As promised, WB Montreal Studio unveiled its new Batman game, Gotham Knights during today's DC FanDome event. It's set in DC's Batman Universe, and it stars Nightwing, Batgirl, Red Hood, and Robin instead of Batman himself. And while Gotham Knights contains many unique features compared to its Arkham competitors, one new feature stands out. Gotham Knights will include cooperative multiplayer for the full game.
WB Montreal has confirmed that Gotham Knights will allow players to go through the game cooperatively, with players able to take on the role of one of the four Gotham Knights and join their friend's game. Batgirl and Nightwing, Red Hood and Robin, or whichever pair players choose, will have unique dialogue between them as well as combination moves that'll make the cooperative experience unique in a special way.
Gotham Knights' cooperative multiplayer does feature one major limitation, which was already hinted at, it's only for two players. There will be no three-player or four-player cooperative action with all of the Gotham Knights, or at least, only two of them will possibly be player-controlled. Some might see this as a frustrating decision, while others will appreciate how it keeps Gotham Knights from becoming significantly different than prior Batman games.
There may or may not be other limitations on Gotham Knights' multiplayer functionality, as details provided are relatively scant. For example, it's unclear whether Gotham Knights will support cross-platform play, or even cross-generation play since it's coming out on both PS4/Xbox One and PS5/Xbox Series X. It will require online, which isn't a surprise, but there's no word on whether there will be matchmaking or anything of the like.
Cooperative gameplay makes for a major shift in Gotham Knights compared to the Batman Arkham games that came before it, as one of the biggest themes of a Batman game is the character's independence. Batman takes care of things and rarely depends on others, stalking his foes in the shadows and instilling fear, and that doesn't really work with a co-op buddy. Gotham Knights will allow the developers to create a much more open and active game, even though the protagonists are supposed to be proteges of Batman.
Some fans of the Batman Arkham games do have a worry with regards to multiplayer being added to Gotham Knights, that being that WB Montreal is shifting toward a Games as a Service or always online experience. That could imply more microtransactions or meta progression systems that detract from the more natural aspects of the game. That's just one more aspect of Gotham Knights that will have to be addressed in the months to come.
Gotham Knights releases on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X in 2021.
