Batman: Arkham Origins - Blackgate is a “headache inducing Metroidvania simulator” developed by Armitage Studio, a company composed of various different Retro Studio employees (Metroid Prime). Seldom knowledge seems to be known about the actual development, but from what I can scrounge the technology was built from the ground up (minus using The Bluepoint Engine by Bluepoint Games) between both the Playstation Vita version and the Nintendo 3DS version. The main differences between both of these versions is 3D for the 3DS and higher textures for the Vita, and the game was written in tandem with Warner Brothers so that the two games would follow each other quickly. Apparently Warner Bros. had just randomly approached them with the opportunity because they were familiar with the 2.5D style of gameplay and wanted to create a spin-off of that nature. For the most part they accepted and just tried making the best game they could that lived up to both the Batman formula and hoped that it didn’t disappoint people, which is a fair shake I suppose despite its reputation.

Batman: Arkham Origins - Blackgate isn’t really a game that I’ve had a lot of experience with or know about, though I remember hearing about it vaguely here and there as a sort of handheld spin-off for the Playstation Vita (which can link to the PS3 version of Arkham Origins for a free Beware the Batman skin) and Nintendo 3DS. Having played through the other games various times however (Asylum three times, City and the rest of them two times), I didn’t even know that the game was released on Steam and had no real interest on trying them on old consoles, though after looking into it and wishlisting it, my dude Qwarky ended up picking up the game for me so shoutout to the Big Qwarkster. In a sort of twist of fate, considering both this and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has to do with the titular Suicide Squad along with an overlapping history on a potential Suicide Squad game that was cancelled before Rocksteady had picked that up to create their own, I guess it’s only fitting that I finished both Blackgate and Kill the Justice League on the same day. As such, this is my overview of Arkham Origins - Blackgate and my honest feelings on this.

For rest of review: https://backloggd.com/u/gamemast15r/review/2720163/

So what exactly is the gameplay like? How deep is it really? Honestly, the Arkham games have always kind of dabbled in “Metroidvania” style gameplay elements through backtracking to solve Riddles/grab trophies or do sidequests, but this game takes it quite literally (minus the prologue which is just a straight way to the end). I’m going to start with what frustrates me the most: the lack of fast travel. I loathe the fact that if you’re trying to get to one district (say Cell Blocks to Industrial), instead of just fast traveling to certain checkpoints, you have to quite literally backtrack or forward track all the way to the next area in order to leave. This gets tedious if you’re trying to get certain collectibles (WayneTech crates which have costumes and new gear upgrades and mainly clues) or gather the tools needed to take down a boss in a different area and it gets confusing a bit, especially when combined with the art design. Since these sections are now merged, I’m going to say this: a lot of people DID NOT like how Blackgate looked due to everything giving off the same shades of grey, and honestly mixed in with the confusing map layout and an inability seemingly to LOOK INTO THE MAP and connect your location to where you’re actually supposed to go? Yeah that sucks, and honestly is probably just due to the fact it was a handheld game ported to PC though I wish they could’ve changed that mechanic up somehow. I’m not really bothered per say with the atmosphere of the game or how Blackgate looks itself, as I feel that while it reinforces this oppressive vibe, however I do agree that it needs more landmarks or recognizability. This especially doubles with the Industrial Zone of Blackgate as not only did everything LOOK the same, it was a slog to get through trying to remember where to go, which I felt was eight hours of my twelve hour playthrough (minus hunting for collectibles). Another thing, I wish that when looking for clues (or in my case trying to find the way to Joker through Industrial), you didn’t have to hold the scan button around a room because I feel like you could easily miss something when I feel you should be able to press the Detective Mode button once and that’s it to see the giant green hole that you can explode or certain clues that lie around in certain areas. I don’t want to have to scan every corner of every room to find clues dude, it sucks.

The rant on getting confused finding your way around and collectibles aside, how’s the combat and stealth sections? Do you use his arsenal pretty well? Starting with the arsenal; you can use a couple different gadgets like the Rope Launcher, Shock Batarang, Glue Gun and a Batclaw (which I don’t remember if you can use in combat). For the most part these are serviceable and solid, and of course you use the Crypto Sequencer to hack different parts of the prison, though that’s only after you complete certain story milestones to get certain keycards and even then you have to backtrack all the way. These minigames aren’t really challenges, it’s mostly lining up certain numbers via one digit, and the more you experiment with finding the numbers the easier it’ll be. The most frustrating this gets is towards the end when you’re disabling bombs but it doesn’t really get offensive. The combat itself is cool for the most part, though if you’re used to the Arkham City/Origins fluidity then be prepared for the fact that it feels like Arkham Asylum but with some extra tricks of the sequels. What that means is that dodging sometimes feels clunky, your moves are a lot more simple and it feels a bit more floaty and less fun than the other titles, though I do appreciate the 2.5D perspective where goons can come in and out of the background to fight you even if you can only look right or left. Boss fights on the other hand? Not really fun. If I were to rate boss fights it would be Black Mask (which revolves around throwing batarangs to distract his gunfire before knocking him out once through an air vent), Penguin (lure his guards away before glide kicking him, rinse and repeat with more goons and drones) and then Joker (which involves using the rope launcher to cut him off at certain points, though you can apparently stun him still with the glue gun).

Links:
https://www.gamesradar.com/batman-arkham-origins-blackgate-collectible-locations-guide/?page=3
https://www.gamesradar.com/batman-arkham-origins-blackgate-collectible-locations-guide/6/?page=6
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDUPByGj-x0&list=PLWtd0ISBZPcM2ajHJntCI5FHyjREUn405&index=11&pp=iAQB
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0qjGdPUwVY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmj0S02gtcc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akYG8EGaYMk&ab_channel=BatmanArkhamVideos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-9CDIntd50&ab_channel=Gamer%27sLittlePlayground
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn6_w5PbNfQ&ab_channel=BatmanArkhamVideos
https://arkhamcity.fandom.com/wiki/Toyman_I
https://www.siliconera.com/batman-arkham-origins-blackgate-developed-in-parallel-on-vita-and-3ds/
https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2013/04/19/batman-meets-metroid-in-arkham-origins-sister-game.aspx?PostPageIndex=1
https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2013/04/19/batman-meets-metroid-in-arkham-origins-sister-game.aspx?PostPageIndex=2
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2973462/
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOriginsBlackgate

Simple gameplay sometimes goofy when trying to fight enemy with guns but bearable.