Gotham Knights is a game we’ve been waiting for, for what feels like an age. It’s been a while. We both pre-ordered the deluxe edition of the game as the Beyond suits looked outstanding.
This review is our thoughts on the game itself. We understand people may have differing opinions and that’s fine, please bear that in mind before you comment.
Our review also contains major spoilers.
Information and products Daniel used to play the game;
- Platform: PlayStation 5
- Edition: Deluxe
- Screen: 4K Samsung TV 27″
- Audio: SteelSeries Arctic 7P+
- Release: 21st October 2022
Information and products Phil used to play the game;
- Platform: PlayStation 5
- Edition: Deluxe
- Screen: 4K Samsung TV 46″
- Audio: HyperX Cloud II
- Release: 21st October 2022
Initial thoughts
Our initial thoughts about Gotham Knights after completing the tutorial and first mission were simply that this game was better than anything I had read beforehand or seen on social media platforms like Twitter and TikTok.
Obviously, with it being set in Gotham, many people would instantly compare it to the Arkham games and that’s fair. I compared the feel of Gotham to the Arkham version, I just really like this updated version. The design, feel, sound, and people of Gotham made my initial thoughts even better.
I tried to play multiplayer with Dan, but as the game had just been released it seemed like the servers were having trouble so I played on my own for a bit. So my initial thoughts might be different from Dan’s. I immediately felt like this game would be fun to play.
I wasn’t wrong. I had so much fun with the beginning of the game, it didn’t slowly build into the story, it dived right in and that was a huge plus for me and my initial thoughts.
I compared the feel of Gotham to the Arkham version, I just really like this updated version.
Phil Weaver
Dislikes
As always, I like to point out the flaws of a video game early in the review. I do this particularly because I prefer to get the bad points out the way so when you’re reading it, you can save the best until last.
1. With the customization, as good as the options and styles were, you could only actually customize the suit you had equipped, it wasn’t great. I understand the styles etc but I don’t want to drop power levels just to be able to customize my chosen suit. The customization is still great but this could be worked on to allow the players freedom in styles.
2. The bike was vastly underwhelming for a vehicle. It felt like it drove really slow, at times keeping up with moving traffic. They could’ve added more options for quicker bikes with upgrades.
3. The transversal stuff was also very poorly done. Batgirl’s glider was so bad it got to the point I didn’t use it. Red Hood’s mystical leaps were okay but overall it was just poor.
4. The combat was okay by the end, it got better as you unlock more options but overall it wasn’t fantastic. The combos and takedowns got old very quickly and the abilities became too much at times. A 7-minute cooldown on Red Hood’s mystical shot, there just wasn’t any need.
Story
I played throughout the story with Dan, we both took a character and ran with it. He was Red Hood and I was Nightwing. Throughout the story, each of us had our own cutscenes, dialogue, and moments to shine. This is what makes the story that much better.
The developers could have easily taken this story and run with the same dialogue and cutscenes throughout, the story delivered personal, emotional, moving, and funny dialogue. Throughout the story, we had small cutscenes where it was Red Hood, and in the background, Nightwing was there.
Any other story in any other game easily takes the easy route with their story where you can play multiplayer. They keep everything the same, this story didn’t.
The story was set in the aftermath of Bruce’s “death” where four heroes, Nightwing, Red Hood, Robin, and Batgirl come together in Gotham and solve the murder and dive into unknown territory. The story takes us on an emotional roller coaster, especially with the Alfred scenes.
You truly felt immersed in the story. There were moments when I would get a different cutscene from Dan. His would be comedic between Jason and Tim whereas mine would be an emotional talk between Nightwing and Alfred about Bruce.
The story also delivered a fantastic Court of Owls and League of Shadows story. We’ve seen the League of Shadows in multiple Batman and other character shows but I feel like this story delivered some of the best moments between the two factions.
Gameplay
Overall, the gameplay was good. It had dislikes such as the clunky combat which I mentioned in the dislikes. The transversal stuff was terrible and the bike was too slow. Take those 3 points away and you have a masterpiece.
The difference between this game and Avengers is the movement feels better as does the actual gameplay itself. The fights don’t last for 30 minutes at a time when your eyes begin to feel sore. There are actually different types of enemies from the League of Shadows, Mr. Freeze’s army, Harley Quinn’s, and more. Each type of enemy offers you a new chance to strategically think of what you’re going to do beforehand.
I absolutely adored the “night” system. You could leave the Belfry and just solve premeditated crimes or look for thugs being dicks. There’s a lot to do. That’s what makes the game so special. After 23 hours I still feel like I have so much more left to do, that’s what makes the game worth the price tag.
It isn’t a looter-shooter-type game like Avengers or Destiny. It has aspects of that in, yes, but ultimately the game is a coop crime-solving brawler that’s open-world. That’s the best way I can describe it. It helps with the astonishing city of Gotham that’s been designed so beautifully.
There are flaws to the combat, and you don’t get to play as Batman. Overall though, this didn’t take a lot away from the general project though. It’s still fun, it’s still exciting – even more so when you’re in a duo and you stealthily take down enemies. It just feels beautiful when you pull a mission off without either of you being detected.
Characters and customization
Now, I knew we would be getting different suits in the game. I knew from the trailers that they would be super detailed, but I never imagined just how good they would do with the customization. I’ll begin with the character suits.
Each character had 15 suits, taken from different times, stories, and moments in the history of comics while getting one original suit each after completing the game. Within each suit would be sections that you could customize.
I’m not just talking about stats and information, unlike Marvel’s Avengers. I’m talking about physically changing the color, mask, logos, hands, and feet. You could mix and match different things. I found myself doing this multiple times per session.
One thing I did dislike was that you would get a suit with some great stats and you’d unlock that suit because you had a blueprint for it, but if you found a nicer suit it might have had worse stats, you could upgrade that, but you’d have to have the blueprint.
The skill tree was not great but it certainly wasn’t the worst. It also wasn’t overcrowded on the skill tree menu either. With Marvel’s Avengers, you had a skill tree that would allow you to upgrade your abilities, but the screen was covered in things to upgrade, Gotham Knights were simple.
You could also customize your bike too. The bike was fun, you had two different versions of it if you got the deluxe edition which I did. You could switch between the two and could change the color of the bike. I won’t lie, I wish we could change more, the design, the sound, and stuff like that but I enjoyed it no less.
Content
You know with the game having just been released I expected we’d have the story and a few side quests. I was slightly blown away by just how much they had in the game at base launch. You obviously had the main story, and side quests, but overall as content, you had tons of stuff to do within Gotham itself.
The content I loved was the “night” system. This was a feature that I haven’t actually seen in a game before. Especially a superhero game. The game with how it is set up allows the players to be able to continue playing the main story, go out on side quests, or just simply go out and fight crime.
You also had a ton of stuff to do to unlock colorways. You could go around the city collecting and opening crates which gave you materials and colorways. You had certain crimes take place where you would unlock suits.
Throughout the city, you had artwork you had to go scan. You also had batarangs throughout the city that you had to collect. It wasn’t a huge deal, it was only 12 that you had to collect and you saw them by the light they gave off. Unlike a game like Grand Theft Auto where you would typically have to open up a website to find the location.
Bugs
Thankfully we didn’t really encounter any game-breaking bugs during our 23 hours of gameplay so far. The only bug we found was the disconnection issues during the opening 2 days. Initially, the game wouldn’t last long and then it would disconnect the joining player. I suspect this is due to the servers being unable to handle the number of people as it was on day 1, it does seem to have sorted itself out.
Buy, rent, wait for a sale or avoid?
It’s definitely a buy if you have a friend to play with. I’d recommend going out right now to purchase it. If you plan to play it solo, my recommendation remains the same although it’s much more fun with a friend to play with. It helps for larger battles.
Rating: 9.5/10
The Review
Story - 10
Graphics - 9
Sound - 10
Gameplay - 8
Customization - 9
Characters - 10
Content - 10
Entertainment - 10
9.5
Amazing
"It isn't a looter-shooter-type game like Avengers or Destiny. It has aspects of that in, yes, but ultimately the game is a coop crime-solving brawler that's open-world. That's the best way I can describe it. It helps with the astonishing city of Gotham that's been designed so beautifully."
