Batman: Arkham Origins

=== Characters ===

Arkham Origins features a large ensemble cast of characters from the history of Batman comics. The main character is Batman (Roger Craig Smith), a superhero trained to the peak of human physical perfection and an expert in martial arts who is aided by his butler, Alfred Pennyworth (Martin Jarvis). Arkham Origins brings Batman into conflict with sadistic, brutal crime lord Black Mask (Brian Bloom). The most powerful man in the city and ruler of Gotham's criminal underworld, Black Mask has vast wealth and resources, has eliminated his opposition and is consolidating his power. His ebony mask conceals his identity, allowing him to operate publicly as Roman Sionis (head of Janus Cosmetics). Black Mask has a bounty on Batman, which attracts eight accomplished assassins: the physically imposing Bane (JB Blanc); expert marksman Deadshot; veteran mercenary Deathstroke (Mark Rolston); poisonous contortionist Copperhead (Rosa Salazar); the pyromaniac Firefly (Crispin Freeman); the highly charged Electrocutioner (Steve Blum); deformed criminal Killer Croc (Khary Payton), and master martial artist Shiva (Kelly Hu).
Batman is considered an outlaw by the Gotham City police, and is pursued by Captain James Gordon (Michael Gough), Detective Harvey Bullock (Robert Costanzo) and corrupt GCPD officials Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb and SWAT team leader Howard Branden. Other characters include the psychopathic Joker (Troy Baker); black-market weapons dealer Penguin (Nolan North); the mind-controlling Mad Hatter (Peter MacNicol); anti-government, anti-corporate anarchist Anarky (Matthew Mercer); rogue hacker Enigma (Wally Wingert); Alberto Falcone; Gordon's teenage daughter Barbara, and Blackgate warden Martin Joseph (Khary Payton). The story takes place before Batman's partnership with Robin (Josh Keaton)—although Robin is a playable character outside the main story—and before Barbara becomes Batman's ally, Oracle. Dr. Harleen Quinzel (Tara Strong), Gotham News Network (GNN) reporter Vicki Vale, Amanda Waller (CCH Pounder), Quincy Sharp (Tom Kane), and Calendar Man make cameo appearances in the game. Mr. Freeze (Maurice LaMarche) appears in the downloadable content, Cold, Cold Heart.

Setting

The events in Arkham Origins take place about eight years before Batman: Arkham Asylum, in midwinter Gotham City. Batman, an experienced crime-fighter in the second year of his career, is not yet the veteran superhero of Arkham Asylum and Arkham City. He is a mysterious force; even the police do not know whether he is a vigilante, a myth or a supernatural being. Batman has fought ordinary criminals and gangsters and is accustomed to being stronger and faster than his opponents. However, on a snowy Christmas Eve he is confronted with more dangerous foes: eight professional assassins hoping to collect a $50-million bounty placed on Batman's head by Black Mask. Villains (including the Joker) take advantage of the assassins' arrival to launch their schemes, and Black Mask's henchmen instigate a rise in crime and gang activity in the city.
The Gotham City Police Department is aware of "the Batman", and does not condone his approach to crime-fighting. Led by Commissioner Loeb, the GCPD is thoroughly corrupt; Branden and his SWAT team are hunting for Batman to claim the bounty for themselves. The incorruptible Captain James Gordon is one of the most unpopular members of the force. Batman's relationship with Alfred is strained; the butler, an overbearing parental figure, reminds him of his parents' deaths and Alfred sees Batman as a spoiled child squandering his inheritance on a vigilante crusade.
Old Gotham, the section of Gotham City which will become the Arkham City prison, is not yet walled off and has slums, low buildings, a shopping mall, and docks (where Penguin's ship the Final Offer is moored). On the Final Offer, Penguin has added a casino, a fighting pit, and a sales floor with weapons and ammunition. Across the bridge from Old Gotham is New Gotham, a modern metropolitan area filled with towering skyscrapers.

Plot

On Christmas Eve, Batman intervenes in a jailbreak at Blackgate Penitentiary led by Black Mask, who executes Police Commissioner Loeb before escaping. Left to battle the assassin Killer Croc, Batman prevails but learns Croc is only the first of eight killers drawn to Gotham by a $50 million bounty Black Mask has placed on him. Seeking Black Mask's whereabouts, Batman tracks the Penguin to his ship, where he defeats Deathstroke and Electrocutioner. Penguin reveals that Black Mask has allegedly been murdered at an apartment complex. Investigating, Batman discovers the victim was an impostor and that the crime involved a criminal known as the Joker.
To learn more, Batman infiltrates the GCPD to access its criminal database. While escaping, he encounters Captain James Gordon—who is distrustful of Batman—and a corrupt SWAT team eager to collect the bounty. With advice from Gordon's daughter Barbara, Batman accesses the sewers beneath the precinct to establish permanent database access, where he finds Black Mask's men planting explosives. Using the database, he deduces that Black Mask has been kidnapped by Joker, who is targeting the Gotham Merchants Bank. At the bank, Black Mask unmasks himself as the Joker, revealing he had assumed Sionis's identity days earlier to seize his empire and impose the bounty. Batman pursues him to the Sionis Steel Mill, where he frees the real Black Mask and defeats Copperhead.
Tracking the Joker to the Gotham Royal Hotel, Batman finds the building rigged with explosives, its staff murdered, and guests taken hostage. Joker mocks the assassins for failing to kill Batman, throwing Electrocutioner to his death. Batman claims his electric gloves and continues through the hotel. While most assassins depart, Bane remains, anticipating Batman will come to the Joker. On the rooftop, Batman battles Bane; worried for his safety, Alfred alerts the police so they will intervene. Bane flees by helicopter, firing a rocket that sends Joker plummeting from the roof. Batman rescues him, confounding Joker as to why Batman would save someone like him. Joker is arrested and placed in Blackgate under the care of Dr. Harleen Quinzel. There, Joker tells her that he and Batman were destined to meet.
In the Batcave, Alfred urges Bruce to abandon his crusade, fearing it will kill him, but Batman refuses. He also learns Bane has uncovered his identity as Bruce Wayne. Firefly's attack on Pioneers Bridge forces Batman and Gordon to work together to stop him. Meanwhile, Bane infiltrates the Batcave and nearly kills Alfred. Batman revives him with Electrocutioner's gloves, and Alfred admits Gotham needs Batman to face such threats. Elsewhere, Joker incites a riot and seizes control of Blackgate.
Realizing he needs allies, Batman joins Gordon and the police to retake the prison. Joker, strapped to an electric chair, presents Batman with a choice: kill Bane, or let Bane's heartbeat charge a device that will activate the chair and execute Joker. Batman stops Bane's heart with the electric gloves, satisfying Joker, who departs to detonate bombs across Gotham. Batman resuscitates Bane, who injects himself with TN-1, a steroid that transforms him into a hulking beast. After a brutal fight, Batman defeats him; the serum's side effects cause Bane to have amnesia, protecting Batman's identity. With Gordon's support, Batman locates Joker in the prison chapel. Joker, dismayed that Bane lives, tries to provoke Batman into killing him but is subdued instead. Batman leaves, and Gordon chooses not to pursue him, believing he is the hero Gotham needs.
In a radio interview during the credits, Quincy Sharp announces plans to lobby for Arkham Asylum's reopening.
In the post-credits scene, Amanda Waller recruits Deathstroke into the Suicide Squad.

Cold, Cold Heart

On New Year's Eve at Wayne Manor, Ferris Boyle, owner of GothCorp, accepts a humanitarian award from the Wayne Foundation. The ceremony is interrupted by criminals working for the Penguin, led by a man in a mechanized suit armed with freezing weapons, who kidnaps Boyle. Wayne retreats to the Batcave, dons the Batsuit, and saves the guests, learning that the attacker is known as "Mr. Freeze" and is meeting weapons dealers in South Gotham. Investigating further, Batman discovers that the Penguin's men were receiving weapons manufactured by GothCorp.
At GothCorp, Batman finds Freeze and the Penguin in a standoff, with the latter holding Boyle hostage. Freeze encases the Penguin in ice and escapes with Boyle, leaving Batman unable to pursue because of an ice wall blocking his path. Interrogating the Penguin, Batman learns that Boyle possesses the access codes to a superweapon and that the only way through the ice wall is with a Cryodrill, which Penguin's men have stolen.
Equipping his XE suit, which allows him to survive extreme cold, Batman retrieves the Cryodrill and returns to GothCorp. There, he uncovers evidence of a past crime and learns Freeze's true identity: Victor Fries, a former GothCorp scientist who sought to cure his terminally ill wife Nora by placing her in cryogenic stasis. Boyle had financed Victor's research in exchange for weapons development but later reneged, stealing Nora's frozen body and causing the accident that forced Victor to live in sub-zero conditions inside a mechanized suit.
Armed with this knowledge, Batman confronts and subdues Freeze, but is then frozen by Boyle, who attempts to cover up his crimes by killing both Victor and Nora. Batman breaks free, defeats Boyle, and reactivates Nora's cryogenic chamber, preserving her life.
During the credits, the Gotham News Network reports on the resignation of Mayor Hamilton Hill and speculates on Gordon's potential promotion to commissioner. Vicki Vale reports on the arrests of Boyle and the Penguin while Mr. Freeze is being held in a special wing at the Gotham City Hospital. Sharp cites Freeze as further justification for reopening Arkham Asylum.