It wasn't the brawling or the stealth or the grappling and gliding around environments that held Batman: Arkham Origins back from being a good entry in the Arkham saga. These aspects are tried and true; they are necessary components of any Arkham game. Where Origins stumbled was in its pacing, trotting out its expected components in a meandering fashion rather than giving those components the supportive context they deserved. Cold, Cold Heart, the new downloadable content for Arkham Origins, is better about this. It takes only a few hours to complete, but thanks to its strong narrative, a few great locations, and a more focused structure, it's pretty good while it lasts.
Victor Fries' wife Nora is "alive" but not really alive; like too many women in comics, she exists not as an individual with her own value but serves only to fuel the anguish of a male character, and because she is literally being kept frozen, she gives slightly different meaning to the phrase "woman in a refrigerator." Still, his anguish over her fate makes Mr. Freeze perhaps Batman's most sympathetic adversary, and by using his origin story as the basis for its narrative (lifting many elements directly from the classic Batman: The Animated Series episode "Heart of Ice"), Cold, Cold Heart takes on a melancholy mood. You know you have to stop Mr. Freeze, but you come to understand his desperation as Batman learns that the truly coldhearted one is the ruthless industrialist whose actions made Freeze what he is.
Most of your time in Cold, Cold Heart is spent in new locations created for the DLC. The game opens at a charity gala at Wayne Manor, and later takes you to the offices of GothCorp, whose grand entry area evokes the feeling, familiar from The Animated Series, that Gotham is a city stylistically trapped in 1920s sensibilities. You also pay a brief visit to a dingy nightclub owned by the Penguin, but it's here, as it nears its conclusion, that Cold, Cold Heart starts to lose the narrative focus that has thus far had you hot on the heels of Freeze and putting together the pieces that explain how he came to be and what it is he's after. After making your way deep into the GothCorp facility, you encounter a wall of ice that you can pass only after collecting the pieces of a drill from the nightclub and a few other spots around the city, at which point you then have to return to the wall of ice in GothCorp. It's a diversion that sacrifices narrative momentum to increase the chapter's duration, and the trade-off isn't worth it.
. That's the best boss fight in the series thus far, but still, this is such a straightforward copy of it that it prevents Cold, Cold Heart's climax from having an identity of its own. There's no surprise in store, just a repeat of an encounter that you've probably already experienced. But the brawls with thugs throughout Cold, Cold Heart feel just different enough from those in the main game to set them apart, since some criminals are now toting freeze rays whose beams encase you in ice if you're not careful. And for the most part, the DLC's structure has you alternating between brawls, stealth encounters, crime scene analysis, and environmental traversal in a way that keeps the pace moving. It doesn't finish strong, but Cold, Cold Heart is still a satisfying sliver of Arkham storytelling.
GR-UK writes: "Dragon Age has always been about the good stories, and how our choices as a player shape and change these stories. In Dragon Age Origins there were six different ways to start the game, and it had four different endings, with variations in-between regarding quests and companions."
"Dragon Age: Inquisition has really upped the ante. Yes, it will only have one prologue telling the same story for whatever character you choose to play, but after that the story is truly yours to shape."
Guide4GameS: Batman Arkham Origins Cold Cold Heart DLC has total 20 Frozen Victims as collectibles. Find them all and unlock an achievement/trophy (Breaking the Ice Free all the civilians frozen in cryogenic ice) and get 25 Gamerscore Points or a Bronze trophy; and Ice Escape Shockwave as well.
Guide4GameS: Cold Cold Heart is a latest downloadable content of Batman: Arkham Origins and available for PC, PS3 and Xbox360. Return to Gotham City to ring in the New Year, Arkham Origins style. When the CEO of GothCorp is kidnapped, by Mr. Freeze, Batman sets out to bring him to justice. Along the way, he will uncover the tragic history of his new enemy, prompting our hero to attempt the impossible: save the victim AND the villain. Hold the complete walkthrough guide from the Prologue to Ending.
Guide4GameS: There are total 12 Anarky/Activist tags that can be found in the latest Batman Arkham Origins DLC, Cold Cold Heart. Get all tags and unlocked an achievement/trophy (Paint the Town Red Find all Activist tags) and get 30 Gamerscore Points or Silver trophy as reward.
Guide4GameS: Batman Arkham Origins Cold Cold Heart DLC has total 20 Frozen Victims as collectibles. Find them all and unlock an achievement/trophy (Breaking the Ice Free all the civilians frozen in cryogenic ice) and get 25 Gamerscore Points or a Bronze trophy; and Ice Escape Shockwave as well.
