Batman™: Arkham Origins

It's a Batman game in it's heart, but the buggiest one of them all. Controls are sometimes broken, Batman broken animations and don't get me started on the fighting bugs, it's like Batman's been head on the head one too many times, missing enemies and unable to finish them on the ground. Giving it 3 stars, because it is a good game and most of the time it's working properly

The game is moderately fun although it involves a lot of button mashing and little thought. I gave up trying to play with keyboard and mouse because it continually forgot the default configuration and things like the left mouse button stopped working. It does not allow you to change the difficulty level except when you are starting a game. I was having difficulty with a boss fight on standard and finally started a new game. The game stopped auto saving, or did not preserve the last auto save after shutting down. I uninstalled several times. I finally gave up. Windows 11 i7 processor, generic mouse and keyboard drivers

I was hesitant on trying this game after reading all the reviews about how "bad" this game was. Thanfully I decided to go against what others said and try it out for myself and it's insane how close I was to missing out on a hidden gem in the Arkham series. One of the main gripes was how buggy the game is, and from my perspective playing this game in 2025, it wasn't too bad. I ran into the falling through the map glitch only once and managed to load a previous save to undo it. Everything else was minor and an annoyance at most, though on launch I hear it was a nightmare. Thanfully it wasn't too bad for me at least. The game is Arkham City but expanded upon, with amazing cutscenes and much better boss fights. You get the old map plus a new section added to it with a Christmas feel to everything which I like. The new voice actors did a fine job with Batman and Joker despite what the kiddy fanboys will rage at you about. The shock gloves were critisized for making combat trivial, but they're unlocked later in the game and are easy to ignore if you still want the challenge. City is the golden child of the series for most, but for me Origins had me engaded much more than City ever did. Do be mindful that it still has bugs, just no where near how badly it apparently launched with. Best to back up your saves just in case as I did.

It was said at the time Origins felt like a City mod but a little over a decade later even though City is the best, Origins holds up pretty well on it's own. The original story and snowy Gotham are where it shines. Been playing for a long time with no bugs and no crashes. Using a wireless PS5 controller thanks to DS4Windows and taking screenshots with the PS button courtesy of Fraps. Running "smoothly" at low settings with a decade old LeNovo Z40-70 packing a GeForce GT 820M. Bluetooth earplugs and it feels like a giant handheld.

It's definitely not on the same level as Arkham Asylum or Arkham City, but it is an enjoyable experience regardless. The combat certainly feels more realistic and the winter setting is nice, but something is missing... it doesn't feel as original as the previous entries of the franchise.