I picked up Arkham Origins this weekend and based off reviews and opinions from Giant Bomb I was expecting a mediocre game at best . I'm just past the Copperhead boss fight and am surprised to find that Arkham Origins is actually quite good and does a bunch of stuff better than Asylum and City. Splash Damage does a good job mixing up the enemy types in the hand to hand scenarios, I love the new gadgets especially the Just Cause-like Grapel Gun thingy, I like how detective scenarios are handled, so far the boss fights are genuinely fun, unlocking moves by performing certain task is neat and gets me to try to change things up, and despite not having Hamil or Conroy the new guys are really good.
That's not to say this game isn't without faults like there seems to be a lack of Predator scenarios and the ones they have just aren't as fun as the ones in the last two games, the reused assets from City is lame, the Riddler stuff isn't as fun, the Batman villain selection is less than ideal with a lot of rehashes and third tier villains, the indoor environments aren't as good as City, thugs seem much more resilient and Batman seems weaker, and I'm not a big fan of what total dick Batman is in this game.
Anyway I can't describe it but despite being a very competent and enjoyable game it seems to lack that little je ne sais quoi that made the first two games so memorable. Maybe the Arkham formula has run its course or the story seems a little too formulaic even for Batman. I just can't place what it is about Origins that just feels off. Anyone else feel the same way about Origins? Ever feel that way about another game that was seemingly great?
Also if you feel you must use spoilers than go ahead but please mark them as such.
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