Details of Gotham Knights
Developer: WB Games Montreal
Publisher: Warner Bros. Games
Platform: PC (Steam, Epic), PS5, & Xbox Series X/S
Release Date: 21th October 2022.
Age Rating: 15
Intro
I have always loved the DC and Marvel universes with a particular fondness for Spiderman, Batman, Flash, Swamp Thing, and King Shark. So when another game set in yet another Gotham universe cam out i just had to try it, after all the game finally let’s you play entirely as the best Robin ever- Dick Grayson aka Nightwing. So let’s take a look at Gotham Knights.
Story of Gotham Knights
The story of Gotham Knights follows, O.G Robin, Dick Grayson (Nightwing), Jason Todd (Red Hood), Barbara Gordon (Batgirl), and Tim Drake (Robin) pick up the mantle of Gotham’s protectors following death of Batman. They uncover the Court of Owls and the ongoing war between them and the League of Assassins, as they try to learn who killed their mentor- Batman.
Analysis of Gotham Knights
The characters that exist within Gotham Knights have been fully fleshed out, the four playable characters each offer unique abilities that switch up the gameplay aswell as differing attitudes and dialogue in cutscenes and interactions. The side missions have been extensively reworked in this game to be more fleshed out and to offer better missions with more creative designs. Yet the low quantity of three (Mr Freeze, Clayface, and Harley Quinn) and the low inclusion of characters, actually seen and not just included via lore collectables and emails, does leave the player wanting more.
The short story only consists of 8 different missions (although some contain multiple stages) and over the course of which not much happens. After completing the story you feel like you still have more to go yet it just teases up a potential sequel. Plus we knew who killed Batman from the opening cinematic so the discovery wasn’t really for us as much as just for the Gotham Knights, leaving most of the story not actually telling the player anything new. That being said the inclusion of Batman villains such as Talia Al Ghul, Ra’s Al Ghul, the Court of Owls (finally getting included to the extent they should in a game) and a very memorable take on Man-Bat.
Gameplay of Gotham Knights
The gameplay however is smooth, and I would say a vast improvement on Arkham Knight. The sheer variety of Knights to play as allows you to have a playable character that suits your play style. The smart choice of the development teams to make the characters all level up together really takes out that tedious grind of leveling up all players individually and allows you to experiment with different characters way up into the end game. My personal favorites was Nightwing for melee and Red Hood for range. Playing on the Steam Deck I didn’t suffer any gameplay issues until the final mission, anytime I tried firing a mystical shot as Red Hood at either of the two last bosses it just crashed my game.
The graphics are beautiful and Gotham at night in this game is arguably the best looking it has ever been, yet the is less things that seem personalized or given extra care as seen in the Arkham franchise. With that being said the vast majority of crimes are varied and have a lot more variety than other superhero games and have a variety of villain factions allowing a bit more diversity in the criminals you pummel in your search for justice. The batcycle I didn’t like though; I just didn’t like it I maybe just suffering from PTSD from the Arkham Knight overinclusion of the Bat-tank
Summary of Gotham Knights
Despite it being a return to form in a lot of ways for Batman gamer fans, Gotham Knights can’t help but feel hallow. The meager 8 mission long story unveils the court of Owls only for nothing to really come of it, the whole game feels like an amuse bouche, an entre, a starter before the main course, yet the main course never arrives. The game only includes three side stories, which are improved in scope and mission design, are severely lacking in appearances when it comes to the most iconic and arguably the largest roster of villains of any superhero character. With this being said the combat is enjoyable and engaging, and the lore built up around this alternate universe in the way of collectables, texts, and emails makes us crave more of this world- yet done right and being fully fleshed out.
But I can’t recommended this game as a must buy, yet if you’re a fan of Batman or DC it should definitely be a bargain buy once you spot it on sale. I got it for £25 in the Steam winter sale and for that price it was worth it, however anymore and I would have been solely disappointed.
Overall Rating: 6.5 – Okay!
Platform Played On: Steam Deck
Game Time At Review: 26.1 Hours
Recommendation: Yes (on sale)
