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ARTS.

 

 

Batman: Arkham
Origins for PS3 review

Steve Cayer, Senior Columnist

atman: Arkham Origins

of how Batman meets some
of the villains that DC Comics
throws at him.

Origins is a prequel to the

starts off just two years after
Bruce Wayne first donned the
Batsuit. No one but his trusty
butler, Alfred, even knows he
exists.

I loved how when you

of the game, the criminals say
things like, “I knew he was
real!” Later on in the series,
they’re already frightened.

Batman games, Rocksteady
Games, decided to let Warner

reins for Origins. Overall, they
did everything the same as

were a certain lack of polish
and minor lag times.

The story is pretty simple,
but a brilliant tie-in to the first

 

It's a Batman buffet!

fy fn én fo

finally answers the question

first game, Arkham Asylum, and

start a fight near the beginning

The makers of the last two
Bros. Games Montreal take the

Rocksteady. The only problems

game.
The Black Mask is
living large and decides to
put a $50-million bounty
on Batman’s head. Some of
the villains are known, like
Deathstroke and Bane, while
others are less familiar, like
Firefly and Copperhead.
The highlight of these
games is the seamless
combat. It does an amazing
job at making you feel like
a complete badass. If you
think you just complete the
campaign and move on, you’re
so wrong. This game has
different side quests featuring
more villains like the Penguin
and Shiva. It also has the
famously difficult Combat and
Predator Challenge modes.
And if that’s not enough,
WEB decided to add online
multiplayer. The concept is
really cool, and the execution
is done well. It’s in a 3v3v2
format where the thugs of Bane
and Joker’s gang fight against
each other while a team of
Batman and Robin stealthily fly
above, waiting for the perfect
moment to strike.
I wasn’t expecting this
game to have so much, sol am
more than satisfied.

  

 

 

Still from Batman: Arkham Origins

 

 

 

Love interests and villains: the one-dimensional women of Batman

Batman: Ihe Widening
Gyre review

Brittney MacDonald, Contributor

 

atman: The Widening Gyre,

written by Kevin Smith,
explores Batman’s personal
relationships with everyone
from his various protégés, to
love interests, to the iconic
villains who have come out of
the Batman franchise over the
years; yet, the graphic novel fails
to portray a powerful female
character.

The plot follows Bruce
Wayne as his former flame,
Silver St. Cloud, re-emerges into
his life. She appears as an over-
sexualized, pig-tailed housewife
waiting for Wayne to come
home for a roll in the hay and to
take her out shopping.

The villains themselves
are kept fairly minimal. Lesser

known names such as Baron
Blitzkrieg and Crazy Quilt are
used to keep the focus on the
internal monologue, though
some of the more classic foes
like Poison Ivy turn up as well.

Poison Ivy, one of the
most iconic symbols of femme
fatale and often perceived as
a powerful lesbian symbol,
is reduced to a crazed
nymphomaniac in this story. As
a woman, I find these characters
incredibly insulting. My distaste
for them ruined a good deal
of the enjoyment I would
have otherwise found in the
narrative.

But the art by Walter
Flanagan is impressive. It
features a darker, more classic
comic book style: heavy on the
inks, but modern in its use of
smooth gradients. It goes a long
way to convey the gothic nature
of Batman, but does fall short
on the scenes depicting Wayne
and St. Cloud in a tropical island
paradise.

 

illustration from Batman the Widening Gyre

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