Highlights
- Gotham Knights disappointed fans who had high expectations, particularly in terms of its narrative and side quests.
- Rocksteady should be given the chance to develop its own Bat Family game, as it would likely have an easier time satisfying fans with its Arkham universe.
- Rocksteady's Dual Play combat system, previously seen in Arkham Knight, would be a welcomed feature in a Bat Family game, providing seamless tag-team gameplay.
Gotham Knights had the impossible task of satisfying DC fans as the first Batman-related game to follow Rocksteady’s Arkham Knight and after nearly a decade of waiting fans definitely and understandably had high standards. Gotham Knights was also the only game to have followed WB Games Montreal’s Arkham Origins—in terms of it being released a decade later, but with no connection between the two games—and that meant the studio could’ve had anything up its sleeve since its Batman prequel was the only piece of work fans had as a base of reference.
Gotham Knights wasn’t wholly underwhelming, though it is arguable that it disappointed in the areas it needed to excel in. Its two-player co-op aimed to be a feature that would propel it, and instead fans wondered why Gotham Knights only had two-player co-op when it starred four members of the Bat Family: Red Hood, Batgirl, Nightwing, and Robin. Four-player co-op was added later, but the damage had already been done with a lackluster narrative and side quests. Regardless, Rocksteady should still be given its own chance to develop a Bat Family game, whether it has co-op or not.
Rocksteady Could Succeed Where WB Games Montreal Failed
Rocksteady would have a much more agreeable time making a Bat Family game than WB Games Montreal would even if that’s unfair due to how few games WB Games Montreal has actually put out. The decisions for which studio could get to make which game would be fascinating to learn properly because of how WB Games Montreal originally began the tease for a Suicide Squad game in Arkham Origins’ post-credits sequence.
If it’s to be inferred that WB Games Montreal was meant to develop Kill the Justice League instead of Rocksteady before Rocksteady picked it up, then maybe each studio had Gotham Knights and Suicide Squad thrown in their laps after unforeseen circumstances. Rocksteady supposedly had a Batman Beyond game in the works at some point, too, and there may be even more alleged games between the two that fans will never hear more about.
Either way, Gotham Knights separated itself from the Arkham games’ canon. That shouldn’t have been a nail in its coffin necessarily, but Rocksteady would probably have an easier time selling such a game to fans if it was indeed part of the Arkhamverse continuity.
Arkham Knight’s Dual Play Mechanic Would Be Right at Home in a Gotham Knights Game
Rocksteady’s Dual Play combat system is already in place as a way to make tag-team gameplay fun while enjoying solo play. In Arkham Knight, Rocksteady implemented this feature to allow players to seamlessly swap between Batman and one of his Bat Family companions in predetermined sequences.
This included another effective play on the combo meter, which would let players swap characters cinematically with an instant tag-team takedown between them as an active finisher when the combo counter reached a particular multiplier. It was great to see Batman finally fighting alongside his allies in-game and being able to partake in that action as both participants was a huge joy that hasn’t been brought back since, and likely won’t be brought back for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League due to its emphasis on four-player multiplayer.
Instead, the clearest way to bring it back would be in Rocksteady’s own Bat Family-led game, whether it was single-player only or had co-op functionality, too. Especially if fans are perturbed now by the whole premise of multiplayer, Rocksteady could gracefully transition back to its roots with gameplay stripped identically from Arkham Knight and fans likely wouldn’t have anything negative to say about it due to how much they long for such a game again.
Rocksteady’s take on Gotham Knights would be far more interesting as a prequel game where a handful of Bat Family characters are around, but Dual Play would be indiscriminate of the narrative set dressing as long as there were multiple characters to fulfill NPCs aiding the player in combat, and indeed swapping between three or four characters in the middle of combat could be an exceedingly fun way to amplify the Arkham Knight experience logically.
Rocksteady Already Has the Blueprint for a Single-Player Take on the Bat Family
Now, any Batman-related game that isn’t part of the Arkhamverse coming out in the future will always be compared to Arkham games, and besides fans not seeming enthused at all about Kill the Justice League because of its live-service nature, a return to what made Rocksteady an influential developer would almost assuredly bring back with it its entire previously loyal fanbase.
It would be interesting to see Rocksteady attempt to craft its own game around the Bat Family and with members already established throughout its tetralogy already it would be neat to see where that might land in the timeline or who is wearing which mask. Rocksteady would likely be forgiven for not making another Batman-led game following Kevin Conroy’s passing, so long as it didn’t parade Batman around in front of the player like Gotham Knights did. Gotham Knights was far from perfect and its shortcomings aren’t all a result of comparison, meaning that a Gotham Knights-like game from Rocksteady would still need to stand on its own merit.
That said, the Bat Family is poised to be in a much more interesting position subsequent to Arkham Knight and regardless of whether players truly do get to kill Batman in Kill the Justice League, Rocksteady always has the opportunity to retread where WB Games Montreal has faltered. Plus, such a choice might be fortuitous if Kill the Justice League isn’t received as well as Rocksteady’s previous games.
Gotham Knights is out now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
