Have You Played... Batman: Arkham Origins?

Have You Played? is an endless stream of game recommendations. One a day, every day of the year, perhaps for all time.

Jingle bells, Batman smells, Robin's flown away...

Arkham Origins definitely isn't the best of the latter-day Batman games, but at least on PC it's definitely not the worst, either - and it's ageing well. More importantly, it's set at Christmas - something of a Gotham tradition, with Burton movie Batman Returns very much the high point of rubber-suited holiday fun. Depending on what you're into, of course.

Origins seems a lot better in hindsight, too. At the time, it seemed too much like more of the same, and even too straightforward against the soaring ambition and mania of its predecessor, Arkham City. I suspect some sour grapes that it wasn't made by series creators Rocksteady was involved, but in any case its quieter exploration of the Batman/Joker relationship was a welcome counter-balance to the apocalyptic tone of City. But really, the Batman games are about Gotham City, and this particular Gotham City was very much the snow-bound, ugly-pretty one that we so often think of when we hear the name of Bats' fictional stomping ground.

Batmobile lost a wheel and the Joker got away, hey!

Happy Christmas, everyone. It's gonna be a hot time on the cold town tonight.