Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate arrived on October 25, 2013, for the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita, the same day Batman: Arkham Origins hit home consoles and Windows. Armature Studio built it as a companion piece and sequel, set three months after the events of Arkham Origins. That was 13 years ago. It is a smaller, stranger thing than the game it follows, and it is worth being honest about what it gets right.
Trailer, via Batman Arkham.
A prison split three ways
A mysterious explosion at Blackgate Penitentiary lets the inmates out. The riot that follows divides the prison into three territories — the Cell Block, the Industrial Area, and the Administration Offices — each held by a crime boss: the Joker, the Penguin, and Black Mask. Batman enters to stop it. Catwoman tells him about hostages in the maximum security Arkham Wing, where the Joker has cut the air supply.
The structure is the boldest idea here. The level design lets the player face the three bosses in any order, at any time. Which boss you fight last decides which ending you get. That is a real choice, not a menu dressed up as one, and it gives the campaign a shape the console games rarely risk.
What Armature kept, and what it changed
Armature went back through the earlier Arkham games to see which features would survive the move to handhelds. Grappling, gliding, crouching and climbing all made it, rebuilt for a 2.5D space. Batman moves left to right but can sit in the foreground or the background. He cannot jump; the grapnel gun gets him to higher points instead.
The gadgets return: the Batarang, the Batclaw for hooking onto surfaces, and Explosive Gel that can now be shot over a distance. The free-flow combat system was built from the ground up. There is no experience point system — the whole game is item-based.
Director Mark Pacini said a few more layers were added to the predator and detective modes. Players can see enemy sightlines, so they know at a glance whether Batman is visible. In detective mode, Batman changes color based on how close he is to being seen. Vantage points, floor grates, silent takedowns, glide kicks, weapon use and breakable walls all carry over.
The cast, and the first meetings
Origins Blackgate uses most of the Arkham Origins cast. Roger Craig Smith voices Batman. Troy Baker is the Joker, Nolan North is the Penguin, and Brian Bloom is Black Mask. Grey DeLisle plays Catwoman, in what the story frames as Batman’s first encounter with her; she aids him throughout, with motives of her own.
The supporting roster runs deep. Chris Cox is Deadshot. Gary Anthony Sturgis is Bronze Tiger. Fred Tatasciore is Solomon Grundy. Michael Gough plays GCPD captain James Gordon, and the game begins the partnership between him and Batman. Khary Payton is warden Martin Joseph. C. C. H. Pounder is Amanda Waller, with Captain Rick Flag alongside. Bane makes a non-speaking appearance.
Two versions, six months apart
The handheld release and the deluxe edition are not the same product. The deluxe edition came out on April 1, 2014, in North America and April 2, 2014, in Europe — about six months after the original.
| Version | Release | Platforms | What it adds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | October 25, 2013 (3DS in Europe: November 8; Japan: December 5, Vita only) | Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation Vita | Base game |
| Deluxe Edition | April 1, 2014 (North America); April 2, 2014 (Europe) | Windows, Wii U eShop, PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade | New maps, enemy encounters, difficulty levels, batsuits, enhanced visuals |
The deluxe edition adds maps, encounters, difficulty levels and suits, and it ships with enhanced visuals compared to the original. None of that is exotic. In this paper’s view, it should have been the starting point.
Where the handheld work shows
The transition to handhelds is the thing Origins Blackgate does best, and the source notes the game was praised for pulling it off. The grappling and gliding were rebuilt for a 2.5D frame. The sightline system makes danger readable rather than vague. The side missions help the player piece together what caused the explosion.
The suits each have their own attributes. The multiple endings are decided by the last boss fought. These are small, well-chosen pieces.
The 6.1 verdict
Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate lands at 6.1 of 10. The source describes the reception as mixed, with praise for the handheld transition. The score here reflects a game that did that one thing well and left the rest alone.
The item-based progression is the clearest example. There is no experience point system at all, and the whole game runs on items. The 2.5D plane, for all the foreground and background layering, is a narrower space than the console games used. The deluxe edition arriving about six months later, with maps and encounters and suits the original shipped without, is the plainest evidence that the first release was thin — that is this paper’s read, not a fact the source states.
What matters here is the structure. Letting players take the three bosses in any order, and letting the last one decide the ending, is the most distinctive design decision this paper can find in the Arkham series, and it sits on the least powerful hardware the series ever ran on. The cast is large, the first meetings are written into the story, and Catwoman’s ulterior motives are the source’s own description. Whether that adds up to more than the score suggests is a judgment call.
What does not matter is the visual gap between the handheld and deluxe versions. It was never going to close on a 3DS. The noise is the missing progression system; the signal is the branching prison. A sequel built on this structure would be worth having. Instead, this is a companion piece, and the deluxe edition is the version to play.
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