With the Batman reportedly deceased in the upcoming Gotham Knights, the remaining remembers of the Bat Family have a long night ahead of them as they must step up in order to keep Gotham City safe from evildoers. To hype up the rapidly approaching release of Gotham Knights, a new gameplay trailer has released focusing on 16 minutes of gameplay following the game's prologue that sees players picking a character for the first time.
Gotham Knights is an interesting prospect, and not one that fans expected to see after the culmination of Rocksteady's Arkham series. As mentioned, the premise follows the titular members of the Bat Family following the deaths of Batman and Commissioner Jim Gordon. Despite it being a Batman title, this game is set in a separate universe from Rocksteady's trilogy, and sees Batman Arkham Origins developers WB Montreal at the helm.
The newest gameplay footage, released by IGN, covers a portion of the opening of the game through the eyes and unique talents of Barbara Gordon aka Batgirl. Batgirl is tasked with breaking into a professor's office from the prestigious Gotham City University, and the beginning of the footage focuses on one of her unique gameplay proficiencies, hacking. Upon breaking into the professor's office, her gameplay loop looks very similar to what fans of the Arkham series are accustomed to with detective based AR footage and puzzles to decrypt using advanced technology.
After showing off her detective skills, the following segment focuses on combat and stealth. The combat is also similar to what players have experienced in the past, however, fans will notice that the Arkham series' counter action has been replaced with a ranged attack allowing Batgirl to pepper foes from a distance. The end of trailer highlights another proficiency which is called single-target bruiser as she beats down a thug. Aside from gaining experience points, players are granted crafting materials to further encourage crafting and leaning heavily into the action RPG mechanics.
Following in the footsteps of Rocksteady's Arkham trilogy is a tall task to follow with some fans skeptical about the RPG elements. While the opportunity for cooperative play is a highlight, it's been announced that Gotham Knights is two players co-op only despite the four playable protagonists, which has also proven controversial. Time will tell how the final product stacks up.
Gotham Knights is scheduled to release on October 25 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
