Batman games have come a long way since the days of the Sega Genesis. Now we have come into a new day where Batman isn’t even a main character. WB Games Montreal and QLOC are bring the Bat-Family into the picture together in the co-op game known as, Gotham Knights. Play as Batgirl, Robin, Red Hood, or Nightwing in this open-world action RPG and save Gotham City. This is our Gothan Knights review for PC.
My overall first experience with Gotham Knights was not an excellent one due to controller complications. I am playing the title on Steam. The good news is that it appears it is easily fixed by making sure the Steam Overlay is turned on. Without it on it causes some of the controller’s functions to be disabled. With that out of the way I have had an absolute blast playing Gotham Knights so far. I have tried several of the characters, Nightwing and Batgirl, and they are both good in their own ways. I am starting to like Babs even more because she is this games version of Batman. She is an overall good combatant and her movement skills rival the Bat. Each character brings their own special attacks and has their own hero movement skills. Each character is fun in their own right. Red Hood is a brute, Robin has his own tech that helps him survive the city, Nightwing uses his twin fighting sticks and so does Batgirl.
The leveling system, which makes this an action RPG, is relatively simple to learn. Using your character in the open world to take on crimes in progress will give you experience points for completion. Some of these missions have hidden caches of gear that you can search to gain the ability to craft new gear and even suits for each character. This is accomplished by finding crafting materials as you go throughout the city. There are main tasks that will progress the story as well as these side missions. Every time you go back to the Belfry (your lair) your patrol for that night will be over. This is when you converse with the other Knights and your faithful helper Alfred. He will help you get the outdated systems up to speed and help with talking out the missions to come. You will also discuss the details from the most recent interactions with criminals like Harley Quinn.
Gotham City is absolutely massive in this Gotham Knights version. All of the sections of the city have different crime events that are preset, as well as bad guys just showing up out of nowhere. You travel around on the Batcycle for ease of movement. It seems more like a mini-game driving the bike around to me than anything else. Is it possible to travel around the city without the bike? Yes, it is. Sometimes it’s easier, but not faster. Some missions are over thirteen hundred meters away, so it does take a little bit of time to move around properly. Combat movement feels a little more fluid this time around. I think it got better and better with each Arkham game title to the point where Gotham Knights benefit from the years of trial and error. Heavy attacks, dodges, Batarang tosses are all combat moves that you will quickly get comfortable with as well.
Training missions, knighthood missions, and more are available to teach you the ropes. These are very well-designed. They give you the most bang for your buck to learn how to use your alternate attacks and momentum movements in particular. Momentum attacks allow you to gain positioning on your foe and potentially knock them back. It also charges your special attack bar, at which time you can use a special move that is specific to your character of choice. You can switch characters at any point as well. You are not restricted to one character or style. You will have to complete some of these training missions to earn new options for suits and skills. It is a great way to learn all of the keys and the exact way your attacks and blocks should be used. Working through how each character moves and attacks is key to knowing how your playstyle will be with each. I love playing as Batgirl because she feels the most like Batman from the Arkham games.
We meet up with different baddies from Batman lore as well. Harley Quinn, for one, gives you missions to accomplish early on to find different criminal masterminds like the Penguin. Fighting freaks, gangs, and other random bad guys in an attempt to stop crime all come secondary to the main story-driven campaign. As I haven’t finished the campaign, and the fact that I don’t want to tell you spoilers, know that things will get pretty good pretty fast.
Other information that you will want to know deals with several different menus. Case files are what you are working on throughout the game, and it involves the main tasks. This is where you keep more information about the clues you have found and other such details. Basically, there is a compendium of found characters and details that you can go through to learn more details about characters and places as you go through your play through. There is also a spot for emails, which doesn’t seem like much until you start looking all the way through them. Some of the emails give you tasks to accomplish to help members of your team out.
Overall, Gotham Knights plays very well on the PC once you figure out your Steam settings. Playing as the Knights instead of Batman is a change for this style of game based in Gotham. You are used to Batman taking on all of his own enemies, and now he is not even in the picture. The different way each of the characters fights is unique to their archetype and fits each in their own way. The story itself is a lot of fun, and you will get drawn into it, but the side missions will draw you to do them all as well. Gotham Knights launched on October 21st 2022 on Steam, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S for 70.00 USD. If you are a fan of Nightwing, Batgirl, Red Hood, and Robin, then this is your time to shine with your favorite secondary Bat character.
Note: This review was provided by FortySeven PR on Steam for Review
