Batman: Arkham Origins opens at Blackgate Prison, where Batman swoops in to investigate the disturbances. The intro is quite simple and straight-forward, and is designed to teach you the basics.
Arkham Origins uses default W-A-S-D movement control. Walk towards the entrance into the building, and let the tips guide you through some of the basic movements.
Your first encounter will be with this thug. Counter his attack to disarm him and take him down.
The Warden will try to do the same thing. Countering is exceptionally handy and fully a half of what you will be doing in regular combat throughout the game.
Pass through the door and descend the stairs in the following room. You can explore if you like, but it will be for immersion only, there are no collectibles or unlocks in this stage of the game.
You will face a large group of thugs. Countering (right+click when the blue lightning bolts flash above an enemy’s head) is an easy way to fly from one enemy to another, and allows you to combat multiple assailants at once. Use ground takedowns when your back is clear. Your combos will still stack when you counter.
When all the thugs are down except for the last, you will have the option of interrogating the Black Mask thug. When you do this, you will be treated to Batman’s extremely nuanced and top-caliber threatening tones. Hold me, I’m shaking.
When you move forward, you will encounter a drone passing by you. Follow it for a short distance before it flies up. You’re faced with another small group of thugs.
Waste them. Then as you move up, grapple up above the bars and crawl through.
Chatty Batman will give you many, many hints as to how to proceed in this level as evidenced from some of the given screenshots. When you drop down, you will face your first opponent in body armor. These guys are a little trickier, and require you to stun them with your Batcloak first (middle mouse) before they become vulnerable to your attacks. Once stunned, initiate a Beatdown (with left+click) and punish him with a combo of fast punches.
Be aware that you can still be attacked from behind while performing a Beatdown and be ready to Counter.
Grapple up and pass through the door.
The next room will introduce you to Detective mode (X). Select your Batarang (1) and right+click to aim. Activate the switch for the door. It will only lift up partway, so run forward (Space) and Left+Ctrl to slide underneath.
Clear out the mob and then open the grate. The floor is weak in the shaft, so break out your explosive gel (3) and apply it to the ground. Target it and detonate it to fall through into the next area.
There will be a short cutscene where you get to watch Killer Croc toss around some of the locals and Black Mask acting cryptic about harming Loeb’s person before switching back to the grate right next to Batman.
Take the grate off and crawl through the shaft.
At the end of it, you will find yourself falling into a group of thugs. Just keeping moving and Countering and you’ll get through them relatively quickly.
Just ahead, a Black Mask lackey stands confident behind a set of bars, but switching into Detective Mode will let you see that the wall next to him is weak.
Facing him, head to the office on your right. On the wall opposite the door, there is a grate high up on the wall.
Grapple it with your Batclaw and yank it down. Then climb on up into it and follow the path. You will find yourself facing the breakable wall next to the Black Mask lackey. Use your exploding gel to get through.
In the next room, you will be faced with two switches that need to be pressed at almost exactly the same time in order to open the door.
Quick-throw your Batarangs to do this, but take note that you cannot aim with right+click. Simply face the door and quick-tap 1 twice to throw.
Inside the lab is another grate, high up on the wall. Pull it down and follow the vent into the Execution Chamber, where you will drop down into the Observation Room just in time for a cutscene. Killer Croc conveniently smashes the glass in front of you, but you will arrive too late to save Commander Loeb.
A few baddies will come running in at this point. Get rid of them, and carry on. You will reach a stairwell and see the remains of the flying drone you saw earlier. Batman will recover a broken memory card from it. Alternate between grappling and running to get yourself to the top of the stairs.
Killer Croc is waiting.
Continue through this walkthrough to the fight with Killer Croc.
To see more Batman: Arkham Origins walkthroughs and common bug fixes, see the Master List.
