Date played: April 4th and 5th
Platform: Vita
Session fun rating: 9/10
I started, then finished Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate.
Seeing as I'm travelling for a bit more than a month, I figured this would be a good time to play portable games. While I intend to play Zelda on 3DS and possibly Metroid Fusion, I also bought the newest Batman game on Vita. Blackgate is a very cool, 2.5D Metroidvania game. It starts with Batman sparring with Catwoman when they first met, which acts as a tutorial. Batman can do most of what he does in the 3D Arkham games, but limited to 2D movement. It works really well and has kept my attention for hours.
After catching Catwoman and sending her to Blackgate, Gotham City's biggest prison, news arrives that the city has lost control of the jail to the likes of the Joker, the Penguin and Blackmask. Batman must take them down in their respective areas, industrial, cell block and administrative. It's cool because the game is setup to let the player choose the order that the villains are destroyed. Catwoman acts as a guide and accomplice to Batman, often putting him on the right track with markers on the map.
I started with Blackmask in the industrial area. I had to solve all sorts of environmental puzzles and beat tons of thugs to get through and take out the villain. At one point, I was forced to reach the prison cells area, controlled by Penguin, to get an item so that I could progress. Batman has a few items at his disposal. The batarang is useful to activate switches and certain items from a long distance. The explosive gel can blow up weak walls, freeze enemies and stick to machinery to clog it up. The grapple lets Batman swing around at his leisure. Another version of it allows him to pull down vents and other items. The line launcher allows him to zip through horizontal pits. Finally, the cryptography device allows hacking of terminals. I beat Solomon Grundy, the idiotic giant, and Blackmask, the gun-toting masked man.
I then made my way to the prison cells area, controlled by Penguin. Again, I had to fight tons of enemies and solve puzzles, until I got into a cage match against Bronze Tiger. When I won the fight, he helped me hold off the thugs sent after Batman. He also managed to shoot Penguin in the shoulder. I had to follow his blood stains to find him, when I hit a wall that required the line shooter to progress. I didn't have it yet, so I followed Catwoman's instructions and made my way to the administration section, controlled by Joker.
The Joker's area is more colorful and fun to explore, but also riddled with dangerous gas and strong thugs. I explored almost all of it, saving the warden from an explosive trap and fighting Deadshot along the way. The battle against Deadshot was pretty cool, as it took place from the villain's point of view through his sniper scope. Batman had to hide to avoid the shots, before taking him down with a swift kick using the line launcher.
I went back to the Penguin's lair and fought him in a cool battle. I had to pull ammo packs from the backs of his thugs in a large prison cell area. Then, I was able to swoop down and capture the Penguin. I then spent a lot of time exploring the secrets I had missed. While a lot of it was fun to find, the horrendous map made it more difficult than it should be. Batman can only move from horizontally, but many sections have him changing direction and levels, and the map just doesn't do a good job of representing that. It would have been best to have a map similar to what was seen in Metroid Prime to navigate.
I finally took on the Joker, where I had to avoid his gun shots, electrical stun gun swings and bombs to take him out. It was set in a circular room and when he was vulnerable, I had to use the line shooter to catch him off guard with a kick in the nose.
After the main villains had been taken out, it was revealed that Catwoman was using Batman for her own means all along. She was hired to release Bane from his cell, which Batman opened up. She then managed to escape by sending the dark knight on a fucking awful fetch quest to find 5 bombs hidden throughout the game. It sucked.
Then I met up with her before she was able to leave the prison, fought her in a final and dramatic battle and saved the day. The whole time, there's a sub plot about someone hiring thugs along the way, like Bronze Tiger and Deadshot, and it was revealed that those guys hired Catwoman. Either way, this is a really well made game that would have been amazing with a better map. I'm glad I played it!
Platform: Vita
Session fun rating: 9/10
I started, then finished Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate.
Seeing as I'm travelling for a bit more than a month, I figured this would be a good time to play portable games. While I intend to play Zelda on 3DS and possibly Metroid Fusion, I also bought the newest Batman game on Vita. Blackgate is a very cool, 2.5D Metroidvania game. It starts with Batman sparring with Catwoman when they first met, which acts as a tutorial. Batman can do most of what he does in the 3D Arkham games, but limited to 2D movement. It works really well and has kept my attention for hours.
After catching Catwoman and sending her to Blackgate, Gotham City's biggest prison, news arrives that the city has lost control of the jail to the likes of the Joker, the Penguin and Blackmask. Batman must take them down in their respective areas, industrial, cell block and administrative. It's cool because the game is setup to let the player choose the order that the villains are destroyed. Catwoman acts as a guide and accomplice to Batman, often putting him on the right track with markers on the map.
I started with Blackmask in the industrial area. I had to solve all sorts of environmental puzzles and beat tons of thugs to get through and take out the villain. At one point, I was forced to reach the prison cells area, controlled by Penguin, to get an item so that I could progress. Batman has a few items at his disposal. The batarang is useful to activate switches and certain items from a long distance. The explosive gel can blow up weak walls, freeze enemies and stick to machinery to clog it up. The grapple lets Batman swing around at his leisure. Another version of it allows him to pull down vents and other items. The line launcher allows him to zip through horizontal pits. Finally, the cryptography device allows hacking of terminals. I beat Solomon Grundy, the idiotic giant, and Blackmask, the gun-toting masked man.
I then made my way to the prison cells area, controlled by Penguin. Again, I had to fight tons of enemies and solve puzzles, until I got into a cage match against Bronze Tiger. When I won the fight, he helped me hold off the thugs sent after Batman. He also managed to shoot Penguin in the shoulder. I had to follow his blood stains to find him, when I hit a wall that required the line shooter to progress. I didn't have it yet, so I followed Catwoman's instructions and made my way to the administration section, controlled by Joker.
The Joker's area is more colorful and fun to explore, but also riddled with dangerous gas and strong thugs. I explored almost all of it, saving the warden from an explosive trap and fighting Deadshot along the way. The battle against Deadshot was pretty cool, as it took place from the villain's point of view through his sniper scope. Batman had to hide to avoid the shots, before taking him down with a swift kick using the line launcher.
 |
| Catwoman and Batman, working together? Sort of. |
I went back to the Penguin's lair and fought him in a cool battle. I had to pull ammo packs from the backs of his thugs in a large prison cell area. Then, I was able to swoop down and capture the Penguin. I then spent a lot of time exploring the secrets I had missed. While a lot of it was fun to find, the horrendous map made it more difficult than it should be. Batman can only move from horizontally, but many sections have him changing direction and levels, and the map just doesn't do a good job of representing that. It would have been best to have a map similar to what was seen in Metroid Prime to navigate.
I finally took on the Joker, where I had to avoid his gun shots, electrical stun gun swings and bombs to take him out. It was set in a circular room and when he was vulnerable, I had to use the line shooter to catch him off guard with a kick in the nose.
After the main villains had been taken out, it was revealed that Catwoman was using Batman for her own means all along. She was hired to release Bane from his cell, which Batman opened up. She then managed to escape by sending the dark knight on a fucking awful fetch quest to find 5 bombs hidden throughout the game. It sucked.
Then I met up with her before she was able to leave the prison, fought her in a final and dramatic battle and saved the day. The whole time, there's a sub plot about someone hiring thugs along the way, like Bronze Tiger and Deadshot, and it was revealed that those guys hired Catwoman. Either way, this is a really well made game that would have been amazing with a better map. I'm glad I played it!
