“What would Gotham be without Batman?”
It’s an almost blasphemous question, but one that Gotham Knights answers in thrilling detail. Developer WB Games Montréal explores what happens to a city deprived of its iconic guardian.
As shown in the first previews when the game was first published, Gotham Knights puts Batman’s protégé in spandex in single-player or two-player online co-op, rather than assuming the cape of the Caped Crusader. Play as Batgirl, Nightwing, Robin, or Red Hood, mourn your mentor, and join forces to keep the city safe. By the end of the game he’ll be one of Gotham’s guardians, but it’s up to you to choose which character to become as you experience their journey of grief, duty, and weightlifting. There is a lot of gym work at Bellfry.
Nightwing is definitely a gym fanatic. Harley Quinn doesn’t nickname him “Nightbutt.”
After visiting the WB Games Montréal studios for two hours of hands-on play, it’s safe to say the decision wasn’t easy. Hands-on introduced several areas of the game at different points in the story. First, we see the beginning of a crime fighter’s journey reeling from the loss of Batman, picking up the mystery job he left behind, and jumping hours to the start of Harley Quinn’s villainous arc (and then her for boss fights), we’ll take a closer look at the powers these superheroes can wield.
Easily travel to Bellfry, also known as the central hub of Gotham Knights, to switch between four playable characters. While they all share a core control scheme when it comes to prompting melee and ranged combat, Gotham Knights does a masterful job of infusion. Each hero with its own personality and unique abilities.
Batgirl is a hacker who specializes in one-on-one combat, disarming her enemies with fluid movements and unlike a traditional Batman. With her technical abilities such as overcharging enemy weapons to deal bioelectric damage and using AR mode to hack nearby devices, her combat feels powerful and precise. increase.
Nightwing can be your support figure with the ability to buff allies, but he’s also great for acrobatic beatdowns in combat and pinballing between enemies. It’s a more frenetic experience. He thrives when he takes down hordes of enemies with his lightning-quick movements and infiltrates them before they can counterattack. Also, the aforementioned Nesting Power provides defensive bonuses and healing to allied figures, enhancing teamwork.
Then there’s the young Robin. A master of stealth, he utilizes sneak attacks to bounce off the top. Completing the quartile is Red Hood, an aggressive gunslinger who smashes justice in a hail of bullets.
The Red Hood overwhelms with two pistols, but doesn’t hesitate to unleash a devastating blow with his fists in close quarters combat. Both his ranged and melee abilities are enhanced with ghostly otherworldly powers thanks to his backstory of being resurrected from the dead.
These differences are made even more spectacular thanks to Gotham Knights’ approach to Momentum. Momentum is a combat mechanic that fills the bar with perfect dodges to unleash special moves that take advantage of each hero’s personal style. You can also fill up his momentum bar with timed attacks. This is precisely pressing the square button while trying to land an attack that makes the attack even more powerful. It’s the satisfying rhythmic beat that makes combat feel like a dance. The flow is interrupted only if the character raises a false fist to his face. Of course.
For example, Nightwing uses acrobatic leaps to fly off an enemy’s head, while Batgirl unleashes a storm of malevolent batarangs. Each move feels natural to the character you’re playing. Her tree of branching skills facilitates a level of customization that makes each character feel tailored to their own style. Each character has her 3 unique skill trees where she can choose which powers to upgrade through her AP collected by completing missions.
Each knight can utilize elemental powers to deal additional damage, such as Batgirl’s bioelectric elemental effect that shocks enemies when their weapon is overcharged.
For Batgirl, these are Justice, Grit, and Oracle, which reflect combat, stamina, and hacking abilities, respectively, while Red Hood has Marksman, Brawler, and Brawler for shooting, melee, and damage. Also, every Knight has a personalized Order Tree to consume AP to facilitate progress to take over the now-vacant position of the Late Batman, and each Knight’s They have unique and powerful abilities like traversal methods (such as Nightwing’s Flying Trapeze and Spectral Platforms). For Red Hood) across Gotham. All this works very well to maintain a sense of individuality. This is important in two-player co-op, where both players can choose members of the same Bat-her family.
These characters aren’t just different within their skill trees. Wilson Muyi, cinematic director at WB Games Montréal, revealed that Gotham Knights’ cinematics were designed with the individual protagonists in mind. It captures the authentic personality of each character in that moment.
You can basically have four different experiences in one, swap characters each night as you go out on patrol in the city, or stick with one of your favorites and see the full story. Different parts of each full-his suit can be changed as needed, combined with a costume collection for an always customizable superhero look. as you wish.
Playing as Robin while interacting with the game’s villains reveals just how inexperienced he is in the superhero business. This is different from an experienced colleague who has a personal rapport.
Ultimately, the four main characters have a common goal. Defend Gotham by defeating opportunistic criminals, piecing together clues to a larger event, and uncovering insidious secrets buried deep within the city’s foundations. Ride on the edge of a grappling hook or on the back of a Batcycle (which, importantly, comes with a dedicated wheelie button) and traverse her five districts of open-world Gotham, Rogues of her gallery of villains. Pursue clues.
Of course, Harley Quinn is probably the most notorious of all these villains. Harley Quinn’s characterization could be adapted and thrived from the manic pixie-dream his gal, who has become a household name in popular media, to a more mature, somehow even more chaotic psychiatrist. In a city without Batman’s protection. Harley is allowed to spread his wings as an independent entity, but this means he’s only one thing. Luckily, she took the Knights with her.
Mr. Freeze, Clay Face, and Harley Quinn all appear in Gotham Knights, working on how they exist and interact in Gotham sans Batman.
Where finding supervillains comes through detective work as you patrol the night streets of the city, hunting down petty criminals for clues and information and carrying out their nefarious plans. Harley, but we already know its whereabouts thanks to some previous crime-fighting pranks: Blackgate Prison. It’s where you first meet her in action, surrounded by too many party balloons for anyone to sit in and think about what they’ve done.
After all, Gotham without Batman might seem strange, but the reality is that it’s an exciting departure from what we’ve heard so far. But the hero’s new era means a whole new world of opportunities to explore in turn.
Gotham Knights launches for PlayStation 5 on October 21, 2022.
