--Catwoman, Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate
Released on the same day as Arkham Origins for the PS3 and Xbox 360, Arkham Origins Blackgate is currently the only handheld game of the Arkham series, though some of the entries could be ported to the Switch. I have already reviewed the 3DS version, yes, but there is more to distinguish its Vita version than a lack of optional 3D effects. Trophies and the ability to take screenshots help set it apart from the 3DS edition. For the most part, the gameplay and locations is the same besides having to use the one screen both to explore the world, for touch screen functionality, and for the map, although there is more to appreciate about this handheld game than might seem to be the case based on its reputation.
Production Values
Comic-like cutscenes appear at points in the story, which might be disappointing to some given that the Vita (and 3DS) can certainly handle cinematics that more closely resemble the style of then-contemporary console games, but the graphics of the gameplay sections themselves are perfectly at home on the Vita. For a handheld game released almost a decade ago based somewhat on the art style of PS3-era games, Arkham Origins Blackgate has fairly strong graphics (the context is important here). With the voice acting, Catwoman and Batman in particular stand out as being realized well through their dialogue and actual voices. Just like some of the physical mannerisms of Batman's fighting style in the console games are mirrored here, at least the characters talk in a way that reflects their personalities in this continuity.
Gameplay
The developers do succeed in bringing the style of the Arkham games to a 2.5D and mostly side-scrolling format, all while utilizing the same sort of backtracking, exploration, and loose map style of the Metroid games (not the Metroid Prime games or Other M, but the side-scrolling entries). In the moments where you have to fight enemies outside of boss battles, some of the same moves from the third-person console Arkham games are present, so the fighting does not suffer because of this, but it can be extremely difficult to chain hits to earn PlayStation trophies because of how Batman might strike the wrong enemy or swing his fists at no one and break the combo. Thankfully, boss fights vary up the fighting style by requiring unique actions or strategies, somewhat avoiding this flaw as a result. Combat, though, is just one of many sides of the game.
Navigating through serpentine passageways and rooms, locating upgrades, searching for optional clues that fill out detective cases to earn concept art, and utilizing devices like the gel launcher and electrified Batarang (for exploration purposes) are core parts of the gameplay as well. A more limited range and smoothness of movement while performing these tasks than the third-person games allow for will continue you, however. Even so, aiming the grappler at distant objects in the background to pull Batman into a distant area and shift the camera back there with him (or forward, in some cases) distinguish this from many other side-scrolling games. Even the Metroid games this seems to draw inspiration from do not feature this aspect of a 2.5D game!
Story
Some spoilers are below.
Catwoman is found for the first time by Batman as she steals files one night, an encounter which ends in her getting captured by the GCPD and sent to Blackgate Prison just before the breakout of Black Mask, the Joker, and the Penguin brings Batman's attention to the prison anyway. The trio have divided Blackgate among themselves and have already killed or abducted some of the staff members. As Batman starts apprehending the various criminals and their pawns, another figure watches, plotting to put together a Suicide Squad. Amanda Waller is a witness of these events.
Intellectual Content
Little to none of the moralistic, existential side of other Batman stories is tackled in this game, though the dynamic between this incarnation of Batman and his foes is established. Scouring the environments for mandatory and optional items/clues is unfortunately as deep as Arkham Origins Blackgate gets on an explicitly intellectual front. Detective mode can help find, and in some cases is necessary to find, these objects, yet doing so would be very time consuming for completionists without a guide.
Conclusion
Arkham Origins Blackgate does not reach the same grand heights of some of the other Arkham games, but was it ever supposed to? For a side-scroller mixing elements of Metroid and the Arkham titles, one made for portable systems at that (though it was eventually brought to some home consoles), this is a game that captures plenty of iconic or noteworthy gameplay mechanics from its console siblings while presenting them in a new format and utilizing some aspects of perhaps the greatest side-scrolling series of all time (Metroid). The relatively minor or secondary flaws of the game are still accompanied by success in this regard.
Content:
1. Violence: Batman and various criminals physically fight each other frequently, all without any blood or gore.
2. Profanity: Very rarely, words like "bitch" might get used.
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