms. open world in terms of lighting performance does not cause any admiration. Impressions change dramatically when moving to closed areas. Numerous lights form very lively lighting effects and enhance the overall sense of depth in the image.
In general, the study of interiors is better than the study big world. Even indoor surfaces look more embossed. In some places you can see the obvious application of tessellation on the deformed piles of dirt on the floor. And towards the end of the game, in the scenes on the bridge, the same tessellated melted snow from old game. Now it is no longer very similar to melted snow, but it still significantly improves the overall realism of the display of snowdrifts.
Thanks to PhysX, realistic fog and gas are implemented in the game. Such smoke always creeps along the sewer tunnels. A similar vapor envelops various mechanisms. All this fog looks amazing in the rays of light. With him, the dungeons take on a completely different, more atmospheric look.
Used by PhysX to simulate snow and light snow that rises during fights and winds around the heroes. And the activation of this option adds various interactive pieces of paper flying from the flapping of the cloak, and numerous waving flags and banners of groups.
Here and there PhysX provides more particles to simulate a snowstorm hitting a window. But here, too, not everything is clear. For example, there is a mission in a skyscraper hotel. There are a lot of open windows in which the wind howls. But near them there is neither tessellated snow nor a stream of dense particles. But on the top floor, a powerful stream of snow haze and particles is drawn, which spreads along the entire corridor. The funny thing is that it comes from a closed window! A similar alternation of scenes with and without PhysX is observed on the bridge already mentioned.
Available scenes show wide opportunities visualization of some effects using PhysX. But their real application could be more active. Another thing worth noting is the PhysX smoke that comes from shock gauntlets during their long use. It spreads behind the hero and envelops him in streams during sudden movements during the battle. A trifle, but it looks nice.
The overall visual impression of the story missions is very pleasing - beautifully detailed levels, well-placed lighting with glare, dungeons with fog. Skillful use of lens effects focuses the camera on the hero during dialogues and final blows. Impressions from the outer city are somewhat weaker.
The musical accompaniment flirts with pathos and epic atmosphere from Hans Zimmer's soundtrack to Christopher Nolan's film trilogy, which is good.
Batman: Arkham Origins exploits the ideas of past installments of the series, offering new story within the framework of the old gameplay. And the plot narrative itself uses familiar motifs, characters and images. So no effect of novelty from the game should not be expected. Typical commercial continuation for the sake of continuation. Arkham Origins looks like a treadmill and a big addon. A couple of new gadgets, a few new bosses, and a bunch of the same type of side quests in the overgrown game world do not push the game to a new level. But that's all it lacks. In all other respects, it is not much worse than its predecessor. The same solid action movie with a spectacular production of fights and great feelings of an invisible hunter in certain locations. All the best is left, and it still captivates. If you went through the original dilogy with rapture and want more, you will also get a lot of pleasure from the new game. If you are already fed up with previous games, then Arkham Origins will not cause strong emotions. Multiplayer will be an additional argument for fans.
