Gotham Knights review \u2013 No Batman, no problem Warner BrosGotham Knights proves that WB Games Montr\u00e9al can escape the shadow of the Bat. Though it may have some glaring flaws, this is an essential experience for any DC Comics fan. When Arkham Knight initiated a curtain call for Rocksteady\u2019s beloved franchise, a Batman-sized void was left in the hearts of players everywhere. In 2020, WB Games Montr\u00e9al, developers of the (sadly) overlooked Arkham Origins, revealed what\u2019s next in Batman games \u2014 but there was something missing. Disconnected from Rocksteady\u2019s universe and with no playable Batman \u2013 the daggers were already raised against Gotham Knights from the get-go. Could they emerge from the murky depths of the Batcave victorious? The answer is a resounding yes. Like any new franchise, there are teething problems, but Gotham Knights is an electrifying love letter to all things Batman. Note: Before we continue, consider a spoiler warning in place for anyone that\u2019s heading into the game without any information \u2014 it\u2019s nothing you haven\u2019t seen in trailers, but we\u2019d hate to be the ones to ruin the opening if you hadn\u2019t. Gotham Knights: Key details Developer: WB Games Montr\u00e9al – Price: $69.99 USD \/ \u00a364.99 GBP \/ $109.95 AUD – Release Date: October 21, 2022 – Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S|X and PC – Gotham Knights gameplay trailer The Bat is dead, what now? Gotham Knights marks a departure from Batman games of late, as the focus pivots to the Bat Family. The stakes hit you like a ton of Batarangs immediately as the game\u2019s opening cutscene unfolds. Bursting with urgency and palpable dread, Batman meets his demise during a guttural battle against Ra\u2019s al Ghul. It\u2019s a white-knuckle sequence that effectively establishes just how doomed Gotham City has become. With Bruce Wayne laid to rest, his once-protected city is ripe for the taking. Now, Batgirl, Robin, Nightwing, and Red Hood have to uncover a mystery far deadlier than they ever imagined. Gotham Knights draw its story inspiration from a plethora of excellent Batman stories. The most obvious pulls are from Scott Snyder\u2019s excellent Court of Owls arc and Grant Morrison\u2019s Batman Incorporated, but there are nods throughout to Batman lore from every decade. Narratively it isn\u2019t completely unpredictable but manages to nail its core goal: bringing respect to the Bat Family. Batman\u2019s sidekicks are often unfairly maligned outside of the realm of comic book fans. Yet, WB Games Montr\u00e9al ensure that players know they\u2019re more than worthy of Batman\u2019s mantle. Although, the cringe-worthy dialog at times could cast doubt on that. Thankfully, the gripping narrative is often enough to partially overlook Gotham Knights\u2019 flaws. The world is packed with easter eggs for avid fans and newcomers to discover. Refreshingly, Gotham Knights places the backstory for our heroes aside, as optional side quests. They\u2019ve all seen their fair share of horrors over the years. Details like Batgirl\u2019s back-brace or emails from the Titans paint the world beyond our imagination, and while Jason Todd as Red Hood simply will not stop talking about his origin story in the opening hours, it\u2019s nice that WB sets a scene but doesn\u2019t handhold through the entirety of it. Those early few missions can be rough, too, with a fair amount of exposition doled out to set the stakes and the scene, but the story surprised us a lot more than finding out who the Arkham Knight was back in 2015. Like all great Batman stories, Gotham Knights is a revolving door of rogues. Each major villain in Gotham is out to claim their piece of the city. Rather than interweave them as brief battles throughout the main story, the major villains are given their own respective mission chains. It\u2019s a welcome change of pace that reinforces that we\u2019re playing as the world\u2019s greatest detectives. But you can\u2019t save Gotham with just solid investigative work \u2013 sometimes you\u2019ll need to bring the beatdown. Bat-street\u2019s back, alright The DNA of the Arkham franchise is evident in Montr\u00e9al\u2019s ethos. You\u2019ll feel a sense of familiarity initially, as movement and combat echo what players have come to expect. Make no mistake, however, as the rhythm of Gotham Knights is a different beast from its spiritual predecessors. This time, the nuanced combat requires your patience. You can certainly mash punch over and over, though it won\u2019t get you very far. Each of the \u2018Gotham Knights\u2019 packs a melee and ranged attack, and those have their own heavy attack variant. Timing is crucial to chain together a flurry of hits. Figuring out the tempo of a battle is enthralling too. Whether you\u2019re fighting impossibly fast Talons or Mr. Freeze\u2019s teched-out henchmen \u2013 make sure you keep your wits about you. It can be frustrating removing the muscle memory of the Arkham franchise, that\u2019s for sure. When you\u2019ve nailed its intricacies, Gotham Knights gives Akrham\u2019s Free-Flow a fair run for its money. Relying less on canned animations and enemies waiting in line for a punch and more on studying patterns and using each character\u2019s abilities. Naturally, we were cautious as to whether our heroes would feel different from each other, but we\u2019re pleased to report that each feels subtly different despite offering a more universal control scheme than that found in Marvel\u2019s Avengers. In fact, we were incredibly impressed by the mission structure that meant no character feels like a right or wrong choice, backed up by personalized voice lines from each. Robin is a lightweight stealth beast, while Nightwing\u2019s acrobatics dazzle in every swing of his Escrima sticks. Batgirl, of course, is the most Batman-adjacent character, and Red Hood is a bulky brawler with a granite chin. Players will quickly find their favorite among the lineup. Each hero is also equipped with \u2018Momentum\u2019 abilities, which can be activated after pulling off perfect dodges and pummelling your foes. Unleashing a razor-sharp wave of Batarangs or steamrolling enemies with Robin\u2019s staff never fails to induce a sense of awe. To enhance their potential, customization plays a vital part in getting an advantage over your formidable enemies. The more you level up, the tougher your enemies become, too. Customization sees the creation of suits that contain unique buffs and qualities. Scaling them up requires the usage of Modchips, which will grant an extra increase to your power\/defense level. Salvage is needed to craft new weapon variants and suits. The devs could have easily made Salvage a laborious chore, but completing premeditated crimes, random events and more keeps your stockpile topped up. Players who like the grind of XP and exotic items will find plenty to do here. At the end of your patrol, you\u2019ll need to kick back and hang up the cape. Returning to the game\u2019s hub, the Belfry, always retained an air of excitement. What suit would I craft this time? What colorway and buffs would I apply? Though Gotham Knight\u2019s customization options could be expanded on, it was exciting to build out powerful outfits. Brave new world Whereas Arkham Knight\u2019s open world often felt hollow, this Gotham City breathes through its impeccable world design. Each district blends together the art-deco\/nouveau mystique seen in Joel Schumacher and Matt Reeves\u2019 movies respectively. Blinding neon lights illuminate the constant barrages of rain splatter against cobblestone roads or towering highrises. You\u2019ll find pedestrians, at least those who are brave enough, wandering in the dead of night. It may not be as bustling as Insomniac\u2019s Spider-Man, but prowling along the rooftops evokes that pure \u201cBatman\u201d feeling. The devastation of Batman\u2019s absence is felt heavily. Citizens of Gotham vocalize their lack of confidence in our heroes. Familiar foes yearn for the thrill of Batman\u2019s chase. To get around the streets of Gotham, players can use their Batcycle or unlock signature traversal methods through the Knighthood questline. The Batcycle\u2019s speed can seem inauthentic as a weird vignette tries to sell the illusion of pace. In spite of this, Gotham City\u2019s design is delightfully suited to sharp turns and exploring its many alternative pathways. Iconic locations for the Batman pantheon get their time to shine too, but for the sake of spoilers, we\u2019ll remain hush about it. Every night you\u2019ll embark on a new patrol, which is a chance to uncover new crimes and complete a myriad of sidequests. Some quests \u2013 like Bat-Cycle races \u2013 can be chalked up to busy work, in a similar vein to Spider-Man\u2019s Combat Challenges. Nevertheless, crimes like action-packed bank heists or foiling corrupt cops enrich the importance of fulfilling Batman\u2019s legacy. Not just a friend. A partner. No matter which hero you prefer, you\u2019ll be able to take them through the entire game at will. There are no forced sequences for certain characters. The focus here is freedom and more importantly, collaboration. Gotham Knights is a complete co-op experience, with each and every aspect of the game made available to you and your chosen ally. This is where WB Games Montr\u00e9al has truly struck gold. With just shy of 30 hours put into the game\u2019s main story by the end, a large section of it was played as a duo. It truly is a bonafide blast cruising around the glistening streets of Gotham together. In fact, I often felt bad for continuing the story without my cohort, as it was just so fun to pursue it together. If you were hoping to team up with a full squad, then you\u2019ll have to wait a little longer. A 4-player co-op experience, Heroic Assault, is touted to arrive on November 29. Players can traverse the whole city at will and they don\u2019t have to stick together either. Want to foil a deadly hostage situation downtown while your partner interrogates goons elsewhere? Not a problem. You can even rattle through your partner\u2019s quests too, earning a sizeable amount of XP in the process. However, it isn\u2019t exactly pitch-perfect. Strange choices such as forcing the primary player to open\/press specific doors and switches damage gameplay flow. Pings would be a godsend here, as players jumping into your session won\u2019t be able to see what quests you\u2019ve got ready to solve. Performance issues are the bane of the game A huge point of contention for the game will undoubtedly lie in the lack of a 60FPS option. Gotham Knights runs at a capped 4K 30FPS setting, with the ability to toggle HDR. And boy, it can struggle to maintain that 30FPS at times. Single-player adventures fare better, with the rare slowdown as you blaze through dense areas on your Batcycle. Unfortunately, co-op sessions can succumb to brutal frame drops in enemy-laden arenas. Accompanying the game\u2019s performance issues are some particularly clunky UI choices. Patrolling the city is a clean adventure, as ongoing mission chains and quests are restrained to avoid clutter. It\u2019s a shame this approach isn\u2019t applied to the game\u2019s various menus. Gear and abilities are hidden behind multiple tabs. Navigating the abilities tree is strangely difficult and is an instance where a cursor would be perfect. The Verdict \u2013 8\/10 A lot has been riding on Gotham Knights\u2019 shoulders but the wait has paid off dividends. Performance issues aside, its gripping story and gorgeous open-world enforce it as a confident successor to the Arkham franchise. Gotham Knights is a robust co-op adventure that embraces the Dark Knight\u2019s world wholeheartedly. Reviewed on PlayStation 5.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gotham Knights review \u2013 No Batman, no problem Warner BrosGotham Knights proves that WB Games Montr\u00e9al can escape the shadow of the Bat. Though it may have some glaring flaws, this is an essential experience for any DC Comics fan. When Arkham Knight initiated a curtain call for Rocksteady\u2019s beloved franchise, a Batman-sized void was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81198\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}