Some fans may be aware of this based on the advertising leading up to Gotham Knights, but the story begins with a major twist. Ra's al Ghul tried to assassinate him and so Batman blew up the Bat Cave and seemingly himself along with it. Batman left instructions for his four protégés on what they should do next to help keep Gotham City safe.
Do Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl, and Red Hood have what it takes to replace Batman as the new faces of Gotham? That’s the basic setup of Gotham Knights but there is so much more to go over. It’s not as solid as the Batman: Arkham games but there is plenty to praise as well as complain about.
8 Best: Switching Characters
Most games that feature multiple characters lock players into their choices at the beginning of the game. For example, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands has a class-based system wherein once a character/class is chosen, that’s it.
However, once the Belfry is unlocked in Gotham Knights, players can swap between all four heroes an unlimited amount of times. Best of all, these characters all level up together so that there isn’t a balancing issue. AAA games should take note of this feature in Gotham Knights.
7 Worst: Mission Gates
Main missions and side missions occasionally require players to grind through random objectives on the map. This can range from finding a certain gang, like the Mob, and stopping their crimes or it can be as simple as interrogating a random thug. The issue is that these missions get repetitive fast as they are not hard or challenging.
They just bog down the momentum of the narrative and sometimes it can be hard to decipher what objectives must be met to continue the main story. It is a bad setup for a Batman game as these objectives seem to be in place to artificially elongate the experience.
6 Best: Co-Op
Jumping into co-op sessions can help alleviate the pain of these hidden objectives. The more players are on the case, the faster the story missions will unlock. It’s also nice to divide and conquer in battle, which makes Gotham Knights easier.
One player could focus on attacking the melee fighters while another could hone in on the ranged enemies. It’s not the best co-op system in an open-world city experience, but co-op is a welcome addition that hasn’t been seen in a Batman game for quite some time.
5 Worst: Boss Battles
The boss battles in the previous games were some of the most memorable fights ever seen in Batman games. The overarching villains of all the Batman: Arkham games also helped to push the narrative forward. Sadly, there aren’t many traditional boss battles in Gotham Knights and the ones that are here aren’t too exciting aside from maybe Mr. Freeze’s.
The same goes for the big bad behind everything in the narrative. From bosses to the story, this feels like a b-tier experience, which isn’t all bad. However, for fans waiting since 2015 for a big new Batman experience, it’s a bit of a letdown on the boss front.
4 Best: Puzzle Skips
Puzzles return to slow down the momentum which can be a welcomed addition to any action game. However, not every player is as skilled at solving puzzles as they are at pummeling foes until they are blue in the face. That’s why the ability to skip some puzzles deserves some recognition.
Players need to fail a few times at solving some investigations before a button prompt will pop up. It would be nice if a patch allowed players to bypass every puzzle in the game, especially the larger-than-life ones like the later labyrinth, but what is here now is still praiseworthy.
3 Worst: Grappling Isn’t As Cool As Web-Slinging
It’s hard not to compare Gotham Knights to Marvel’s Spider-Man even though that originally came out on PS4 in 2018. It’s the last big superhero game set in an open-world city like Gotham Knights aside from the Miles Morales stand-alone pack. Getting around New York City with Spider-Man was half the fun of those games because it felt so good.
Using the grappling hook to get around is not as fun or as intuitive in Gotham Knights though. There is a motorcycle to get around with too and some characters like Batgirl have an extra mode of transportation like gliding. Overall, the traversal leaves something to be desired in this game as it can at times feel quite clunky.
2 Best: Photo Mode
Gotham Knights doesn’t have the best photo mode in an action game from 2022. Horizon Forbidden West is still probably at the top for the year, but what is in Gotham Knights is great. Action games like this are fun to pause in the middle of combat to manipulate the camera and get some cool effects.
The city of Gotham is also a good background thanks to the bright neon lights. This feature may not appeal to everyone, but the screenshot enthusiasts out there should rejoice that this mode exists at all.
1 Worst: Gated Customization
Gotham Knights is set up more like an RPG than the previous Batman games. This means there is a leveling-up system alongside a loot system. Equipping a new ranged or melee weapon will change their appearance along with a healthy cropping of suits. Some suits look cooler than others and some look downright silly.
It can be a deterrent to equip a strong suit of armor if it makes the cutscenes look weird with that character in them. There is no way to appear in the default suit in the options, which is sometimes a feature. There are ways to unlock costume choices such as new masks and color schemes but doing so is a big grind.
Gotham Knights was released on October 21, 2022, and is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X.