It was recently announced that Gotham Knights is still scheduled for a 2022 release. Without a clear confirmation on how long it has been in development for, Gotham Knights’ release date announcement is surprising because of its commitment to launching this year. This release seems admirable and may be contentious, but only due to how relatively little has been shown. Now, an announcement trailer and an official gameplay presentation have been shared, alongside influencer kits full of Easter eggs and a new release date.
Still, much is desired to be seen from Gotham Knights before its launch on October 25. The biggest concern is surely the fact that gameplay has not been shared since Gotham Knights’ official gameplay presentation, featuring Batgirl, Robin, and a Mister Freeze boss battle. Some fans were unhappy with what they had been shown, which may or may not have had an impact on whether the developer wanted to share more. Instead of general gameplay being the issue, two of Gotham Knights’ four playable protagonists have still not been given a proper showcase of their own.
Gotham Knights Needs to Share Red Hood and Nightwing Gameplay
Reasons for why Batgirl and Robin were showcased, rather than Red Hood or Nightwing, is anyone’s guess. However, Jason Todd and Dick Grayson’s exclusions thus far have certainly been felt. It is possible that WB Games Montreal authored these omissions to incite anticipation, but the lack of gameplay shared since its announcement has been mildly concerning. It only makes sense now for WB Games Montreal to release another official gameplay showcase that instead portrays co-op with Red Hood and Nightwing, preferably in another setting as well.
Gameplay for Red Hood or Nightwing could effectively sell fans on Gotham Knights if they look fun to play, though at the current moment it is unclear what their attack styles are, or what unique mechanics they might have. Red Hood and Nightwing’s gameplay also needs to differentiate further from Batgirl’s and Robin’s. This will likely be the case, but because a genuine showcase has not been shared for them, it has been a cause for concern.
Some aspects of Gotham Knights may be better left for when it releases. Core gameplay that could sell Gotham Knights to antsy fans, however, should not be dismissed in order to retain excitement. To be fair, Gotham Knights’ announcement trailer did technically have snippets of in-engine gameplay footage for Red Hood and Nightwing, which showed Red Hood engaging in fancy dual-pistol shots while Nightwing tumbled and flipped acrobatically.
Moreover, mechanics involved in open-world traversal outside of regular combat encounters would also be pleasantly received. WB Games Montreal has gone into some of Gotham Knights’ RPG-esque features, which will let players change attributes for their desired protagonists. However, another showcase like the one back in August 2020 would be greatly appreciated, and go a long way in showing fans that it is truly prepared for a 2022 release.
Gotham Knights Has Teased More Villains Than it Has Shared
Back in October, WB Games Montreal began delivering innocuous parcels to influencer creatives as a marketing effort for Gotham Knights. The parcel was composed as a regal gift package that formally invited its recipients to Gotham’s Masquerade Ball. The package’s contents included a Court of Owls mask, the Ball invitation, and newspaper articles from the fictional Gotham Gazette. This was not the first time that this clipping had been shared, as it was previously revealed in an image where it was seen strewn about on the ground, burnt along the edges, and caked in blood spatters.
Much like Gotham Knights’ open-world Gotham City, the newspaper’s listings are rife with Easter eggs and references that may imply which villains will make an appearance in Gotham Knights; for example, notable name-drops include Elliot, Falcone, and Pamela, which could speculatively allude to Thomas Elliot’s Hush, crime lord Carmine Falcone, and Pamela Isley, also known as Poison Ivy. The Iceberg Lounge is also referenced, though Penguin has already been confirmed since.
Gotham Knights Should Keep Its Major Villains Close to its Chest
Many villains will likely be reserved for players to discover in-game, especially if they are important to Gotham Knights’ plot. Otherwise, WB Games Montreal holding their cards to their chest may be a good thing, at least in terms of gameplay. It may be in the best interest of players to not see each and every villain that Gotham Knights has up its sleeve, and perhaps that was the purpose of the Gotham Gazette teasers: To misdirect certain teases and establish others for when players finally get to explore the city.
Of course, Mister Freeze was shown abundantly with a large portion of his boss fight. The gist of combat and level progression may seem familiar if players have dabbled in the Batman: Arkham series, but Mister Freeze’s boss fight in Gotham Knights is starkly opposite to the one that players remember from Batman: Arkham City. The two games are not all that comparable in terms of genre and progression anyhow, though it is an interesting delineation nonetheless to see such an interactive and dynamic fight involving the empathetic cryogenics scientist.
The Court of Owls, mysterious and mischievous as they may be, have been teased with several enemy types in their ranks, from mobs of agile stalkers to gargantuan brutes who wield shields and maces. Gotham Knights’ story trailer offered the best look yet at the Court with narrative-specific scenes where the Bat-Family is either captured by them or sneakily investigating them. Penguin remarks about the Court to Nightwing, who believes they are a mere myth, and it will be interesting to see if the Court’s underpinnings in Gotham affect gameplay as well as the narrative.
News about Gotham Knights has been kept almost exclusively to events held in the summer, such as the DC FanDome. If this tradition is to be kept, it is likely that Gotham Knights will make a return to that stage this summer before its scheduled launch in October. Rather, the sooner WB Games Montreal shares more about foundational gameplay the better, and information about potential villains, even in a subdued tease that allows fans to continue speculating, would also be appreciated until summer arrives.
Gotham Knights releases on October 25, 2022, for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
