Gotham Knights: The Action RPG Previewed

Batman is dead. No, that has nothing to do with the ridiculous presentation of the famous comic book character in the last few DC films, but is the story hook of Gotham Knights. In addition to the Dark Knight, Commissioner Gordon has also given the temporal blessing, whereby the criminal rabble in Gotham City wins the upper hand. Most of the GCPD is corrupt, gangsters roam the streets and top villains like Mister Freeze and the Council of Owls divide the city among themselves.

The villains got their money's worth without the former sidekicks of Batman. Nightwing, Batgirl, Robin and Red Hood form the Gotham Knights and confront Gotham's enemies. So we can choose between different heroes to smash the criminal visages and even better: We can even experience the entire adventure in co-op with another player.

Gotham Knights in preview

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Not a new Arkham

But not only the co-op mode is an innovation to the well-known Batman Arkham Games, because Gotham Knights actually has nothing to do with the popular series about DC's bat. Sure, they have the same dark atmosphere and the design is very similar, but Gotham Knights is set in a different universe than the Arkham Games. Those familiar with the series will still feel at home in Gotham Knights, because here too the gameplay is based on a mixture of stealth, the skillful use of gadgets and the tried and tested free-flow combat system.

In contrast to his flogging buddies, Jason Todd as Red Hood relies on the power of his firearms. Source: Warner Bros. Of course, the four selectable characters differ in terms of gameplay, sometimes significantly. Batgirl's fighting style is closest to that of Batman. It doesn't hit that hard, but it's more agile. Robin, on the other hand, is perfect for stealth gameplay, as the youngster can access the Justice League satellite and teleport over short distances.

Gambling with Red Hood is of course much more action-oriented, there the mentally challenged Jason Todd trusts his firearms. So far there has been as little to see for the trigger-happy red hood as for Nightwing. We are excited to see their fighting styles in action. Of course, this also applies to an insight into the story, because the developers WB Games Montréal have already proven with Arkham Origins that they understand how to give characters depth and tell exciting stories in the Batman universe.

Holy level-up, Batman!

Another big difference to the Arkham Games is that Gotham Knights is not an action adventure, but an action role-playing game. Whether we are really allowed to make decisions about how characters develop has not yet been shown, but you could already take a look at the level system. In the quasi-open game world of Gotham City there are five districts, each with a level recommendation.

Gotham Knights does not play in the same universe as the Arkham Games, but the gameplay and atmosphere are very similar. Source: Warner Bros. By winning fights, completing missions and so on, the Gotham Knights receive experience points, which means they can level up. Above all, it is nice that the heroes who are not currently being played also level up. So the developers want to make sure that you are happy to switch between the game characters throughout the game and that they do not become useless at some point. A good decision.

However, we also hope that the set levels do not dispense with variety in the opponent design. After all, one of the strengths of the Arkham Games was that, right up to the end, new, more powerful enemies were introduced, against which one first had to find a means. In general, some things have not yet been clarified. It has already been announced that the co-op mode will work with a drop-in-drop-out system, but nothing more has been said.

Tim Drake is allowed to access the Justice League satellite as Robin and teleport over short distances. Source: Warner Bros. Of course, it's great if a friend can get in and out of the game without any problems, but we'd also like to know exactly how the heroes switch between them. Is it only possible to change characters at certain points, or is it always possible? If not, will you have a turning point within quests or do you have to finish the task with the Gotham Knight chosen at the beginning, who may have turned out to be a bad choice? We are also looking forward to new information here.

The graphics, however, are already convincing us. When Batgirl rides her bike through gloomy Gotham or faces Mister Freeze in the middle of ice, it looks really great. Hopefully on the old-gen consoles too, because Gotham Knights will not only be available for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X / S, but also for PS4 and Xbox One.