We already know that Killzone: Mercenary and Tearaway are set to be this year’s biggest PlayStation Vita games, but what of Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate? The spin-off has been swooping under the radar a little recently, perhaps because handheld tie-ins don’t necessarily have the best track record. But based on this footage of the Dark Knight’s portable excursion, you should probably hookshot the title to the top of your wishlist.
The video – uploaded to YouTube – shows the Caped Crusader chasing down Catwoman across the rooftops of a drizzly, penitentiary environment. The gameplay takes place on a two-dimensional plane, but frequently showcases its depth, as you grapple onto distant ledges and crawl through tunnels. You can explore the entire facility, but as in Metroidvania games, you’ll need to unlock certain abilities before you can reach new areas.
Perhaps most impressive is the way that the combat works from the side-scrolling perspective. You’re still chaining attacks together in the same way as in the Batman games on the PlayStation 3, but this time your adversaries stand in the foreground and background of the 2.5D environments. From the footage, it looks like it works really well. We’re actually more excited for this than the proper console prequel, Batman: Arkham Origins.
[source youtube.com]
Comments 18
Looks really cool. NL had a story on the 3DS version, but no gameplay. If it is the same for 3DS, I might pick it up.
I am really excited for this. It looks great on the Vitas screen.
@RudyDog Good shout. Check out the Nintendo Life story for some hands-on impressions of the 3DS version. It's the same game on both platforms as far as I know, with the exception of the obvious differences (3D, screens, etc.):
http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2013/07/first_impressions_batman_arkham_origins_blackgate
I'm honestly impressed by how good this looks. I can't believe Warner Bros isn't making a bigger deal about it.
@get2sammyb
This sounds very familiar:
http://i5.minus.com/jD66kiYUmiIK.png
Anyway i uploaded a ten minute video and you would be surprised at how many people are calling it crap because its not like the console version.
Not a single trailer i can find for this game: which means we should be worried?
@Legendary-boss Judging by this footage, I don't think we should be worried. If Warner Bros isn't going to market it, though, perhaps Sony should step up and sign a co-marketing deal - it looks like this game has the potential to sell VItas to me.
@get2sammyb
That does makes sense, i don't picture Nintendo stepping in to market it so i suppose if Sony is serious they might market it and the console version (exclusive content).
@Legendary-boss @get2sammyb All depends on whether the game is made on the Vita and ported to 3DS (unlikely) or 3DS and ported to 3DS (highly likely seeing as it is the market leader). If the game was Vita-made then would make sense for Sony to push it but if it isn't then they'd look a little daft pushing a game which is identical to the 3DS one rather than a 'prettier' version.
The combat thing worries me, I read Nintendo Life's preview last night and they said the combat wasn't really all that great. Which I hope gets fixed as the combat was my favourite part of the two Arkham's. I loved how simple yet expansive and showoffy (yes, aware it's not a word) it was.
Game does look great though. Then again when wasn't a Metroid-style game not great? Mix in Arkham and this could be brilliant.
So having read about the 3DS version on sister-site NintendoLife, it sounds like the Vita version is better. Why is that? Is it because the 3DS isn't powerful enough?
@rastamadeus The devs who are making Blackgate have experience developing for vita and have stated that they are making 3ds and vita versions concurrently: http://www.siliconera.com/2013/05/20/batman-arkham-origins-blackgate-developed-in-parallel-on-vita-and-3ds/
@rastamadeus
Perhaps, now remebering who the dev team are i know they have past experience on PS Vita (MGS HD Collection PS Vita) and the ex-metroid guys, so i think the game should turn out fine.
Plus whats said above me.
I can't stand that it's a side scroller. My hype was through the roof, but then I saw footage a while back and my hype dropped like a sack of hammers.
Looks like I'll only be getting Origins.
@maskjaq That sounds like an absolute waste of money. More money then sense at WB obviously.
@Legendary-boss The people who made Metroid Prime couldn't make a bad game. This will be brilliant, no need to worry about it being anything less than great. Just hope the combat isn't boring as, looking around, I've seen a few other sites echo Nintendo Life's concerns.
I'm semi-looking forward to the game but I don't like the choice of voice actor. He sounds exactly like he does as Chris Redfield and while it may seem petty, that's going to bother me while I'm playing the game. WB had a perfect Batman in Kevin Conroy and they stupidly change it up for the sake of changing it up.
Ironically, the best version of Arkham City Origins: Blackgate will definitely be the Vita version, and the best version of Arkham City Origins will be the Wii U version (in my opinion, anyways). Vita (and Wii U for that matter) is an excellent piece of kit, and I'm really excited to see this game releasing on the platform. Props to Ubisoft and Warner Bros for supporting both these systems with games like Rayman Legends and the Arkham Origins games in the face of reckless abandon.
@JaxonH
I'm getting the game for Vita but I'm not seeing how this version is better than the 3DS version. If anything it'll probably play better on Nintendo's system since it was made for that one.
@Gamer83 Armature stated that they're designing the two games in tandem, neither is a port of the other, and that they'll be exactly the same save better graphics on Vita and 3D on 3DS. So the game is not a 3DS port, contrary to popular belief. I feel the Vita version will be better simply because a game of this caliber is of the rare breed that can actually benefit from the hardware. Normally, I'd say hardware strength doesn't matter, but now I have learned not to be so naïve. For example, I bought Sonic Allstar Racing Transformed on Wii U, and loved that game to death! So I bought the 3DS version to have on the go, but was utterly disappointed. Because of hardware limitations, you couldn't see items until you crossed over them, turns were hard to see ahead of time, and they lowered the difficulty to counter these side effects. As a result, I was beating the AI by half laps on MASTER difficulty. I finally broke down and bought the Vita version, and can happily report the game fares damn near as well as on the Wii U gamepad. Well, not THAT good but still, extremely well. After watching quite a bit of gameplay, I'm convinced this is a game that will run smoother and more fluidly on Vita, and the enhanced character models will also shine. Now, that's not to say the 3DS version will be a bad version, because I don't believe that's the case. I'll also be buying the 3DS version because I'm a collecter of all games Nintendo and on Nintendo platforms. And I'm excited to see the game in 3D for sure. Nonetheless, the Vita version will look and feel a lot more like the home console versions.
That actually makes me feel a little bit better about going with the Vita version. I have a 3DS but I'd much rather play a game on the Vita if given the choice. Some multiplats on Vita have been lazy up ports so I'm glad that's apparently not the case with this.
I'm actually torn on which version I'll get. 2D games is great with good 3D, but I lke the sound of Vita better. I wish both versions will get demos so I can decide...
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