By Connor Gray, Senior Reporter
Batman is dead, and it is up to Nightwing, Robin, Batgirl and Red Hood to uncover a mystery that he was working on before his death.
Gotham Knights is the first game in more than nine years for game studio “WB Montreal” that made a prequel game called “Batman Arkham Origins” in 2013. Some influence of the Batman Arkham series is in the game, but not as much as I would’ve liked for it to have.
Right out the gate, the game shows what happens to Batman as he is in a fight for his life against Ra’s al Ghul in the bat cave. They both meet their end after Batman blows up the cave.
The four heroes mourn the loss of Batman but know they need to finish the case that he was working on. They will have to work together as a team if they wish to save Gotham from those that wish to control or destroy it.
The game’s main story is surrounded by the secret society, the Court of Owls. They are a group of powerful elite families that have controlled Gotham from shadows for centuries, except when Batman was around.
With Batman dead, they believe it is their time to be more hands on and our heroes make the effort to thwart their plans.
As Nightwing, Robin, Batgirl and Red Hood, each character has abilities the others don’t. Nightwing is a more balanced character but is more agile because he grew up as an acrobat. Robin is smaller and has stealth advantages that other characters don’t have. Batgirl is a better one-on-one brawler, especially against bigger enemies. Red Hood is a better long-range fighter but is also the strongest. However, he is not the best for stealth, as his guns are too loud.
You can only play one hero per night, and you can only change characters in the hideout called the Belfry.
The game also has a leveling system, and all heroes level up at the same time, even if you don’t play as them. You can craft new suits, melee and range weapons, which will increase your power level. The game will also have you deal with different factions of gangs in Gotham. There are the Freaks, which are a bunch of crazy punks who like heavy metal music.
The Regulators, which are a tech-savvy gang, split into two groups with some working with Mr. Freeze, but are essentially the same type of enemies, just with ice or electric powers.
The Court of Owls have regular people and special enemy types known as Talons. Then you have the League of Shadows, who worked under Ra’s al Ghul, who will come into the story just over halfway through.
Each faction will have some form of brawler, gunner, heavy and an expert on explosives, though some can also be hybrids of two. The game also introduced other major villains like Harley Quinn, Mr. Freeze and Clayface into the main story for a mission, but they will be relegated to side missions to play outside of the main story.
The positives of the game are strong. The story, while it can be predictable, is an enjoyable ride as all of our heroes and Alfred, Batman’s Butler, have amazing chemistry. That is where the writing was best emphasized on.
Enemy variety is also good, as most of the gangs do feel unique from each other. Combat, while frustrating at first, will get better as you continue to play it.
Gotham City is put together well, as each of the three islands are different in their landscapes.
Major villains, overall, were good and created well.
I’m not really big on the game’s skill system. Though it wasn’t a big deal for me, for some, it might be confusing.
I am not the biggest fan of the combat system — mainly because, instead of a counter button like in the Arkham game series, it’s just a dodge button. It’s not terrible, but disappointing.
The story is predictable, and that’s a negative on the writing.
The dialogue at times is bad, mainly when it comes to the gangs. This is especially true for the Freaks, who have over-the-top voice lines that make me cringe.
There were instances where the main protagonists were not immune to bad dialogue or poor line delivery, though the voice acting is still good throughout the game. There are many good things about the game, but its negatives do affect the positives a bit.
I’d give Gotham Knights a B- on its own because it’s a solid game that could have been much better. It’s a beautiful mess of a game.