Gotham Knights

Gotham Knights takes the Arkham blueprint and reimagines it as a loot-brawler, often feeling similar, but where it's different, it's worse.

This version of Gotham is not its best rendition, but it is massive and benefits from the basic video game truth that most everything is better in co-op. Instead, there's little reason to separate, as the peripheral content is so rote that you'll want to only do what's required of you to unlock the next major story beat, nothing more. The Court of Owls, perhaps the biggest and most beloved new addition to the Batman mythos in a long time, fails to live up to the potential of its comic book source material. It lands as hard as intended, and it's compelling to see them pick up the pieces and grow together. It emphasizes the Momentum meter over the actual learned techniques that Batman must've taught the foursome, and seemingly all in the name of being an RPG that demands sturdy enemies who can't be dispatched with the same ease that Batman has shown before. I'd have less of an issue with this number if the final battles within each of them were more diverse or interesting, but they each inevitably devolve into an arena battle against a damage-spongey villain and maybe an intermittent horde of goons. The problem, however, is it fails to evolve as the game goes on. Becoming Gotham City's watchful protector should be a meaningful journey for the characters and the players controlling them, but it rarely amounts to feeling like anything more than busywork. The issue won't be a shortage of them, but rather a lack of intrigue around any of them. Boss battles are where excitement should be expected, but there are too few of them and they lack the variety and ingenuity of past showdowns, even in developer WB Montreal's past Bat-effort. Meanwhile, iconic characters like The Penguin and Lucius Fox are made to be nothing more than immobile quest-givers doling out missions that are more like basic challenges to earn a new suit blueprint or a mess of crafting resources. It is full of icons ranging from main story beats to one-off time trials and challenges, so at first glance this version of Gotham doesn't seem all that different from other versions of it, or other open-world games for that matter.

Gotham Knights has some big shoes to fill as a follow-up to the brilliant Batman Arkham Knight, an early last-gen title…

If you want to play a Batman game, go back to the seventh and eighth-gen Batman titles in the Arkham series. Turning feels odd, as the camera feels almost glued to the back of the bike - the game doesn't let you really feel the back slide out with a less responsive camera like in Arkham Knight. Every one of those games - especially the excellent Arkham Knight, and including Arkham Origins, which was developed by WB Games Montreal as well - is a solid experience. It's functional and most of the basics of melee fighting are present and accounted for, but it doesn't flow very well. Interiors in general showcase less granular detail in Arkham Knight as well, though these environments are one of the few highlights in the game. My overall impression of Gotham Knights is that it's less than the sum of its parts. Gotham Knights is so devoid of life by comparison that I could drive around for minutes without spotting anything other than the occasional civilian. This tends to stick out quite a bit as the gameworld is always dark and rain-slicked, in typical Batman fashion. Even today, the Rocksteady game impresses with a gritty, rain-soaked rendition of Gotham City swarming with criminals. This is a common issue when dealing with baked GI of course, but the results here are often poor - with characters often looking like they have no integration into the game lighting at all, weirdly glowing. When lots of dynamic lights are onscreen there's a closer match between the lighting systems, as would be expected, but under primarily indirect lighting the results can look odd. Gotham Knights has some big shoes to fill as a follow-up to the brilliant Batman Arkham Knight, an early last-gen title that pushed graphical and gameplay boundaries.

Gotham Knights is coming to PC, PS5, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. Is the Batman spinoff worth the price of admission? Read our review to find out.

[video game release schedule](https://www.radiotimes.com/technology/2020-10-07/video-game-release-dates/) for all upcoming games on consoles. [subscribe now](http://radiotimes.com/magazine-subscription?utm_term=evergreen-article) and get the next 12 issues for only £1. [Gotham Knights cast](https://www.radiotimes.com/technology/gaming/gotham-knights-cast-voice-actors/)- all actors revealed [Gotham Knights villains](https://www.radiotimes.com/technology/gaming/gotham-knights-villains/)- who is confirmed? [Radio Times Gaming on Twitter](https://twitter.com/RadioTimesGames) for all the latest insights. All in all, then, Gotham Knights is a mixed bag, and it lacks the cohesive well-planned-out feeling that you always got with an Arkham game (or a Spider-Man game, more recently). It does feel like there’s a gritty element missing (for a game that starts with a death, the four main characters are pretty much happy and polite with each other all the time). [Gotham Knights multiplayer](https://www.radiotimes.com/technology/gaming/gotham-knights-multiplayer-crossplay/)- is it crossplay? And in terms of the graphics, we were consistently impressed (barring one strange glitch involving Jason's hoodie). To do this for each character, just to get a cape (or equivalent item/skill), feels like an undue amount of homework for quite a basic reward. It feels like a premise that could have happened in the Arkham-verse, but in this case, it’s happening in a different universe altogether (presumably for corporate behind-the-scenes reasons). But the game also gives you ‘case files’ on a number of other villains, and this side content is where you’ll find some of the most fun story beats and boss battles. And even though Gotham Knights takes place in a new continuity, it’s hard not to make comparisons with the much-loved Arkham franchise.

Killed off in the opening cutscene, it's left to his crime-fighting accomplices to pick up the pieces. Batgirl, Robin, Nightwing, and Red Hood take it upon ...

Gotham Knights is the type of game you so dearly want to love, but time and time again it gives you a reason not to. With nods and references to the wider Batman universe, it's blatantly obvious Gotham Knights comes from a place of love and care for the character and Gotham City. Another complication is the controls, which are the type of cumbersome where it's easy to get caught up on objects in the environment and it takes an age to readjust. These new versions are actually just the same pieces of equipment with better stats — they don't look any different and they don't give you any extra abilities. A ridiculous number of menus make for a very busy and overwhelming pause screen, displaying different pieces of information on the same subject in varying degrees of detail. However, beating up bad guys provides a good amount of satisfaction, and inviting a friend along for the ride gives you the chance to get creative with your assaults. The game makes you a part of the inquiry, with crime scenes to examine and evidence boards at the Belfry keeping you up to date with everything the team has learned so far. As soon as you start unlocking the fast travel system, you'll find yourself relying upon it instead of exploring the city on your way to the next objective. Riding around on the Batcycle even introduces a bit of texture pop-in as cars appear directly in front of you, either causing you to swerve or crash over the top of them. The narrative serves as the most pleasant surprise of the entire package, with genuinely interesting cutscenes and side quests to enjoy alongside the main case. It's not a CSI simulator, but you'll be connecting the dots between pieces of evidence to uncover new leads and coming to conclusions based on your findings. The open world of Gotham City is your playground, but the campaign still loves its set pieces in crafted, indoor environments and top-quality cutscenes.

Batman is dead. In spectacular fashion, the caded crusader bows out at the start of the game in an incredible action sequence, leaving the extended Bat-family ...

The shadowy dealings in the background of Gotham City make for a compelling story that manages to hang its hat on some of the newer parts of the Batman canon, elevating them to stand alongside the Two Faces and Riddlers of the world. Gotham Knight’s narrative and characters are definitely its strongest asset, and arguably among the strongest portrayal of DC characters in a video game. While Gotham Knights can be a generic open-world game when you’re prowling the streets, that doesn’t mean it isn’t extremely fun to take down huge groups of baddies as Batgirl, or infiltrate a base as Robin. The story elements that echo Jason Todd’s own story made the game feel at times like it was made specifically for him, which is a great achievement when working with four possible characters that will fill each scene. They’re heartfelt, funny and each of the four characters are well realised.” Nightwing (Dick Grayson) is dealing with the fact that’s now the de-facto leader of the group, the second in line to the Cowl, and instead of running his own show in Blüdhaven, he’s back in Gotham. “Combat-wise, the game will take some getting used to if you’re an Arkham fan. The rhythmic style of ‘attack, reverse, attack’ is gone, instead you’re dodging between larger numbers of enemies, and charging momentum to pull off special moves. In spectacular fashion, the caded crusader bows out at the start of the game in an incredible action sequence, leaving the extended Bat-family to be called in to pick up the pieces. Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) is dealing with not only the fallout of Batman’s death but also the loss of her father, Jim Gordon. A team of characters thought of as all also-ran sidekicks, desperate to make their mark on the world, while also coming to terms with the fact that no matter how much they excel, they’ll always be compared to the Batman. Speaking of those characters, they’re the stars of the show.

Gotham Knights offers a fun and satisfying gameplay loop, but many features lack the follow-through needed to make a great, cohesive game.

[Gotham Knights' story](https://gamerant.com/gotham-knights-prequel-comic-expand-story/), with the ending feeling like the game was never played at all, and a lot of the story is very slow. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem the rest of the game is held up to the same level and a lot of it doesn't blend like the gameplay. The game only features a handful of boss battles as it is, and this is probably why. Yet, anyone interested in anything more than that is going to face a lot of disappointment with its story beats, gameplay elements, individual features, and many other elements. There's a lot about the game that feels half-baked, from major features like this to small details like Investigations, and these elements bring down what's otherwise a solid title. All the characters end up being a little one-note, unfortunately, and while there is character development, each character tends to retread familiar territory. What happens is that players are able to self-pace their advancement of various side activities, and it's a pleasing way to interact with the world when something as simple as saving one citizen from Players will see major story developments on the map, but to complete activities like premeditated crimes, players have to investigate random crimes, interrogate enemies, and unlock them. At night, players don the cowl as one of the four playable characters and enter a patrol of Gotham City. The city is beautiful, feels alive, and is constantly filled with activity. Batman is dead, Gotham City is in shambles, and players must pick up the pieces as It is a truly fun game, and for many players, it may be easy to overlook many of its shortcomings as a result.

Gotham Knights certainly looks like a new Arkham game in many ways, but this new Batman title is only loosely related to those legendary Rocksteady ...

Without getting into specifics, there are also elements of the Gotham Knights story that are in direct contradiction to the events in the Arkhamverse. Again, that’s why it’s best to wipe the Arkham games from your mind from a lore perspective when you’re playing Gotham Knights. If you’re coming into Gotham Knights expecting a follow-up to the Arkham games, you’re probably going to have a bad time. Finally, there are aspects of Gotham Knights‘ story that do feel like they could occur in the Arkhamverse. Indeed, a lot of Gotham Knight‘s unique (compared to Arkham, that is) gameplay elements are a big part of the reason why it is proving to be The latter game is not only being developed by Rocksteady but does actually take place in

The PS5 version of Gotham Knights is currently sitting on a critic score of 69 on the review aggregate site Metacritic. With outlying scores ranging from a high ...

[Push Square](https://www.pushsquare.com/)'s own Liam Croft enjoyed the game, [awarding it a 7/10 in his review](https://www.pushsquare.com/reviews/ps5/gotham-knights), which you can [read](https://www.pushsquare.com/reviews/ps5/gotham-knights) or [watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRmJW5Gxbxs) for our full thoughts on the matter. [IGN](https://www.ign.com/articles/gotham-knights-review)'s Travis Northup wrote that "Gotham Knights is a consistently disappointing return to Batman’s troubled city and a distinct step backwards from the past decade-plus of Batman games," and that "from the inconsistent frame rates, to the weak story, to one-note combat that rarely feels good, there was virtually always something going wrong to make sure I wasn’t experiencing the triumphant return with my friends at my side I had envisioned”. [VGC](https://www.videogameschronicle.com/review/gotham-knights-3/)'s Jordan Middler applauded the game, giving it a 4/5, writing: “Gotham Knights provides a blueprint for a world of great Batman-verse games outside of Arkham. [Gotham Knights](games/ps5/gotham_knights) has turned out to be a surprisingly divisive title, with sentiment seemingly shifting ever since we learned that, despite [ditching a PS4 version](https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2022/05/gotham-knights-ps4-version-has-been-cancelled), the game would [only run at 30fps on PS5](https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2022/10/despite-scrapping-ps4-gotham-knights-is-just-30fps-on-ps5). But for what it's worth, we think there is enough good stuff here to justify rolling the dice. Let us know in the comments section below. This would, in turn, become a more prominent topic within the PlayStation community once we learned that [A Plague Tale: Requiem](games/ps5/a_plague_tale_requiem), too, [would cap out at 30fps](https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2022/10/despite-scrapping-ps4-gotham-knights-is-just-30fps-on-ps5). [gameinformer.com](https://www.gameinformer.com/review/gotham-knights/keeping-busy), via [ign.com](https://www.ign.com/articles/gotham-knights-review), [videogameschronicle.com](https://www.videogameschronicle.com/review/gotham-knights-3/), [gamesradar.com](https://www.gamesradar.com/gotham-knights-review/)] [Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-5/gotham-knights). Well, the reviews are in, and opinions on this one are all over the shop, surprisingly so for a AAA game. [Game Informer](https://www.gameinformer.com/review/gotham-knights/keeping-busy)'s Matt Miller felt similarly, scoring the game a 7.25, and noting that "Gotham Knights didn’t wow me with its overly familiar objectives, combat, and activities, but it didn’t leave me sour. At the end of the day, only you can know whether or not that will be a dealbreaker in terms of your own enjoyment.

Gotham Knights boasts a seriously stacked cast of supporting characters all brought to life by an impressive group of voice actors.

While Freeze sadly doesn’t make incredible puns like that one in Gotham Knights, he’s certainly one of the game’s most intimidating villains as well as one of the biggest threats to post-Batman Gotham. Keane has popped up in everything from House of Cards and Ray Donovan to The Gilded Age and Dopesick. You’d probably expect The Penguin to immediately step up and become the crime lord of Gotham now that Batman’s dead, but his role in the game is a bit more complicated than that. Brian Keane certainly assumes the role of Clayface quite nicely in Gotham Knights. Mylène Dinh-Robic’s voice will probably sound very familiar to gamers thanks to her recent appearance in 2021’s Guardians of the Galaxy game as Meredith Quill. In a game all about people stepping up to fill some big shoes, it’s fitting that Talia Al Ghul has a major role to play in Gotham Knights. While Gotham Knight‘s heroes worried that Alfred wouldn’t know what to do with himself without Bruce Wayne in his life, it turns out that he’s more than willing to assume a similar role for Gotham’s new heroes. Red Hood’s path to becoming one of Gotham Knight‘s playable protagonists has been interesting, to say the least. Nightwing has been honing his craft for quite some time, and his skills are certainly being put to the test now that Batman is going. Video game-wise, he most recently played Arokkeh in Horizon Forbidden West and has previously lent voicework to titles like Ghost of Tsushima. Of course, it’s the voices of those characters as much as their faces that really sell how much they belong to be the stars of an unlikely Gotham adventure. While some fans balked at those creative decisions, it’s certainly nice to see Batgirl patrolling the streets of Gotham again.

Street Art locations: Bowery; Bristol; Cauldron; Financial District; Gotham Heights; Old Gotham; Otisburg; Robinson Park; Tricorner Island; West End.

Bristol in Gotham Knights has one piece of street art for you to find and, unlike most of the street art, it’s not located along a stretch of road. If you’re having trouble finding this street art, head to the statute of a globe being held aloft by tentacles in Robinson Park. The first - Our Friend Joe - is the easiest to find as you’ll clearly see it by crossing the bridge linking the Financial district to the West End. Here, on the left-hand side, you’ll find the street art, entitled Origin of Evil. This is because Otisburg’s street art actually sits on the border between this district and Bowery, so you might not think to look there. It’s located within the tunnel which runs beneath Chambers Street, lying on the border between Robinson Park and Gotham Heights. This is an easy mural to find, because it’s painted on a building east of Gotham City Cathedral. For this piece of street art, you need to head to the bridge which connects the Bowery to Bristol, but don’t go on the bridge. Once there, you’ll want to jump over eastern side and this should land you directly in front of the art, entitled Faces of Gotham. It will appear on your left-hand side on a building, which has high wire fences in front of it. If this list contains a spray can symbol, a piece of street art is hidden within the district and, once found, it will be ticked off! It’s important to note that not all Gotham City districts contain a piece of street art.

Gotham Knights is the rare modern open-world game that doesn't let you fast travel around its setting, Gotham City. Here's how to unlock fast travel.

That makes scanning some drones pretty tedious, as you basically have to follow their lazy, looping flight paths until they stop for a rest. Fox has developed a mech-like wing suit that can ferry you around the city in seconds, but of course, things can’t be quite that easy. Fox aided Batman by providing him with gadgets and R&D, and he’s eager to do the same for the Bat-family now.

The Batman of recent films has mostly been a solitary figure, but DC comics fans have a different picture. In the source material, the Dark Knight is just ...

When you get there, the game will give you the option to skip that mission. When you arrive in someone else’s game or vice versa, the world adjusts to accommodate a greater number of players. Depending on what characters you’re playing as, that can include buffs, healing abilities, and combo moves that require both players to execute. What you select determines who can join you; if you want to let friends drop in on you without needing to receive an invite, select “friends” or “friends of friends.” If you want to let anyone at all join, select “public.” If you want to play solo, select “invited players,” and nobody will be able to join you until you send them an invite. That said, you’re free to explore the entire open world together, with no limits on how far you can wander from one another, which is extremely cool. (Ignore the “host heroic assault” option, since that mode isn’t in the game yet.)

As a follow-up to the popular Arkham series, this game brings in the Bat Family -- Nightwing, Batgirl, Red Hood and Robin -- to investigate the death of the ...

Despite this, the usual array of collectibles, interesting photo points and other ways to spend your time in the city pop up while on patrol. Then in some cases, the camera is clearly fixed on one spot but the Grapple Gun picks a completely different direction requiring you to cancel the movement and try again. Every character rides it the same way, and it moves like a tank when turning. None of the Bat Family really jump off the screen. One sadly lacking aspect of the Bat Family is their lack of character. The outlier is Jason Todd, who goes by Red Hood and played a major role in 2015's Batman: Arkham Knight. As a follow-up to the popular Arkham series, this game brings in the Bat Family -- Nightwing, Batgirl, Red Hood and Robin -- to investigate the death of the Dark Knight. Most of the stealth takedowns consist of either attacking from a perch above or creeping up behind enemies, but there's a small window where these takedowns seem to suffer from technical issues. Stealth was another important aspect of the Arkham series, and Gotham Knights includes segments where going in silently is the ideal approach. As they work on the big case, there are side missions that let you stop criminals from robbing armored cars, prevent kidnappings and generally fight the crime you'd expect to occur on a Gotham night. The Belfry in Wayne Tower acts as the HQ throughout the game. Gotham Knights lets you play as any of the Bat sidekicks as they chase down evidence from their mentor's last case, to figure out why he died.