Batman: Arkham Origins (Special Edition)

Sometimes less packaging means more focus. The Batman: Arkham Origins Special Edition on PlayStation 3 strips away the statues and the dossiers and zeros in on what matters inside the game itself: the Infinite Earths Skin Pack, the Joker's Vandal Online Vanity Pack, and Bane's Special Forces Online Vanity Pack. The Infinite Earths skins pull from DC's multiverse of Batman designs, letting you patrol Gotham in costumes that span decades of comic history.

The online vanity packs gave your multiplayer characters distinct visual identities during the era when Arkham Origins was the only game in the series bold enough to attempt competitive multiplayer. That's a footnote most people forget. Origins had an asymmetric online mode pitting Batman and Robin against gangs led by Joker and Bane, and these packs let you customize those faction appearances.

For PS3 collectors, the Special Edition represents the accessible entry point into Arkham Origins ownership. No shelf space required beyond the case itself. But what it lacks in physical heft, it compensates with completionist value.

Those multiplayer servers are long gone, which makes the DLC codes historical artifacts of a mode that most Arkham fans never experienced. The Special Edition is a clean, understated addition to any PS3 Batman library, and it's the version that often flies under the radar while collectors chase the statue editions. That's precisely what makes it findable when the bigger boxes aren't.