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"  Release Date: October 25 (Worldwide)Platforms available on: Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Wii UDeveloper: Warner Bros MontrealPublisher: Warner Bros InteractiveGenre: Action/adventure If it&amp;#039;s hard to imagine the recent Dark Knight trilogy being half as successful without Christopher Nolan at the helm, the same could also be said of the Arkham games, which have been lovingly crafted and carefully cultivated by the team at Rocksteady. Imagine our scepticism, therefore, when we found out that Warner Bros was handing over development of Arkham Origins to its internal studio in Montreal.  Fortunately, Batman: Arkham Origins doesn&amp;#039;t undo the great work set out by its predecessors, even if it doesn&amp;#039;t add much new to the now tried-and-tested formula. Batman: Arkham Origins takes place on Christmas Eve only a few short years into Bruce Wayne&amp;#039;s career as a caped crime fighter.  After investigating a break-in at the Arkham prison, the rookie Batman discovers that ruthless crime lord Black Mask has invited eight of the deadliest assassins to eliminate him once and for all. It&amp;#039;s a thankfully straightforward set-up that cleverly introduces some of DC&amp;#039;s lesser known villains into the series. We particularly appreciated appearances by the likes of Copperhead, Deathstroke and that pesky Firefly. As the story deviates slightly from the initial set-up, and more and more characters are introduced - including iconic villains such as the Penguin, Riddler and Joker - the narrative becomes increasingly more intriguing, culminating in a satisfactory payoff at its conclusion. Batman: Arkham Origins doesn&amp;#039;t undo the great work set out by its predecessors, even if it doesn&amp;#039;t add much new to the now tried-and-tested formula It&amp;#039;s also interesting to see Batman in the early years. The Caped Crusader&amp;#039;s ruthless streak leads to mistakes early on in the adventure, but he soon learns to reel in the aggression in order to better achieve his aims. There are surprisingly few standout boss fights, however, which is especially disappointing considering the potential for some truly unique encounters. It all takes place in an open-world version of Gotham City, which looks fantastic under a blanket of snow and almost sinister with all of the Christmas decorations in place.   The streets are eerily quiet, which means that while it doesn&amp;#039;t feel as alive as other open-world environments, it does feel more dangerous. Unfortunately, while it&amp;#039;s always nice to revisit Gotham City, there is a slight sense of deja vu, especially when you look back at the first two games, which took place in very different locations. This isn&amp;#039;t really the fault of the development team, of course, who are simply using the source material, but it&amp;#039;s a shame that there aren&amp;#039;t more eye-opening backdrops.  In terms of gameplay, the combat remains a strong point, using the same smooth counter and combo system found in the previous games, albeit with a few new upgrades, such as the enormously satisfying Shock Gloves. It&amp;#039;s lucky too, because players will spend most of the time smashing Black Flag&amp;#039;s goons to a pulp, whether stopping street crimes or infiltrating criminal lairs.      Obviously keen to push the excellent combat to the forefront, the development team is actually guilty of including too many combat scenarios, which grow a little tiresome towards the end. In many respects this could be symbolic of Batman&amp;#039;s less refined, more aggressive approach to crime fighting, but it would have been more effective if the development team had scaled this aspect back ever so slightly. There are, of course, other ways to dispatch enemies, either by hiding in the shadows and using stealth, or incapacitating goons with long range stun weapons such as the Batarang. We enjoyed quietly flitting between ledges and hiding under grates, but we would have liked more ways to creep up on enemies, maybe with additional sneak moves and areas of cover.  It&amp;#039;s a relatively small complaint, but a better-developed stealth system would have gone some way towards balancing out the excessive combat scenarios. The stealth side of things definitely improves when you unlock optional skills and upgrades, which means that there is scope to bend the gameplay experience somewhat to your will, although it still favours brawn over brains in the long run. Expanded crime scene investigations are undoubtedly the highlight of the game, requiring Batman to scan environments and corpses in order to figure out his next move.  The development team is guilty of including too many combat scenarios, which grow a little tiresome towards the end Solving these puzzles is made easier thanks to Batman&amp;#039;s internal monologue, but watching virtual recreations of crimes and finding the next clue still provides a challenge. Elsewhere, there are enough side-quests, Easter eggs and unlockables to keep Batman fans coming back for more, making the single-player campaign a worthy entry to the series, albeit not the best. One of the more interesting aspects of the game is the new Invisible Predator Online mode, which pits Joker&amp;#039;s thugs against Bane&amp;#039;s goons, with Batman and Robin stuck in the middle.  The inclusion of the super duo ensures that Invisible Predator avoids degenerating into a straightforward domination/deathmatch mode. When playing as Batman and Robin the aim is to intimidate enemies using the Caped Crusader&amp;#039;s trusty utility belt and gadgets. Playing as the goons also has its perks, giving players the opportunity to transform into super-charged versions of Joker and Bane for a limited time. It leads to unique and diverse matches that offer a novel twist on the traditional multiplayer formula, although hopefully we&amp;#039;ll see an increase on the four rather unspectacular maps which are available at launch. If The Dark Knight represents the best of Batman in cinema, and Batman and Robin the worst, then Batman: Arkham Origins could be considered the equivalent of Tim Burton&amp;#039;s well-received Batman Returns. It&amp;#039;s not necessarily Batman&amp;#039;s finest hour and doesn&amp;#039;t move the series forward in any significant way, but it&amp;#039;s likely to attract fans the same way that crime attracts Batman.   "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/gaming/review/a527287/batman-arkham-origins-review-xbox-360-familiar-crime-fighting-fun/>