Review | Gotham Knights
If you've been in someone else's shadow for years, it can be quite difficult when the spotlight is suddenly on you. At Gotham Knights, it's not just the four new Guardians of Gotham struggling with their new status.
It’s almost impossible not to compare Gotham Knights to the Arkham games. While the Arkham trilogy was primarily developed by sister studio Rocksteady Studios, WB Games Montréal developed the prequel Arkham Origins. This studio is also inextricably linked to these legendary superhero games. However, Gotham Knights is not a continuation of the ‘Arkhamverse’, but offers its own, unique story. Without Batman.
At least: the Caped Crusader does of course play a role in Gotham Knights. At the beginning of the game, Bats is killed and now it is up to his four protégés to continue his work. Nightwing, Batgirl, Robin and Red Hood team up on a case involving the world’s greatest detective at the time. They set up headquarters in the Belfry, an old clock tower, and fight crime in Gotham from here every night. They track down the Court of Owls, a secret society that has been pulling the strings behind the scenes of Gotham for centuries.
That sounds like the breeding ground for an interesting plot with some other enemies than the standard Joker or Two-Face, but Gotham Knights never really knows how to surprise. The game obediently follows the standard pattern of a superhero story, so that despite a handful of memorable moments you see the most important revelations coming from afar. That in itself is not a disaster, because the story mainly offers a reason to hit a lot of enemies on the nose.
After all, that’s what you do most: smash enemies into each other. The combat system in Gotham Knights is very simple and has no block or counter mechanisms. It’s all about attacking and dodging and that feels a bit rudimentary. The much-discussed frame rate of 30 fps is not the reason for this; after all, the Arkham games played as smooth as an eel in a bucket of WD-40 even on the PlayStation 3. Without counters, everything just flows a little less smoothly.
As a result, a certain grind quickly creeps into the fights. Many enemies look alike and you can defeat them with the same tactics. For variety, you can select a different superhero for each mission, but don’t expect to suddenly play a completely different game after changing the night watch. The different fighting styles are mainly cosmetic; in the end they all have about the same attacks. For example, where Red Hood shoots with his (non-lethal) pistols, Batgirl throws a Batarang.
The biggest challenge is created by the level system. Enemies later in the game still look exactly the same, but because of their higher level, it simply takes longer before they go down.
It’s especially frustrating that the level system puts so much pressure on the game’s progress. Certain side missions play out nicely in their own story arc with their own villain, but you have to play them in an almost completely fixed order in between. Otherwise, you’ll either be too weak for the main story or way too strong for the side mission if you pick it up later.
Along with this level system hangs an loot and craft system. You unlock new packs and weapons all the time, and the level system practically forces you to blindly choose your strongest gear. You can craft something yourself with the countless raw materials you collect.
Fortunately, your four heroes level at the same time, so you don’t have to train them one by one. The main and side missions together also give you enough XP to continue, so you don’t have to grind in the city.
Crimes take place in various places in the city, such as robberies, hostage-taking, or organ trafficking. The four vigilantes can solve those crimes by taking out everyone. Every now and then you can also chase the bat moped through the streets of Gotham.
The city is very atmospheric, especially if you take the time to take it in. When the clouds break open and the silver moonlight in the wet streets merges with the red and purple neon of nightclubs and billboards, ray tracing, volumetric lighting and the 4K resolution come together in harmony.
Even when the game comes out positively, there always seems to be a poorly thought-out development choice. In a number of missions, the game surprises by tailoring dialogues or even pieces of gameplay to the hero (in) you control at that moment. Then you want to be able to replay such a mission as a different hero, but that is not an option. The game encourages you to switch, but then gives each hero his or her own story.
Gotham Knights certainly also has highlights, but much more often plays it safe and unfortunately monotonous. The co-op mode cannot change that either. There are no special attacks for two players; it remains the same monotonous fighting game, but with two superheroes on screen.
Gotham Knights is nu verkrijgbaar voor PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X en S, en pc. For this review the game has been played on a PlayStation 5.
Score:
7,0
+ Beautiful and atmospheric city.
+ Satisfying combat system.
+
+ ,
– Level system is way too decisive
–
Game Guide | Gotham Knights
Achievement / Trophy guide
Overview:
– Estimated achievement difficulty: 3/10
– Offline: 49 (1
, 2
, 7
, 39
)
– Online: 0
– Approximate amount of time to 1000
/ 
Platinum: 18-20 Hours
– Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 1, but must play some New Game+ to reach Max Level (Level 40 not available in 1st playthrough).
– Missable achievements : No
– Does difficulty affect achievements: No, can do everything on easiest difficulty
– Unobtainable/glitched achievements : No
– PS4/PS5 Autopop & Save Transfer: No, game is on PS5 only.
– PS4/PS5 Crossbuy: No, game is on PS5 only.
– Free-Roam / Level Select after Story?: Yes, there is still Free-Roam after the story, but there is no Mission Replay
– Extra equipment needed: No
– Release Date: October 21, 2022
Welcome to the Gotham Knights Trophy Guide! The game is set in the Batman universe but you play 4 different heroes: Batgirl, Red Hood, Nightwing, Robin. The trophy list doesn’t lock you into playing a specific character or playstyle. You can pick whoever you like best, there’s nothing missable and nothing to look out for. Your character level is shared between all 4 heroes so feel free to switch between them, you don’t have to stick to the same one. It’s best to play through the story first because it gradually unlocks side activities tied to trophies. Then do the side content and collectibles, then mop up what you have left, then start New Game+ to increase the level cap for reaching max level. It’s a pretty fun and easy platinum. Everything can be done on the lowest difficulty and completely offline solo. The Batcycle time trials are also very easy and quick. Enjoy the game any way you desire.
Step 1: Finish Main Story (6 Hours)
For the first step, simply finish the Main Story. This will make available various Side Activities, Side Quests (“Villain Cases”), Collectible Types, and Enemy Factions – all of which are tied to trophies. After the story you will have access to everything. Nothing is missable, you can do everything after the story in Free-Roam. The difficulty you pick doesn’t matter, can do everything on “Very Easy”. You don’t need to look out for anything. If you already want to work on side activities as they become available, refer to Step 2 for a list of all side content.
There are only 8 Main Missions, a story-focused playthrough takes about 6 hours including all cutscenes:
- Case 01: Batman’s Last Case
- Case 02: The Rabbit Hole
- Case 03: In the Shadows
- Case 04: The Masquerade
- Case 05: The Court of Owls
- Case 06: Jacob Kane
- Case 07: The League of Shadows
- Case 08: Head of the Demon
Step 2: Villain Cases (2 Hours), Side Activities (1-2 Hours), Collectibles (3 Hours)
After the story you will have access to all side content. Do all of the following:
Villain Cases (3 Total):
- HQ01: Harley Quinn – Get ReQ’d, Working Hard or Harley Working?, Universal Health Scare
- FR01: Mr. Freeze – To the Victor Go the Spoils, Quartzer Life Crisis, Snow Problem, Cooldown
- CF01: Clayface – Something in the Clay, The Show Mud Go On, Rock and a Hard Place
Side Activities (40 Total):
- 12 Secret Caches (Bruce Wayne’s Hidden Audio Recordings) – Gotham City Confidential
- 5 Secret Identity Compromised – Solid Alibi
- 7 Batcycle Time Trials – Bat Out of Hell
- 16 Training Arena Exercises – Practice Makes Perfect
Collectibles (154 Total):
- 60 Batarangs – Batarang Collector
- 42 Historia Strigidae Pages – Read Owl About It
- 12 Street Art (Murals) – Claiming the Mural High Ground
- 40 Landmarks – History Major
Step 3: Farm 250 Crimes, get Enemy-Specific Trophies, Craft Full Legendary Set (5 Hours)
At this point you will likely still need the 250 Crimes, crafting a full Legendary Set, some of the “kill specific enemy type a number of times”, and getting 50 modchips from mod fusions.
You can combine all of this nicely. Keep grinding out random crimes until you have the trophy for doing 250 total. Doing the white crimes (small crimes) counts for the 250 total. In the end-of-night results screen it will only show the number of red crimes you did, but don’t be fooled by it, the white crimes are much quicker to do and are confirmed to count for the trophy. From doing all the crimes you should also get your remaining enemy-specific trophies. They also drop lots of mods to use for mod fusions.
For the legendary crafting materials, the best way is to do “High Difficulty” Premeditated Crimes to find “Gotham’s Most Wanted” enemies, they are rare spawns that drop around 250+ legendary crafting materials. Then use the legendary materials to craft a suit, melee weapon, ranged weapon.
If you like, you can actually combine some of this step with the 4th step in New Game+, but be careful to get the trophies tied to endgame enemies out of the way first (10 Man-Bats, killing enemies from late-game enemy factions). Otherwise, you’d have to replay all of the story in NG+ to respawn those enemies. Once you start New Game+ there’s no way to go back to your 1st playthrough save, so be very sure you got everything you want before continuing with Step 4.
Step 4: New Game+ to reach Max Level (2-4 Hours)
In the first playthrough the level cap was 30. To reach Max Level (40) you have to start New Game+ from the Title Screen, available after finishing the main story for the first time on any difficulty. All your progress carries over. However, once you start, it overwrites your story progress from the 1st playthrough and there’s no way back. To get from Level 30 to Level 40 you can either farm crimes in the open world or replay half the story. It should only take about 2-4 hours if you skip cutscenes.
Heir to the Cowl
Earn every Trophy in Gotham Knights
News | Red Hood from Gotham Knights featured
Red Hood is one of four playable characters in Gotham Knights. This character is highlighted in a new trailer.
The former Robin was murdered by the Joker and eventually resurrected by the League of Assassins, making him now known as Red Hood. He also has special powers that he can use to move faster through Gotham. He also uses non-lethal fighting moves to rid Gotham of bad guys.
Previous videos of Gotham Knights have already revolved around the three other characters in the game , Robin, Batgirl and Nightwing.
The game should have a dynamic and interactive open world that houses famous villains such as the Court of Owls. Gotham Knights will be released on October 25 for PC (Steam and Epic Games Store), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S. The game was originally scheduled for release on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, but that version has been canceled.
News | New Gotham Knights trailer is all about Batgirl
A new Gotham Knights trailer revolves around one of the playable characters, Batgirl.
Batgirl is also known as Barbara Gordon, a trained fighter and a hacker. She uses both her muscles and her brain to take on the bad guys in Gotham.
The game should have a dynamic and interactive open world that houses famous villains such as the Court of Owls.
Gotham Knights will be released on October 25 for PC (Steam and Epic Games Store), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S. The game was originally scheduled for release on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, but that version has been canceled.
News | Gotham Knights beta appeared briefly on Steam
There was briefly an unannounced beta test for the upcoming Gotham Knights on Steam. Perhaps accidentally published too early?
The mention of the beta was discovered on Reddit. Although that post has since been deleted, the details of the ‘Gotham Knights Playtest’ can still be seen on SteamDB, where everything that appears on Steam is tracked. The beta would be 82.5 GB in size.
It is possible that publisher Warner Bros. accidentally published the beta too early. After all, no beta has been officially announced. As far as we know, the game, which is being developed by Batman: Arkham Origins creators Warner Bros. Montreal, out this year on PS5, PS4, Xbox consoles, and PC.
In the game, players like Batgirl, Nightwing, Red Hood and Robin fight against villains who take over Gotham City after Batman’s death. The game features an open world, where players take on missions solo or online with one another. In addition to the main story, the city has to ‘evolve’ and offer new content.
News |
Warner Bros. Montreal has revealed more information about Gotham Knights. Each superhero has its own progression system.
In Belfrey, the co-op game’s headquarters, players can choose to play as Batgirl, Nightwing, Red Hood or Robin. Warner Bros. Montreal reports that each hero earns their own XP and has a unique ski tree. The game is also fully playable with one of the four characters.
“The idea is to weave the gameplay cycle into the story,” said creative director Patrick Redding. “It is not a story that takes place overnight, but is about the growth of the hero. The game allows players to grow enormously in an open world that they must protect and to which they return time and again.”
Gotham City must therefore become a ‘living ecosystem’ with NPCs with certain routines, constant threats and enemies that level up just like the players as the game progresses.
Finally, Redding says players can expect a slew of other classic Batman villains in addition to the Court of Owls. “Detective work” and other missions precede confrontations with these characters.
Gotham Knights should be released in 2021 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and PC.
News | Gotham Knights trailer revealed
The game Gotham Knights was revealed by Warner Bros. The unveiling took place during DC's online event FanDome.
Several hints to the game were already revealed on an website that came online earlier this week. It was rumored that Bargirl would be making an appearance in the game.
Tonights trailer confirmed this. Together With Robin, Nightwing and Red Hood the heroes are tasked to live up to Batman’s legacy against the Court of Owls and Talon. Gotham Knights is being developed by WB Games Montreal, the studio that made the prequel Batman: Arkham Origins. You can play the game completely on your own, but also in a cooperative mode. Gotham Knights is set in Gotham City and features an open world, where players try to protect five neighborhoods from different well known and maybe less wel known villains and their gangs.
The game should be released in 2021 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and PC.