10 Criminally Underrated Comic Book Video Games You Must Play

3. Batman: Arkham Origins

Batman Arkham Origins
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

Okay, so, Batman: Arkham Origins. It's my favourite Arkham game! And it's also one that was an unfortunate victim of circumstance.

When Origins was announced in 2013, it was facing something of an uphill climb. Fans were still digesting the bombshell ending to Batman: Arkham City, and when it was announced the next entry in the series wasn't going to be a sequel - and that Rocksteady wouldn't be developing it either, no less - there was a bit of a backlash. Arkham was seen as Rocksteady's baby, and without the studio at the helm - and with no Kevin Conroy or Mark Hamill - Origins was almost seen like an imposter; a distraction before normal programming resumed with Arkham Knight.

I'm not saying that Origins didn't have its problems, because it did. It wasn't as polished as the Rocksteady entries and it's understandable why the recycling of certain content would've frustrated players, but its pros still far outweigh its cons.

For starters, Arkham Origins has the best story in the entire series. Joker and Batman's first meeting has been played out so many times in the comics and on film, but Origins found a way to make it fresh and exciting. Fans also tend to overlook the many gameplay advancements the prequel made, with Montréal bringing the Batcave, CSI-style detective work and new enemy types to the fore. PLUS, it kinda... sorta... has the best boss battles in the entire series. (But don't tell Rocksteady I said that.)

If you found yourself writing Origins off back in 2013, or did play it and didn't find it to your liking - give it another shot. You won't be disappointed.

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Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.