This Batman: Arkham Origins Gallery Is Ridiculous


For a grim world that’s been overwhelmed by criminals, corruption, and bat guano, the Arkham series of games has always had very polished and pretty polygons. And even though pre-release screenshots are known for being unfathomably and unrealistically pretty, both games in the series really do look gorgeous when the camera whizzes around to show a particularly brutal punch. So I’m very happy to show off this Batman: Arkham Oranges gallery. I’d imagine it’s impossible for the released game to look this attractive, but I think it’ll be close.

Now I’m hoping for a leaner take on the well worn Batman tropes. I loved the first game, and while I enjoyed myself the second time I pulled on the bat pants, it eventually lost me because they kept introducing other characters. I just didn’t want to be bouncing between quests like that. There was just too much game there for me to relax into, and I never felt on top of it at any point. It’s a good game in need of editing. Still, there’s at least one piece of dropped content I already know about: it’s the first Arkham game that I can play without wrestling with Games For Windows Live. That was basically the end-boss.

Arkham Origins is out on October 25th, which should keep me entertained until X Rebirth comes along in the middle of November.

Rabbit punching a rabbit

51 Comments

  1. 27/08/2013 at 17:05 golem09 says:

    I remember almost falling off my couch when I first started Arkham Aslyum and the FMV intro was over. I always liked what they did with the UE3. Then again, I rarely look for graphics, so maybe I was easily impressed.

    • 27/08/2013 at 21:33 Iskariot says:

      No I do not believe you were easily impressed.
      The game really stood out for its looks and its general design.
      It still is a looker that can compete with even the newest games.

      • 28/08/2013 at 02:39 nearly says:

        And it scaled down so nicely. My computer could hardly handle anything but I sure could run Arkham Asylum real smooth on low. It was like having cake and eating it when low didn’t look like total ass. Or looked like good ass. One of the two.

  2. 27/08/2013 at 17:05 Sinnorfin says:

    Just remembered the times when i’ve stared in awe at the starting screens of games for c64. Amazing how far graphics got.

    • 27/08/2013 at 18:52 kalirion says:

      First time I remember being really stunned by graphics was the intro of Lands of Lore: Throne of Chaos.

      Nothing special now of course.

      • 27/08/2013 at 20:25 Jeremy says:

        Oh man, I can’t even tell you how many times I played through this game.. what a great intro!

  3. 27/08/2013 at 17:17 DrScuttles says:

    Batman’s crotch bulge is still very uninspiring.

    • 27/08/2013 at 17:49 Lars Westergren says:

      Some games related guy on twitter (journalist, maybe) said some guy kept messaging him about the fact that Batman’s crotch had a different shape in multiplayer and that this needed to be investigated.

    • 27/08/2013 at 18:02 Sparkasaurusmex says:

      It’s part of the disguise. Sort of like how Clark Kent takes off his glasses to become Superman. When Wayne becomes Batman he tucks under.

  4. 27/08/2013 at 17:19 Wulf_ says:

    Wow, Batman looks so angry in all of these, almost as if he doesn’t like punching people in the face.

  5. 27/08/2013 at 17:21 Jalan says:

    I was hoping for something a bit more menacing than 4chan-inspired outfits for the Anarky thugs. Hopefully Anarky himself looks better than they do. (or is that him in the red? If so, bleh)

    I suppose it’s better than the too close to Moon Knight getup they’ve got him sporting in Beware the Batman.

  6. 27/08/2013 at 17:25 Anthile says:

    The RPS henchmen look kinda bad in comparison. When was the last time you have seen Mr. Pearson with a flamethrower or katana, let alone a jetpack? You guys really need to step up the game. Maybe a bear costume for starters.

    • 27/08/2013 at 19:53 Dances to Podcasts says:

      That’s the whole problem. They ran out of cloth trying to make one for Horace.

      • 28/08/2013 at 02:43 nearly says:

        That’s why rule one of henchperson costume design is to end with the endless bear.

  7. 27/08/2013 at 17:54 Monkeh says:

    GFWL ate my save-file three times (of which two times I was over 70% in and once just over 30%), so indeed, that was the ultimate end-boss. At least it does show how much I loved the game, since even after that I’ve still 100% completed it. I do agree about the pacing though and actually thought the main storyline was pretty weak, but it just felt so damn good flying around in Arkham as the Bat, I couldn’t resist coming back for more.

    EDIT: Hell, even with the hundreds of games I still need to finish (or even start) playing, I still have Arkham City installed.. just in case I feel like playing it. ^^
    Will probably uninstall it once Oranges releases, even though I’m still a bit wary about this one, since Rocksteady aren’t making it.

    • 27/08/2013 at 18:12 Lemming says:

      Rumour has it that the Arkham games are one of the few games that are having GFWL properly patched out because of MS’s abandonment of the system. Something to look forward to and a good excuse to replay them, at least.

      • 27/08/2013 at 23:35 Monkeh says:

        Thanks for letting me know! Once that’s done, it’ll indeed be a good enough excuse to play both again.

        • 28/08/2013 at 02:46 nearly says:

          I actually played through most of it via OnLive before I had a computer suited to handle it (I picked it up during their “your first purchase is only 1$” promotion — my line of thought was, “hey, why not?”). I kind of wished that I hadn’t finished it because the last bit of the game was by far the weakest for me and really had me focusing on a lot of its issues.

          I keep it installed too even though it takes up a lot of SSD space. GFWL didn’t eat my save, but I forgot to back up the encryption key when I reformatted and basically just keep it around for the endless challenge from the DLC (which is arguably the counter balance of GFWL because I paid for them using Microsoft points earned via Bing Rewards).

  8. 27/08/2013 at 17:55 ResonanceCascade says:

    Oh man, they even got Anarky in there. Really scraping this time around.

  9. 27/08/2013 at 18:03 Sparkasaurusmex says:

    Enough Arkham!
    I want to play Batman: Gotham City

  10. 27/08/2013 at 18:17 Lemming says:

    It’s probably too much to ask to have the thugs recognisably different for each gang. While in Arkham City they had different masks for different villains, they were all the same colour pallette and they all had the same ‘beefy’ prison look. What’s wrong with some proper gangster pinstripe suits?

  11. 27/08/2013 at 18:28 Film11 says:

    I’m seeing a lot of reskinned models from Arkham City here, not to mention very recognisable animations from trailers, also from AC. Think I’ll wait for a GOTY for this recycle.

  12. 27/08/2013 at 19:07 presence says:

    What did Tom Petty do to piss off the Batman?

  13. 27/08/2013 at 19:12 SuicideKing says:

    Arkham Origins? What’s that?

  14. 27/08/2013 at 21:47 Sic says:

    So, will I soon be able to play the Batman games, then?

    I tried to install GFWL once, and now I’m just going to wait until I don’t have to.

  15. 27/08/2013 at 23:15 SuicideKing says:

    RABBITFACE

  16. 28/08/2013 at 00:27 12inchPlasticToy says:

    Nice Bale + oranges easter egg ^_^

  17. 28/08/2013 at 08:20 Screamer says:

    IO wonder how long publishers will be able to get away with posting bullshots like these? The game will look great, but nowhere near that good, especially on consoletoys :/

  18. 30/09/2013 at 10:48 GameDreamer says:

    I always thought that they overdid it with the muscles in the Arkham Games. It looks like they toned it down here and the bat suit looks so much better than in the previous games.

    Buy Batman Arkham Origins