With Batman dead, his four proteges have big boots to fill in Gotham Knights. Thankfully Warner Bros. Montreal has largely pulled it off, creating a Gotham City that's filled with things to do, and letting the four characters' contrasting styles show in combat and their personalities come through in the story.
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After playing Gotham Knights, I couldn’t shake the feeling that a lot of it had the air of an Arkham-verse fan game. While there is something there, you can almost reach out and touch the design-by-committee elements and witness the souls of some of the developers leaving their bodies. If you’re looking for another “Open World: The Game,” this one has you covered.
With Batman dead, his four proteges have big boots to fill in Gotham Knights. Thankfully Warner Bros. Montreal has largely pulled it off, creating a Gotham City that's filled with things to do, and letting the four characters' contrasting styles show in combat and their personalities come through in the story.
Gotham Knights didn’t wow me with its overly familiar objectives, combat, and activities, but it didn’t leave me sour. It’s fun to control some new heroes as they brood over Gotham from its building overhangs and uncover hidden plots against its people. Those heroes are right to wonder if they’re living up to a vaunted legacy. And even if they’re not quite up to snuff, Gotham has enough baddies to punch to make for a good time, whoever you are.
It's these rinse-and-repeat objectives that feel like they're made to fill time and push the loot that ultimately hamper the experience more than any other misstep. The game seems built to serve an almighty hours-played statistic that has lately felt frighteningly ubiquitous. Strong character work and a well-considered co-op experience can't save all that ails Gotham Knights, leaving this experience neither the one fans deserve, nor the one they need right now.
Combat is clunky and progression unnatural, but the unique playstyles of the four characters combined with a well-integrated gear system offer plenty of fun. It’s just unfortunate that the poor AI and camera take away from that combat. The game features a presentation that looks good, though generic, complete with performance issues. Gotham Knights has its moments of brilliance and fun, but never manages to step out of Batman’s looming shadow. These knights are more than sidekicks, they just aren’t heroes quite yet.
I enjoyed my time with these heroes, villains, and this beautiful world. But I am hesitant to return to or recommend it given the choppy frame rate and sluggish combat. If you can overlook those issues, you’ll find an enjoyable open-world action game with moments of levity and wholesomeness. While Batman himself may be dead, it felt great to play in the spandex and capes of his protégés.