A comprehensive guide to Gotham Knights’ gameplay, co-op experience, and strategies for mastering its unique combat system.
The Bat is Dead, What Now? A New Era for Gotham
Gotham Knights carves its own path as a compelling action-adventure, overcoming its shortcomings with a bold reimagining of the Batman mythos.
WB Games Montréal demonstrates it can thrive beyond Batman’s shadow. Despite noticeable flaws, this title delivers an essential chapter for DC enthusiasts.
Rocksteady’s Arkham Knight served as a finale for its acclaimed series, leaving players yearning for more. In 2020, WB Games Montréal—the studio behind the underappreciated Arkham Origins—announced the next evolution, but a key element was absent.
Operating outside Rocksteady’s continuity and featuring no playable Dark Knight, Gotham Knights faced immediate skepticism. Could this new direction possibly succeed?
The response is overwhelmingly positive. As with any fledgling franchise, there are growing pains, but Gotham Knights stands as a vibrant tribute to Batman’s legacy.
Note: A minor spoiler alert is advised for those entering completely fresh. While trailers have shown much, we avoid spoiling the impactful opening sequence.
Bat-Street’s Back, Alright: Narrative & World Building
Gotham Knights represents a paradigm shift, placing the Bat Family front and center. The stakes are established instantly in a gripping opening where Batman falls in a brutal confrontation with Ra’s al Ghul.
This intense sequence masterfully conveys Gotham’s newfound vulnerability. With Bruce Wayne gone, the city is up for grabs. Batgirl, Robin, Nightwing, and Red Hood must now unravel a conspiracy more dangerous than any they’ve faced. The narrative draws deeply from classic Batman lore, most notably Scott Snyder’s Court of Owls and Grant Morrison’s Batman Incorporated, while weaving in references from across the character’s history.
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While the plot isn’t entirely unpredictable, it achieves its primary objective: elevating the Bat Family’s status. Often sidelined outside comics, these characters are proven fully capable of upholding Batman’s mission. Some dialogue can feel awkward, but the engaging story largely compensates for the game’s other imperfections.
The world is dense with secrets for both die-hard fans and casual players. Wisely, the game treats hero backstories as optional side content, acknowledging their traumatic pasts without excessive exposition. Touches like Batgirl’s back brace or communications from the Titans flesh out the universe. Although Red Hood’s Jason Todd frequently references his past early on, the game generally avoids excessive hand-holding.
The initial missions are exposition-heavy, setting the stage, but the narrative delivers more genuine surprises than the reveal of the Arkham Knight’s identity in 2015.
True to Batman tradition, Gotham Knights features a gallery of rogues. Each major antagonist seeks to claim their territory. Instead of brief boss fights sprinkled through the main story, each villain gets a dedicated mission chain. This approach reinforces the detective fantasy, though saving Gotham requires more than sleuthing—sometimes you need to throw down.
Brave New World: Mastering Combat & Character Playstyles
The Arkham series’ influence is clear in the foundational mechanics. Movement and fighting will feel familiar at first, but Gotham Knights operates on a distinctly different rhythm. This combat system demands patience. Button-mashing is ineffective. Each Knight has light and heavy variants for both melee and ranged attacks.
Pro Tip: Master the dodge timing early. Perfect dodges not only avoid damage but also build Momentum, the resource needed for powerful special abilities. Practice against standard thugs before taking on faster foes like the Talons.
Precise timing is key to linking combos. Learning an encounter’s flow is equally thrilling. Whether facing swift Talons or Mr. Freeze’s armored troops, maintaining awareness is crucial. Unlearning Arkham’s muscle memory can be challenging, but mastering Gotham Knights’ intricacies makes its combat a worthy successor to Free-Flow, focusing less on scripted animations and more on pattern recognition and ability usage.
We were concerned the heroes might feel too similar, but each offers subtle distinctions despite sharing a more universal control scheme than games like Marvel’s Avengers. The mission design ensures no character is a ‘wrong’ choice, supported by unique voice lines for each hero.
Robin excels at stealth, Nightwing’s acrobatics shine with his Escrima sticks, Batgirl mirrors Batman’s balanced approach, and Red Hood is a durable powerhouse. Players will naturally gravitate to a favorite. Each hero’s ‘Momentum’ abilities, activated after perfect dodges and attacks, add a strategic layer.
Common Mistake: Neglecting to craft and equip Modchips. These items are essential for scaling your power to match increasingly tough enemies. Always check your salvage after patrols to upgrade your gear.
Executing a barrage of Batarangs or sweeping through enemies with Robin’s staff is consistently satisfying. Customization is vital for gaining an edge. As you level up, so do your foes. You craft suits with specific bonuses, enhanced by Modchips that boost your power and defense. Salvage, gathered from stopping crimes and random events, is used for crafting new gear.
The developers avoided making Salvage collection a tedious grind. Engaging with the world’s activities keeps resources flowing. Players who enjoy pursuing XP and rare gear will find ample content. Returning to the Belfry hub after a patrol is always engaging, filled with anticipation about crafting new suits and applying color schemes and buffs. While customization could be deeper, building powerful loadouts is a rewarding loop.
Not Just a Friend. A Partner: The Co-op Experience
Unlike the sometimes-empty world of Arkham Knight, this rendition of Gotham City feels alive thanks to impeccable art direction. Districts blend art-deco and nouveau styles reminiscent of both Schumacher and Reeves’ Batman films. Dazzling neon lights cut through the perpetual rain, reflecting off wet cobblestones and skyscraper glass.
Brave pedestrians wander the night. It may not match the density of Insomniac’s Spider-Man, but soaring across rooftops captures the quintessential Batman fantasy. The impact of Batman’s death is palpable. Citizens express doubt in the new heroes, while classic villains miss the challenge Batman presented.
Traversal options include the Batcycle or unique methods unlocked via Knighthood quests. The Batcycle’s speed feels somewhat artificial, aided by a visual vignette effect. Nevertheless, the city layout is perfect for sharp turns and exploration. Iconic Batman locations are faithfully represented (details omitted for spoilers).
Each night’s patrol offers chances to discover new crimes and sidequests. Some activities, like Bat-Cycle races, feel like filler, similar to Spider-Man’s combat challenges. However, stopping bank heists or corrupt police operations meaningfully contributes to upholding Batman’s legacy.
You can complete the entire game with any hero; no sequences force a specific character. The emphasis is on freedom and, crucially, cooperation. Gotham Knights is built for co-op, with every game aspect accessible to you and a partner.
This is where WB Games Montréal excels. After investing nearly 30 hours in the story, much of it was played cooperatively. Roaming Gotham’s gleaming streets with a partner is an absolute joy. I frequently hesitated to progress solo because the shared experience was so enjoyable.
For those wanting a full four-player squad, the Heroic Assault mode arrives post-launch on November 29. Partners can explore the entire city independently.
You can tackle a hostage crisis downtown while your ally interrogates henchmen elsewhere. You can even complete your partner’s active quests, earning significant shared XP. However, the system isn’t flawless. Odd design choices, like requiring the host player to activate specific switches, disrupt the flow. A ping system is sorely needed, as join-in-progress players cannot see which quests are active.
Performance & Polish: The Bane of the Game
A major criticism is the absence of a 60FPS performance mode. Gotham Knights runs at a locked 4K 30FPS with HDR support. It often struggles to maintain even that frame rate. Single-player sees occasional slowdowns in dense areas on the Batcycle. Co-op sessions, however, can suffer severe frame drops in combat-heavy areas.
Optimization Tip: For the most stable co-op experience, try to engage larger enemy groups in open areas rather than confined spaces, and consider turning off motion blur if you’re sensitive to frame rate fluctuations.
The performance issues are compounded by clunky menu design. Navigating the city is clean, with minimal UI clutter for missions. Unfortunately, this philosophy doesn’t extend to the menus. Gear and abilities are buried in multiple tabs. The ability tree is confusing to navigate and would benefit significantly from a cursor control option.
The Verdict: A Confident New Direction
Gotham Knights carried immense expectations, and it largely delivers. Performance issues notwithstanding, its captivating story and stunning open world establish it as a worthy follow-up to the Arkham legacy. It is a substantial cooperative adventure that fully immerses players in the Dark Knight’s universe.
Reviewed on PlayStation 5.
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