Batman: Arkham Origins

Batman: Arkham Origins is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by WB Games Montréal and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. It is the third released entry in the Arkham series, but its story is set years before Batman: Arkham Asylum. Rocksteady Studios did not develop Origins; WB Games Montréal took over development while Rocksteady worked on Batman: Arkham Knight. The game launched for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U, and Windows, with a separate PlayStation Vita and Nintendo 3DS companion title, Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate, developed by Armature Studio. Set in Gotham City on Christmas Eve, Origins presents a younger, less trusted Batman, voiced by Roger Craig Smith rather than Kevin Conroy. Crime lord Roman Sionis, known as Black Mask, places a fifty-million-dollar bounty on Batman’s head. Eight assassins are drawn to Gotham: Bane, Deadshot, Deathstroke, Copperhead, Electrocutioner, Firefly, Killer Croc, and Shiva. The central deception is that Joker, voiced by Troy Baker, has impersonated Black Mask and engineered the bounty as part of his escalating fixation on Batman. Batman investigates crimes across an enlarged, snow-covered Gotham divided into Old Gotham and New Gotham. The campaign includes major confrontations with Deathstroke aboard the Penguin’s ship, Firefly at Gotham’s bridge, and Bane at the Royal Hotel. Bane eventually discovers Batman’s identity as Bruce Wayne after using TN-1, a drug that greatly increases his strength but damages his mind. Alfred Pennyworth, voiced by Martin Jarvis, challenges Bruce’s reckless methods, while Captain James Gordon gradually begins to recognize Batman as an ally. The story also depicts Joker’s first night in Blackgate Penitentiary and his early encounter with psychiatrist Harleen Quinzel, before her transformation into Harley Quinn. In the finale, Batman prevents Bane from killing Joker and defuses a threat to Gotham, while Bane’s memories of Bruce Wayne’s identity are erased after TN-1’s effects. Gameplay retains the series’ FreeFlow combat, predator stealth rooms, detective vision, gadgets, and open-world side activities. Origins added a crime-scene reconstruction system, allowing Batman to rewind a virtual simulation of evidence, identify contradictions, and locate hidden clues. Its multiplayer mode, developed by Splash Damage, let three players representing Joker’s gang battle three representing Bane’s gang, while two other players controlled Batman and Robin. The game also offered New Game Plus and I Am the Night modes, the latter ending the save after Batman dies. A Cold, Cold Heart, the story expansion, introduced Mr. Freeze and drew from Batman: The Animated Series.