BATMAN ARKHAM ORIGINS VILLAINS SPOTTED

A Batman: Arkham Origins promotional standee has revealed new villains expected to appear in the game. 

BATMAN: ARKHAM ORIGINS NEWS: RELEASE DATE, GAMEPLAY, TRAILERS

Batman Arkham City and Batman Arkham Asylum are two of the best video games ever made for this generation of consoles. Not only did both games receive oodles of critical acclaim and sell like the clappers, they made the best use of DC's Dark Knight in a video game.

 

Arkham City was larger in size and scope than its predecessor and it contained a nifty gliding mechanic allowing players to explore its Gothic urban landscape, but the series' key draw was nailed in Arkham Asylum. Here was a game where players seamlessley sequed from brutal combat, to atmospheric stealth play, to platforming and puzzle solving. The entire stealth genre of video game is still reeling from Arkham Asylum's impact.

To say that the expectations heaped on the newest addition to this franchise - the recently announced Batman Arkham Origins - are huge, is an understatment. Here, we delve into what has been made public about Batman's latest adventure.

Batman Arkham Origins: Story

The plot for Arkham Origins is set before the events of both Arkham City and Arkham Asylum. According to the developers, Batman is an experienced crime fighter, but has yet to meet many of the iconic villains in his rogue’s gallery.

According to a piece on Eurogamer, the main antagonist in this adventure will be Black Mask – who fans may remember was the villain featured in the DLC map packs.

The cover feature from Game Informer also revealed that Deathstroke – a mercenary and assassin in the DC universe – will feature in the game. For those prepared to put their trust in Wikipedia, the game's page states that both The Penguin and Gotham mob boss Albert Falcone will make appearances. 

Batman Arkham Origins: Gameplay

From the sounds of things, the new Batman game will have the same overall structure as Batman: Arkham City, in which players have a large, open-world sandbox to move about in. The game's world is reportedly twice the size of that in Arkham City, and parts of it will be based on the map contained in that game - although it wont' be ring-fenced by a massive prison wall.

Players will navigate the environment using Batman's cape and grappling claw device, but as the map opens up and the space they can move in becomes larger, they'll gain access to Batman's jet - the Batwing - allowing them to fast-travel to their destinations.

At its core, though, Batman Arkham Origins will feature the same cocktail of gameplay as its predecessors; players will be able to engage in free-flowing combat, scenarios in which stealth is key and the odd section that involves puzzle solving and detective work.

Batman Arkham Origins: Release Date

Batman Arkham Origins is set for release later this year on October 25^th. No mention has yet been made about whether it will appear on next-generation platforms, but it has been confirmed for Xbox 360, PS3, PC, and Wii U.

A spin-off title, Batman Arkham Origins Blackgate has also been announced for the Nintendo 3DS and PS Vita handheld consoles.

BATMAN ARKHAM ORIGINS VILLAINS SPOTTED

ASSASSIN'S CREED III: THE TYRANNY OF KING WASHINGTON REVIEW

The Tyranny of King Washington’s premise is one of the more interesting alternate-history interpretations that games have attempted. (Certainly more interesting than “what if Hitler had a mech suit?” at least.) Corrupted by a powerful Apple of Eden artefact, General George Washington has claimed the new nation for himself and continues to wage war on the native population and his political opponents. Ratonhnhaké:ton – who never became Connor in this double-alternate timeline – is determined to overthrow him, motivated by a sense of personal vengeance that later mixes with democratic ideology.

It’s a fast-paced tale, running its course in around six hours over three episodes. The opening episode mines Ratonhnhaké:ton’s native American heritage for a new approach to AC3’s well-trodden frontier; the second leaves that behind and returns you to Boston for a slow couple of hours that build curiosity for the final act but doesn’t offer much in the way of new experiences. The third opens with a naval battle – easily one of the best things about AC3, and a timely tease for the upcoming Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – as the final showdown in New York approaches. 

If you were left feeling ambiguous about this DLC after the first two episodes – as I was – then the third does much to redeem things. Having spent those first four hours longing to see more of what the nascent America might have been like as a despotic dictatorship, I was pleasantly surprised to arrive in New York to see unrest on the streets, food shortages leaving the citizenship demoralised and desperate, and Washington giving chillingly fascist balcony speeches to crowds of his people atop a pyramid he’s had constructed as a monument to himself, an eagle-adorned crown resting atop his head.

New York looks and feels significantly different in this DLC, in a way that the second episode’s Boston and the first episode’s frontier simply didn’t. There might not be much more to actually do, besides stringing Bluecoats up from washing lines as opposed to Redcoats, but there is an atmosphere of panic and oppression. The Betrayal is the only episode of this DLC that has a specially-made new area, too: Washington’s pyramid, an excellent playground for the wolf, hawk, and bear abilities that Ratonhnhaké:ton acquires by drinking the sacred tea of his tribe.

The resulting futuristically trippy spirit-communion dream sequences and the powers that they bestow upon you are the most enjoyable parts of The Tyranny of King Washington. Outside of that, too many of the actual missions feel copy-pasted from Assassin’s Creed III’s main storyline, especially in the second episode. The wolf grants Ratonhnhaké:ton that famous lupine trait of, um, invisibility, letting you move unseen between hiding places. The hawk bestows upon him the power of flight, letting you flit Batman-esque across the rooftops of Boston and, later, New York, negating the need for climbing.

Both of these abilities redraw the boundaries of AC3’s gameplay, significantly altering the way you can approach its challenges. On the third spirit journey, though, Connor meets with the bear, which essentially gives him a ground-pound. Admittedly it’s a very powerful attack, sending enemies flying and vulnerable structures toppling, but it’s hardly a game-changer.

It’s not too much of a disappointment, though. Where the first two episodes are heavily centred around their own particular new powers, the third necessitates that you use all of them together. It sends this DLC out on a high note, and perhaps inevitably, the third episode is by far the most narratively satisfying. The ending is a decent enough payoff to justify the time spent wondering what’s going on in the first two episodes. But I still feel like it could have done more with this fascinating concept of a young, idealistically founded nation gone horribly wrong. If you take the Apple of Eden to be a metaphor for the corrupting influence of power rather than a sci-fi doodad, then The Tyranny of King Washington does have the basis of something interesting to say, but it’s still thematically shallow.

The Tyranny of King Washington’s production values may well set new standards for DLC. As evidenced by the literally 20 minutes’ worth of credits that roll at the end, this wasn’t dashed off in someone’s lunch hour; it has more than an hour of new cutscenes and significant new gameplay woven around AC3’s familiar locations and characters. But the price you pay for that is £24/$30 for around six hours of play, which will be unjustifiably steep for most. Even the season pass, which also includes pre-order bonus missions for the main game and multiplayer bonuses, hardly offers stunning value.

It’s also impossible to overlook that not every hour of this short series is enjoyable. Episode 2 sometimes feels like AC3 at its worst: walking between cutscenes and completing tasks in which you have no real investment. It also doesn’t do anything thematically interesting with the alternate-history setting until the final episode – this is the best use of Animus technology I can think of, and it’s saddening that The Tyranny of King Washington does relatively little with it.

The Verdict

The Tyranny of King Washington is made to the highest standards, but also overpriced for what it is. Though the new powers refresh and reshape Assassin’s Creed III’s gameplay, most of the locations and missions here are overly reminiscent of what we’ve seen time and time again in the main campaign, and only towards the end does the story really come into its own. It would be a much easier recommendation at half the price.

UBISOFT: GAMERS WANT ASSASSIN'S CREED EVERY YEAR

Ubisoft Montreal boss Yannis Mallat does not think gamers are turned off by the idea of a new Assassin's Creed game every year. 

"No," Yannis Mallat told Eurogamer this week. "The players will tell us. Right now there are more and more coming into the franchise, so I don't see that day." 

Mallat explained that as long as each new entry is a quality product, gamers will continue to come back every year for more. 

"It's our breakthrough. When you have quality content, the frequency of coming out with the game is not an issue at all. On the contrary, people expect more and more of that content," Mallat added. "So it's natural to be able to provide that content. The gamers are happy and it's our job to make them happy." 

Ubisoft has released a new core Assassin's Creed game every year since 2009. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag launches October 29 and a follow-up is already in the works. 

UBISOFT TORONTO WORKING WITH UBI MONTREAL ON ANOTHER ASSASSIN'S CREED

Ubisoft Toronto is collaborating with Ubisoft Montreal on an

Assassin's Creed game coming after AC4: Black Flag. and has plans to be involved with the development of four other unannounced games. Speaking with Polygon, managing director Jade Raymond said the studio, involved with Splinter Cell: Blacklist and Rainbow Six: Patriots, has plans set for five further games in total.

"We have two big collaborations coming that we're not talking about, on two of the biggest franchises at Ubisoft. We also have two new IP," Raymond told Polygon, noting that the fifth project is a Splinter Cell game.

Raymond's comments follow on from the intentions she laid out in 2010 to eventually have five triple-A projects going on at Ubisoft Toronto at the same time, with a staff of some 800 people involved. 

In other words, Ubi Toronto's plans for world domination are beginning to surface, and we should call the authorities immediately. 

TOMB RAIDER HAD BEST WEEK ONE SALES IN FRANCHISE HISTORY

Tomb Raider has achieved the highest week one sales in the franchise's history, according to Crystal Dynamics studio head Darrell Gallagher. Speaking at a GDC panel alongside creative director Noah Hughes, Gallagher also revealed that Tomb Raider had the most successful launch of any game this year.

"It's been the biggest week one sales in franchise history, and we're only a few weeks into that launch right now, and it's been the biggest opening so far in 2013," said Gallagher. "So, we're happy with the outcome. It's certainly in a place where we feel like we're on the road to achieving everything we wanted to."

The claim seems to be at odds with the feelings of Tomb Raider's publisher, Square Enix, which recently cited "weak sales" of its major titles, including Tomb Raider, as a reason for the company undergoing restructure. When asked about the apparent disconnect between Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics regarding Tomb Raider's performance, Hughes told us, "Certainly we're proud of what we achieved, and I think for the most part, the whole organization is happy with what we did." And for Gallagher, "Actuals and expectations, I guess, are two slightly different things. What I'm telling you is the actuals, and they're communicating expectations."

That raises the question of just what Square Enix was expecting. To put things in perspective, Tomb Raider had higher initial sales than the 1996 original, a game that went on to sell over 6 million units in its lifetime. And yet, despite receiving critical acclaim and breaking franchise records, it would appear that Tomb Raider just isn't number one enough.