Gotham Knights fans were treated to an official gameplay presentation for Batgirl and Robin back in August 2020 for DC FanDome. Since then, Gotham Knights has shared a cinematic story trailer that portrayed its main antagonist group, the Court of Owls, but has remained relatively silent thereafter.
Now that Gotham Knights has a new release date scheduled for October 25, 2022, it was only a matter of time before new information was shared. Yesterday, it was announced that details of some sort would be revealed for characters Nightwing and Red Hood. These two characters have not had any explicit gameplay shown beforehand, so it was a tease that fans were certainly excited for. Today, that tease has been revealed as an official gameplay presentation centered around Nightwing and Red Hood.
Geoff Ellenor, Gotham Knights’ Game Director at WB Games Montreal, walks fans through the heroes' co-op and single-player gameplay. Nightwing's combat in particular is more acrobatic and gymnastic, while Red Hood's combat mixes non-lethal gunshots with brawler attacks and sticky bombs. This demonstration, unlike the Batgirl and Robin presentation, features a much more in-depth look at gameplay features and shares a look at Gotham Knights’ UI HUD, which Ellenor states is customizable to the player’s preference.
Nightwing’s unique mode of traversal in Gotham Knights’ open-world is a hang glider dubbed the Flying Trapeze. Meanwhile, Red Hood has a “mystical leap” gained as a supernatural ability after his resurrection by “an assassin cult.” This traversal uses Red Hood’s “soul energy” and offers him a truly unique interpretation in Gotham Knights that sets him apart from the other playable protagonists. Meanwhile, the Bat-Cycle is ubiquitous and gameplay of it is shown as Red Hood pursues an ice cream truck.
Stealth is depicted as a viable mechanic in a main mission from Gotham Knights. Further, Nightwing has an elemental shockwave ability, which “interrupts enemy armored attacks and deals elemental status effects.” Augmented Reality Vision, not unlike Batman: Arkham’s Detective Vision, allows players to scan the environment for interactibles or key points of interest.
Lastly, a mini-boss fight is shown where Red Hood encounters a Talon Gladiator who seems to have multiple unblockable attacks, blocks with a shield, and swings powerful strikes with a spiked club in leaping attacks. The Talon Gladiator is capable of reviving itself and does so for a second wind, which may very well be a second phase to each Talon Gladiator mini-boss that players could come across.
With a well-timed shot, Red Hood fires at a sticky bomb planted on the Talon Gladiator and defeats him. More news may still be shown this summer about Gotham Knights, but this presentation is a great look at what fans can expect when it launches.
Gotham Knights is currently scheduled to release on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S.