Released in 2013, the WB Games Montréal developed Batman: Arkham Origins was unjustly seen as a stepping stone to the Rocksteady Studios developed sequel to Batman: Arkham City which would be unveiled in early 2014 as Batman: Arkham Knight.
While it had its champions at launch – I consider myself among them – time has only been kind to the first non-Rocksteady Arkham project. Though it owes much to the bones of Arkham City, Origins weaves an unforgettable journey for both Batman and The Joker thanks to strong writing and performances from the likes of Roger Craig Smith as Batman/Bruce Wayne and Troy Baker as The Joker. Smith would even go on to return to the role of the Dark Knight in the excellent VR exclusive Batman: Arkham Shadow which heavily references Origins and its once handheld exclusive spin-off, Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate.
Over the years, the Arkham games from the 7th generation of consoles would see rereleases in the Batman: Return to Arkham and Batman: Arkham Trilogy packages but Arkham Origins was always nowhere to be found. According to data and analytics firm Ampere Analysis, this has been a huge mistake on the part of WB Games. Ampere recently published a report that proved with hard data that both remakes and remasters are huge business, and went on further to provide a list of titles in their research that would be prime candidates for a comeback. In the category of remasters, which included beloved titles such as Bloodborne and Red Dead Redemption 2, was none other than Batman: Arkham Origins.
In our review of Batman: Arkham Trilogy for the Nintendo Switch, we echoed Ampere’s findings saying “Batman: Arkham Origins would’ve been a better fit for a trilogy package”. The only Nintendo platform that Origins runs on is the Wii U, and it’s only available via cloud streaming on the most recent PlayStation family of consoles. It’s playable on the Xbox Series X hardware, but only if you have a disc. Even then, it’s bonus chapter, Cold, Cold, Heart is no longer available for purchase, a fact that was brought to our attention from Comics on Consoles host, Chris Clow.
The only DC title for consoles set for release in the near future thus far is LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight. Given how long and volatile video game development can be, it would be wise of WB Games to look towards their back catalog to start building on the momentum from the DC Studios produced film and television projects.
Comic Book Video Games 