Gotham Knights the latest entry in the Batman gaming world, not connected to the Arkham series, although very much inspired by them. Gotham Knights is set in its own universe and the game has received mixed reviews, receiving a 68 on Metacritic. Many fans feel the game is okay but not as good as the Arkham series.
Several key elements are missing from Gotham Knights, things that made the Arkham Series so great, including one very obvious omission. The game just doesn't have the same feel as its predecessors and there is hope that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will better scratch the itch of a quality DC Comics-inspired game.
10 Riddles
One of the best things introduced in Arkham Asylum was the riddles, a riddle would pop up on screen in each of the rooms, and it would be up to the Batman to figure it out. These were fun, and they helped add to the challenge of the game.
Scanning objects would help find villains and also, open up their character biography in the menus, creating more things to do and adding variety to the game. These riddles and trophies are not featured in Gotham Knights, replaced with the historia strigidae and Gotham City street art. This does not have the same feel as the previous collectibles and challenges and the reward for finding them is not too great.
9 Batarangs
In the Arkham series, Batman used a series of different Batarangs to help navigate through the missions, these included the remote control Batarang, triple Batarangs and sonic Batarangs. All with their abilities that would assist the caped-crusader in his quest to defeat evil.
Although Batarangs do make a return in Gotham Knightsas a ranged weapon for Batgirl, they simply do not have the same uses and are only used in combat situations and not to helping the detective solve puzzles in the game. The Batarangs only being used in combat emphasizes that this game is mainly focused on fighting opponents as opposed to being a detective and solving crimes like in the Arkham games.
8 Gadgets
Batman's famous utility belt features many iconic gadgets that help Batman in his battle against injustice. In the Arkham series the gadgets that Batman employs play a large part in the game. Whether that is the frequency detector, line launcher or explosive gel, each of these had a different ability that helped the user traverse the landscape of missions.
In Gotham Knights this element is completely stripped, and there is no need to find locations like this as they are on the map and the missions start when the player gets to the missions. The element of challenge is stripped from this and the only challenge is defeating the enemies using pretty repetitive combat.
7 Puzzle Solving
As mentioned previously, there is little to no puzzle-solving in the game, which is a big factor in why the Arkham series performed so well. Using the Mr. Freeze fight as an example in Arkham City, the ice villain was taken down using a series of different methods, slow and stealthy. Batman could not use the same one twice as it would not work.
In Gotham Knights, however, it is a simple dodge-and-fight battle, which is a massive step-down. The game is too reliant on combat and the only challenge is the fact the enemies have too much health which just means a repeat of the same moves until the health bar is depleted.
6 Batmobile
There is a very good reason as to why the Batmobile is missing in Gotham Knights, as it was destroyed when the BatCave was in the game's opening. However, it just doesn't make a return and gamers are completely deprived of the tank-like Batmobile that was so enjoyable in Arkham Knight.
A Batman game without the Batmobile is completely strange and although there is a Batcycle, it is just not the same. Having no Batmobile meant that Warner Bros. missed out on the opportunity to add a skin that resembled Robert Patterson's Batman's menacing vehicle in the latest Batman movie.
5 Gliding
A huge omission from the Arkham series is gliding. At the start of the game no characters can glide, which makes traversing Gotham very tedious. Gliding was so important in Arkham City, as it is the way Batman gets around the majority of the time.
Only Batgirl has the gliding ability in the game, and it only gets unlocked later. It also makes the other characters pretty much useless when traversing the city, as it is much more convenient to be Barbara Gordon and soar like a bird to the destination.
4 Sidequest Villains
There are only a few villains available to fight during side quests, Mr. Freeze, Harley Quinn and Clayface make up the only villains aside from the main Court of Owls. Penguin does also appear, but he doesn't act as a villain as he did in the Arkham games.
The side quests in the game are given by regular citizens and are more like challenges. Similar tasks that involve taking down the same enemies that have already been fought many times. This is very different to Arkham, the side quests to which are main villains and other Batman characters, which add to the world-building, and it rewards fans of the franchise who are familiar with the extended Batman mythos.
3 Scarecrow Nightmare Missions
The Scarecrow was completely terrifying in the Arkham series, and his nightmare, fear toxin-induced missions were a fantastic change of pace in Arkham Asylum. Scarecrow returned as the main villain in Arkham Knight, and it was a very welcomed addition adding a horror element to the game.
The gameplay in these missions was more like that of a platformer, something not present in Gotham Knights, which is fairly repetitive in its gameplay. Something like this would have been a welcome implementation into the 2022 game, a change of pace and something that didn't rely on enemy combat.​​​​​​​
2 Counter Button
The main form of combat in the Arkham games was the use of the counter button. Gamers could get a great flow of battle using this button, countering at the right time to take down the enemy and waiting for the next one. It is a great form of battling also present in the Insomniac Spider-Man games and the Assassin's Creed series.
Gotham Knights just don't feature countering, which removes the flow of combat, and it is hard to take down enemies in one flowing move. Locking to enemies also works differently, so it feels very much like just picking one off at a time, having to constantly dodge from ranged weapons. It just doesn't work as well as previous Batman games.
1 Batman
The final piece to the puzzle is the iconic Batman. Although he is in the game, dying at the start and is mentioned throughout. The world's greatest detective is not available as a playable character which is a massive miss.
Once the game has been 100% completed, Batman should be available to be unlocked as a playable character, as having a Batman game without the man himself is just a crime. The Arkham games are just iconic and Gotham Knights doesn't quite live up to its predecessors. Perhaps this is because they are missing the main reason why fans loved them, vengeance himself, the Batman.
Gotham Knights is available now on PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X/S.​​​​​​​