Arrow (Season One)

Zach Goodier

Arrow is a CW show centered around the exploits of Oliver Queen, known in comic-land as the Green Arrow. The show starts us with his return from the dead, having been believed lost at sea for 5 years. As he secretly begins to take on his new persona and fight crime in Starling City, we are gradually given glimpses into his experiences over the last 5 years, starting with him being shipwrecked on a island whose only inhabitants are ruthless mercenaries and an old man trying to survive on his own. What follows is a story of Oliver’s return to society, as he struggles to right the wrongs of his father, and atone for his own past in the process.

Meet Oliver Queen, AKA "The Vigiliante," or "The Green Arrow."

From the get-go, this show takes on a somewhat darker tone that most comic-fans might be used to in the TV adaptation. Oliver’s hero is called the “the Vigilante” among the media and by the city’s inhabitants, and the name “Green Arrow” is quickly laughed off, for humor and as an attempt to make this show feel more mature than the comic it is based off of, apparently. This hero has no issue with killing people, as he quickly stacks up a body count of thugs and villains who are plaguing the city.

Flashbacks throughout the episodes give glimpses into how Oliver became the hardened, scarred man he is in the present. 

The story is a little melodramatic for my liking, with a lot of drama being drudged up through Oliver and his family drama, including a bratty little sister named Thea, and his mother,  Moira. While it is obviously an emotion first couple of episodes as everyone adjusts to Oliver’s return, it quickly turns into an overdramatic cycle of people confronting Oliver about keeping secrets (because hooded vigilantes can’t stay in every night), which spawns a repetitive cycle of his family grilling him about his absence from home and social functions, and not telling them about his experiences on the island. From there, the drama finds new ways to pop back up, making me wish they could find new ways of moving things forward.

Oliver tries to find others who can help him save the city, but not everyone shares his enthusiasm.

On the up side, Dark Archer is the main villain of the story arch, even if he doesn’t appear until later in the season. He does a great job of capturing a great anti-villain feel, and has a charismatic aura that makes him a character you hate to love. His ruthless dedication and advanced skills make him a dangerous opponent for our Vigilante. The fights between these two are amazing and really make it hard to tear yourself away.

Dark Archer is trained by the League of Shadows, and has plans for the future of Starling City.

There are appearances by other comic characters, and they help add some depth to the series, but they often spawn more drama as they become involved in Oliver’s life, both as a hero, and as a person. This always finds a way to impact his family and/or friends in a way that spawns more drama as they argue over whatever reasons the writers managed to dig up to make things tense. Characters like Laurel and Tommy provide some side-story and give Oliver friends, but they also tend to add to the drama by creating a love-triangle, the likes of which you’d expect from a teen anime.

There's a lot of foreshadowing for the main villain of season 2.

Overall, this show is great when it gets down to business and has the showdowns between skillful and dangerous characters, and a few supporting characters really carry their weight well throughout the season. However, there is also a lot holding this show down, like overusing drama to add tension, making things feel too much like a soap-opera, and some poorly written characters that just annoyed me… Still, very much like a soap-opera. Perhaps some of the writers only have experience on soaps, because whenever Oliver isn’t wearing his quiver, that’s the general feel this show gives off sometimes. It’s not like Game of Thrones, which is a character-driven dramatic story, this feels like a series with drama-driven characters, who are almost forced via writing, to find reasons to keep secrets and betray each other’s trust, and then resent each other for it.

Good:

- Quality action.

- Dark Archer is well-written and a worthy arch-villain.

- Elements of back-story are slowly revealed as they are relevant to the current plot.

Bad:

- SO. MUCH. DRAMA.

Scully Rating: 6.0 out of 10

Batman: Arkham Origins

By: Robert Murphy

Entering back into the world of the shadows, we once again join Batman but at a different time in his life, we go back to a time where Gotham City is a dangerous place of crime, murder and chaos and Bruce Wayne takes it upon himself to change that in Batman: Arkham Origins. Batman now though is just starting out and he is a little rough around the edges, taking somewhat of a harsh and brutal demeanor as opposed to the calm and collected Batman we have seen in previous games. But this is a time period in the Batman universe that I love because it introduces some of his greatest enemies, such as Black Mask, who is actually the cause of the main conflict for Batman this time around. Black Mask has placed an enormous bounty on your head and sent it to the world’s most legendary assassins who set out to take out the caped crusader before Christmas Day dawns.  

Much like in Arkham City, players are set in a large environment that can be freely explored as you fight through the campaign but a few things are different to keep the appeal going and keep the game from just being like its predecessors. We once again see The Riddler’s puzzles hidden throughout the city but he’s not The Riddler yet, he’s referred to as Enigma for most of the game and he’s got some tricks up his sleeve this time around. There’s also some new enemies for Batman to face outside of the normal enemy types we’ve seen before, these guys can put a damper on some of your string of hits but you’re Batman so you’re always prepared. This brings us to our gadgets, Batman already comes supplied with many of the trademark gadgets we’ve seen but a few new ones come out this time around like the concussion grenade and the shock gauntlets, that adds a bit more flavor to the game. We also gain a new fast travel ability that utilizes the Bat Wing, the open world of Gotham is quite large so this handy new ability is great, just go to a location where the Bat Wing symbol appears and you can fast travel anywhere in the city provided you’ve solved Enigma’s tower puzzle. This good because traveling back and forth across the giant Gotham bridge gets old after a while and really comes across as a flaw in my eyes.

On the other side of things, there may be all this new stuff to come to the game but all the things we loved from previous games have come along with Arkham Origins as well. There are still the combat/ stealth challenges that challenge your skills as Batman and other characters and this feature can be accessed in game through the Batcave. There is also the fun of seeing some of the Batman universes most iconic sights and scenes but unlike in Arkham City, these sights are all in good condition and unspoiled by ravenous criminals…for the moment. Speaking of, criminals are wondering the streets and often times you hear calls from the Gotham PD needing help taking down some criminals for some additional experience. And while you’re helping out Gotham’s finest with beatings and bruisings, you can also help them out with cold case files that occur throughout the city which brings into use the new crime scene investigation tool. This not only comes up in the story but can be used on these case files to allow you to solve crimes by examining clues from the area and compiling the information to find out who is responsible and giving them over to the police, after you beat the tar out of him and make him confess.

Arkham Origins is also coming with the first online gameplay feature which I questioned and with good reason because how can you play multiplayer in a Batman game? Well it turns out that you play as criminals who try and hold control over various territories but with the added twist of two players taking on the role of Batman and Robin and they take out members of both teams. Now this is quite an interesting idea as you never take on the role of the hunted throughout the Batman games, you’re always the hunter, hiding in the shadows. However the appeal isn’t long lasting as the fun is had by the people who get to be Batman and Robin, it turns out it isn’t fun being hunted by a guy who shatters bones with his fists and a boy in tights. The idea is much like Splinter Cell: Blacklist’s, Spies vs. Mercs but doesn’t give any aide to the criminals so while you’ll enjoy being Batman or Robin in online play, you won’t have much fun as the underpowered bad guys.

In short, Batman: Arkham Origins is very much the way that its previous contenders were but it gets a fresh new face, new villains to fight and is set in a very unique time in the Batman universe. But sadly I have to say the game took a step back from Arkham City, there are new features to the game but they don’t break far away from what Arkham City already gave us. That being said the game is still solid in all the right ways, combat is still smooth and enjoyable, it comes off like a choreographed dream. Then there is the story and all the amazing characters that come out of the wood work like Black Mask, Deathstroke, Electrocutioner, Lady Shiva, Copperhead and more.

Good:

-Combat and stealth are still solid

-Amazing story, set in a great point in the Batman universe

-Crime scene investigation mode

-Great new characters like Black Mask, Deathstroke and more

Bad:

-Unappealing multiplayer

-Doesn’t have the spark of Arkham City

Scully Rating: 8.5 out of 10