In the U.S. it’s odd to see a non-Nintendo game released on any day other than than a Tuesday. Warner Bros., however, has decided to buck the trend and release Batman: Arkham Origins today, a Friday, for consoles and PC. The move could have something to do with the impending release of Battlefield 4 and Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag on Tuesday, October 29
The game is the third in the critically acclaimed series that began with Batman: Arkham Asylum and continued with Batman: Arkham City. Origins is a prequel to those games, featuring a young Bruce Wayne masquerading as an inexperienced Batman. Villain Black Mask takes the role ob big bad, leading a team of classic Batman villains (including The Joker, Bane, Penguin, and Deadshot) in an attempt to assassinate Batman on Christmas Eve. The game takes place in an open-world Gotham City that is larger than the city section seen in in Arkham City.
As shown in the game’s launch trailer, Origins plays much as the previous games in the series have. Batman will use his bat-suit and an assortment of gadgets to solve mysteries, take down villains, and bash in the heads of henchmen. The Batman: Arkham combat style, which has since been copied by many action games in recent years, has been further refined.
In addition to Origins, Warner Bros. today also released Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate, a handheld companion game related to the console and PC game. Blackgate takes place after the events of Origins and adapts the series for play in a 2-d/3-d hybrid style. It is available today for both PlayStation Vita and Nintendo 3DS.