In this review we are going to analyze Gotham Knights and find out how it performed on our PC. Knights, get ready for action!
Waiting for a new chapter regarding the bat hero, Warner Bros Games has decided to bet everything on the family bath. The dark Knight in fact it will not be the protagonist of the new title that will arrive tomorrow on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X | S and PC. Gotham Knights therefore presents itself as a spiritual sequel to the Arkham series, but it is not connected to it in any way. But how will the new heroes fare on our PC? We just have to start this Gotham Knights review to find out.
Four classic icons
The game, as it was deductible and as has been extensively said in our hero presentation articles, is centered on the four horsemen who have always supported the bat man. In fact, in the game we will play the various Dick Grayson, Barbara Gordon, Jason Todd and Tim Drake who in turn will respectively play the role of Knigthwing, Batgirl, Red Hood e Robin. Although Bruce Wayne is not present, we note how the developers wanted to give a sense of nostalgic continuity, if we can say so.
These four heroes are indeed Batman’s most iconic helpers. Just think of Dick Grayson and Jason Todd who were respectively the first and second Robin in history. Barbara Gordon, on the other hand, was probably the most iconic Batgirl ever, although for a time she also played the role of Oracle (see Batman: Arkham Knight), as well as the daughter of the famous commissioner James Gordon. In short, a choice that wants yes revolutionize the gameplay of the titlebut that ultimately does not want to deviate much from the beating heart of the family, creating a sort of “nostalgia effect”.
Four very different styles – Gotham Knights review
Having four main characters also means master four different styles of play. In fact, each hero will have his strengths and weaknesses, although it is still possible to complete the game with only one. We will therefore not find progression missions playable only with a certain character. However, gods will activate as the game progresses particular points of interest that will explain how each rider is experiencing his traumas and fears and how everyone finds his own way in the midst of a thousand adversities.
Different styles involve atrees with very different skills. Each of these will harness the strengths of each superhero and allow us to unlock very useful skills in the course of our adventure. Take Red Hood and Batgirl for example. The former, being also the most physically powerful, will develop some strength-focused skills and on ranged attacks, he being equipped with pistols; the second instead, having a past like Oracle, will have some support skillssuch as the electronic override, very useful for disabling cameras and turrets.
In addition, each of the characters has a knight skill tree. This will be unlockable by completing some very specific missions. Once completed we will also have access to a alternative displacement method which will allow us to glide, fly or even jump in the air to move faster. Before that we will be forced to use the grappling hook or the batcycle to move. The latter in particular can be tedious and, contrary to what happened with the batmobile in Batman: Arkham Knigth, very slow, at least visually speaking.
Each hero will be equipped with a melee weapon, a ranged weapon and a suit. As in any self-respecting RPG, these objects will be interchangeable and each will have certain characteristics which will make him more or less useful against certain opponents. In addition to this, every object can have up to three slots for adding mods which will increase its characteristics. Suit, melee weapons and ranged weapons will also be craftable through the appropriate blueprints.
However, this aspect opens the first points against the title. In fact, all projects have a limited duration and after some time they will automatically disappear from our inventory. Of course, this function is useful for deleting the most obsolete ones, but wouldn’t it have been better to create a special button that does this function or a favorite option that cancels the automatic deletion? Not to mention that the legendary ones are really hard to make as the necessary resources are not easily found either during the main story or during the side missions. In addition, if you change superhero in the meantime, the projects of the previous one will be lost forever.
A Hidden Story – Gotham Knights Review
For the many Batman fans who have read the comics, the story of this video game could be quite interesting. Our main enemies in this adventure will in fact be, in addition to the usual one League of Shadows which has now become almost a constant presence, too the most secret and merciless Court of Owls. Anyone who has read the comics will know very well what I mean. For those who are less experienced in the genre, it is enough to know that the Court of Owls is the oldest organization in Gotham, of which the elite of the city is part.
These two secret societies will then be joined by the gods gangs Freakthat of Inspectors and the underworldrespectively led by Harley Queen, Mr. Freeze e Oswald Cobblepotalso known as Penguin. Each faction will obviously have its champions, but the most important will be the Claws of the Court and the Man-Bats of the League. However, in the side stories we will also face another very famous criminal in the Gotham universe: Clayface.
In short, all the good conditions for one compelling story and for thick secondary stories there are. All nice and fun as long as you face the plots written by the authors, but how does the game behave in the free mode? Here is one of the aspects that have always harassed this type of video game. The free mode was created to travel around the city, patrolling the streets that make it up.
In this mode it will be possible thwart organized crimes and other minors for more details for the next night. At this juncture, however, we have noticed one exhausting repetitiveness which risks ruining all the good experience lived with the main story and with the secondary ones. Equal crimes that are repeated in the same places and with the same characters. The only difference is related to the bonus missions that will change from time to time, asking us to make silent KOs, eliminations with a certain style and so on.
Somersault, spins, dodges and… how did he hit me? – Gotham Knights review
Now let’s talk about what the technical sector of the game is, starting from level design of characters and the city itself. Knights and enemies are well crafted and fully reflect those who are the characters of the comics, both in their basic form and with the various costumes available in the “style” settings. As for the city instead we notice a slight step back than the Arkham series.
If before the city seemed very gloomy and reflected what was the Gothic style in many of its buildings, the new Gotham looks instead slightly brighter and much more anonymous. A cluster of buildings that have little to do with the city known over the years. On the other hand, the voiceovers are well taken care of along with all the various ambient sounds. Less the animations of the characters and theirs responsiveness to commands.
Here is the sore point that perhaps most of all compromises our experience based on a reactive combat and in which speed is the only way to take down waves of enemies that target you. The characters are in fact very slow in responding to commands and this is most noticeable when you have to dodge two or three chained attacks. It will in fact be possible to dodge the first one, but not the following ones, which will score with such precision as to make us lose several life points.
More our characters fit together with propssuch as a small balustrade, or even with the enemies themselves. If in the chapters of Arkham Batman he was able to jump over them to avoid them and not to risk being surrounded by them, in Gotham Knights this is not possible. We can therefore note a too excessive burdening of the heroes, especially considering that Dick Grayson was an acrobat and therefore should be more agile than a Batman. These small details, combined with a quite important input-lag they do not allow us to enjoy the fights and on the contrary risk creating frustration when the enemies are too many and too strong for our level.
The multiplayer sector, on the other hand, was good. In fact, during our games we were able to join with other players who played different heroes than the one we had selected. Obviously the more you are, the more our opponents’ level increases. This allows us to have an always balanced experience, at least from this point of view.
An alternative return to Gotham
We have come to the end of this Gotham Knights review and now is the time to draw some conclusions. The title looks like a spiritual successor to the Arkham series, although it differs almost clearly from this. The first difference that immediately catches the eye is the possibility of being able to select four heroes. Everyone, as it should be, will play an important role, especially if we face our adventure online, in the company of our friends or complete strangers.
Great care has been taken in history, where we find references to some of the most iconic chapters of comics. A League of Shadows tougher than ever and a Court of Owls ready to do anything to achieve its plans will be tough enemies to defeat. To these are added then secondary stories with other bitter enemies of the bathfamily that have always embellished comic stories. So although from this point of view it is all roses and flowers, the first problems come with the free mode.
The cycleused only for moving, it will be somewhat flat, making us much prefer the grappling hook. Furthermore the crimes will always be the same and repetitive, both in the places designated by the developers, and in the modus operandi to solve them. From here then we notice one of the biggest problems gripping the title and which risks compromising our experience: l’input-lag. In fact, our heroes will not be very reactive to our commands and this is a shame since the clashes, especially with many opponents, will require infinitesimal reaction times.
In short, a great title that can boast many strengths and also some very important weaknesses. For this Gotham Knights review it’s now …