27 reviews
Gotham Knights is unfortunately nowhere close to Arkham Knight or Spider-Man but it is still a really fun time, ESPECIALLY when playing with a friend. This game gets entirely too much hate, like it is above average in its presentation and I actually like how it's not an Arkham clone and it went with a different style. While combat can get a little repetitive, it is very satisfying taking out a whole room of bad guys. I did not expect the map to be as open world as it is like it's a lot bigger than i thought it would be. Although it does fall victim to Arkham Knight/Origins syndrome where the map seems empty with no personality. Overall I am really enjoying it and the flaws are easier to overlook when you're having fun with a friend. Side note: my friend Mason and I be getting so locked in when we enter a new room we don't have to communicate we just kick like everyone's ass and it's pretty satisfying.
- idcilikememes
- Oct 29, 2022
- Permalink
.story
Batman fights and dies. Gotham Knights opening sequence is a 30 minutes despairing long cut-scene introducing a bleeding Gotham, unable to rise again, with new and old foes that cospiring to take control of the city. The first missions put many interesting characters on the table. Starting from the 4 Knights and Alfred we will have many chances to explore their personalities and inner battle they face after Batman departure. Many villains who, unfortunately, cover a side role in the story have a good narrative foundation and it's a shame just Harley and Freeze have proper questline while Penguin is relegated as NPC for random quests. The game is split between pure action in Gotham and briefing in the Belfry, the Hub where our Knights can interact each other and have some interesting insight and facultative bonding cut-scenes. Most of these secondary conversations explore well the dynamic of the group, their origins and their fears for the future...questions that remains unsolved as the ending completely ignored any growth they had through the game. Talking about the main plots of the game instead, that are summarized in Court of Owls and Talia al Ghul, they could have said loads, but they have chosen to go for less. The first of the two was heavily abused as marketing element for the game. Easy to say that they partially made use of the Court mainly for great darkish atmospheres but the plot never spikes and by the end it feels something is missing. Both these plots eventually converge but without a clear end and felt rushed after an exhausting research for evidences through the course of the game. GK does not share anything with the Arkham series, and not even the lenght, as Gotham Knights will only lasts about 8 hours for the main quest plus about 4 to do the -two- villain sidequests. Most of the story missions require to do some side-quests to find evidence before being attempted. What I didn't like about it that these side-missions are the same we find around Gotham: saving hostages or investigate a crime scene. Variety did kill the main plot by far as we are going to do the same kind of quests, about 4 different types of, in circle. Same goes for Harley and Freeze quests. Despite being composed of 6~ missions each, only 1 and 2 respectively feature exclusive content and fights. Gotham Knights is the classic example of taking advantage of a great content to have a commercial spotlight and then rushing through and make nothing out of it.
.gameplay
Achille's heel by far...Gotham Knights takes the best from the Arkham series and tries to find his own identity. Let's start by saying the approach of loot and RPG elements completely failed. Loot and crafting are rudimentary and barely developed. The result is basically a little number that goes up and up to show power is increasing. Each character shares the level but has own equipment and abilities. As far as it goes for the equipment all you gonna know is that as long as the power number goes up you are fine. There are elemental affinities and are possibly the only good addition to an already perfected gameplay from the Arkham series. Ice blocks enemies and along with confusion is great for insta-grabs. Fire inflicts DOT. Electricity stuns enemies and so on. Abilities are unlocked by a very classic skill tree and each character focuses on his own specialty. Batgirl plays like Batman and is a good all-around character. Robin focuses on stealth despite the game never really relies on it making unnecessary. Red Hood is the bulky one who can fight even with biggest enemies being able to grab them and has also AOEs with mines. Nightwing is largely focused on filling his momentum gauge to abuse the unique abilities. Each character has different ones and are unlocked by progressing the story and completing side-activies/defeating x enemies. Each enemy has different weak points and specific characters have advantage/disvantage against them. This system is done pretty well and despite some enemies being absolute sponges having the correct character makes life a Lot easier. After trying every character and getting the feeling we are introduced to Knighthood abilites. These are hidden behind a complete x side-quests barrier. I heavily advice to change the difficulty to Very Easy and rush through them as you have to complete 10 for each character and it might deplete all your patience. The Knighthood abilities are advanced skills that will make an easy feast of both group or single mini-bosses. Batgirl will unlock a powerful drone Momentum ability and the grappling hook for combat purposes while Nightwind will increase his range of attacks and the number of darts he shoots. Everything will depend on your playstyle because each of them will become a powerhouse after this power up. Knightwood will also unlock an easy-to-move around tool for the Knights. Batgirl will glide like Batman while Robin will teleport and Red Wood will literally jump on air. Most of them are useful but you will mostly use the hook to move around Gotham as it is the fastest method. We sure have the Batcycle but it is not that fast and versatile as being able to move over building and stuff. As I said the game features this level progression system that doesn't make any sense as it is just a +%stats with not good or intriguing passives skills. Lv cap is 30; 40 on NG+. Most of the game's hate goes to the controls and the combat's fluidity. We are all used to Arkham top notch levels so that's what everyone compare this game with. Controls unfortunately are not responsive as we expect from Any game and we are likely to get hit or detected and having nothing but to blame the game. Same goes for the fluidity and the animations which are Extremely cluncky, something that was well hidden in the commercials and might be easy to understand after watching some gameplay videos. Batgirl (or any other chara) will often target the absolute nothing, specific skillsor a grab strike (grabbing an enemy for a kill after depleting 70% of his health) won't trigger. You will also get stuck in the environment countless times and get spotted or Robin will decide to jump in the middle of the arena instead of quietly descend his observation point. All this seems born from a rushed development rather than incompetency as I have no doubt they will fix some of these aspects with future patches. As of now the game is a lot of fun, especially in coop where all the progress and loot are transferred to your own game as well, but at the same time is a huge work in progress and lacks of content. Gotham is beautiful to see but it's empty. There are just 8 main missions with relative side-quests as I explained before and tons of the same kind of beating thugs in the streets...and they always comes is few numbers so you don't even have the nice feeling of fighting hordes like in Arkham. Most of the challenge comes from the two side villains. The boss fights are some of the most spongy things I have ever played in 20 years. It will take a lot of punches to take them down and they hit hard as well. This said they are superb cinematic experiences. Overall Gotham Knights is a very fun game, despite all the flaws..this is just merit of the Arkham series though.
.sound
The Batcycle has the same 2 second loop sound going on and on... forever. The environmental sounds are copy pasted all over the game but they are not bad. Beating a Talon with a grab feels great along with our ranged weapons. Gotham is awfully quiet and empty. BGM has the right mournful tones but I would have overused these themes and pasted all over during the exploration of Gotham to make it more cinematic. VO is ready for an AAA level production. Every single voice actor did an excellent job and I would've gladly watched a movie of this. Batman is dead and you can feel it through their words and emotions.
.graphics
Gotham Knights has some cool features on PC that makes it work stable at rock-steady fps even on old machines. Dynamic resolution worked well indeed. Fighting is not crowded and there are no explosions of any sorts and fps drops mostly when driving the Batcycle..probably Gotham can't load her amazing neon lights and empty streets fast enough. Combat animations are so clunky and chain so badly I could easily say they belong to a PS2 generation game. Main missions and the two side boss fights have some crazy cinematic cut-scenes that frankly surprised me after the mediocrity I have seen.
.verdict
Gotham Knights works. It's not as bad as reviews are saying and the gameplay will probably get fixed overtime. Story unfortunately can't. It is out of focus and rushed. It never peaks despite the numerous cool and deep characters and major events. Gameplay is a mess. Animations are bad and don't flow harmonically but it still plays like Arkham and it's fun with the new abilities and element affinities. Exploring Gotham is fun and fast thanks to the hook, the Knighthoods skills and the Batcycle but there is not much to do. GK is clearly born under a difficult development. Being announced just 2 years ago I am sure they worked under a lot of pressure. Still, we are playing the game, not addressing the behind the scenes and I had more fun with Gotham Knights than many perfectly polished games.
Batman fights and dies. Gotham Knights opening sequence is a 30 minutes despairing long cut-scene introducing a bleeding Gotham, unable to rise again, with new and old foes that cospiring to take control of the city. The first missions put many interesting characters on the table. Starting from the 4 Knights and Alfred we will have many chances to explore their personalities and inner battle they face after Batman departure. Many villains who, unfortunately, cover a side role in the story have a good narrative foundation and it's a shame just Harley and Freeze have proper questline while Penguin is relegated as NPC for random quests. The game is split between pure action in Gotham and briefing in the Belfry, the Hub where our Knights can interact each other and have some interesting insight and facultative bonding cut-scenes. Most of these secondary conversations explore well the dynamic of the group, their origins and their fears for the future...questions that remains unsolved as the ending completely ignored any growth they had through the game. Talking about the main plots of the game instead, that are summarized in Court of Owls and Talia al Ghul, they could have said loads, but they have chosen to go for less. The first of the two was heavily abused as marketing element for the game. Easy to say that they partially made use of the Court mainly for great darkish atmospheres but the plot never spikes and by the end it feels something is missing. Both these plots eventually converge but without a clear end and felt rushed after an exhausting research for evidences through the course of the game. GK does not share anything with the Arkham series, and not even the lenght, as Gotham Knights will only lasts about 8 hours for the main quest plus about 4 to do the -two- villain sidequests. Most of the story missions require to do some side-quests to find evidence before being attempted. What I didn't like about it that these side-missions are the same we find around Gotham: saving hostages or investigate a crime scene. Variety did kill the main plot by far as we are going to do the same kind of quests, about 4 different types of, in circle. Same goes for Harley and Freeze quests. Despite being composed of 6~ missions each, only 1 and 2 respectively feature exclusive content and fights. Gotham Knights is the classic example of taking advantage of a great content to have a commercial spotlight and then rushing through and make nothing out of it.
.gameplay
Achille's heel by far...Gotham Knights takes the best from the Arkham series and tries to find his own identity. Let's start by saying the approach of loot and RPG elements completely failed. Loot and crafting are rudimentary and barely developed. The result is basically a little number that goes up and up to show power is increasing. Each character shares the level but has own equipment and abilities. As far as it goes for the equipment all you gonna know is that as long as the power number goes up you are fine. There are elemental affinities and are possibly the only good addition to an already perfected gameplay from the Arkham series. Ice blocks enemies and along with confusion is great for insta-grabs. Fire inflicts DOT. Electricity stuns enemies and so on. Abilities are unlocked by a very classic skill tree and each character focuses on his own specialty. Batgirl plays like Batman and is a good all-around character. Robin focuses on stealth despite the game never really relies on it making unnecessary. Red Hood is the bulky one who can fight even with biggest enemies being able to grab them and has also AOEs with mines. Nightwing is largely focused on filling his momentum gauge to abuse the unique abilities. Each character has different ones and are unlocked by progressing the story and completing side-activies/defeating x enemies. Each enemy has different weak points and specific characters have advantage/disvantage against them. This system is done pretty well and despite some enemies being absolute sponges having the correct character makes life a Lot easier. After trying every character and getting the feeling we are introduced to Knighthood abilites. These are hidden behind a complete x side-quests barrier. I heavily advice to change the difficulty to Very Easy and rush through them as you have to complete 10 for each character and it might deplete all your patience. The Knighthood abilities are advanced skills that will make an easy feast of both group or single mini-bosses. Batgirl will unlock a powerful drone Momentum ability and the grappling hook for combat purposes while Nightwind will increase his range of attacks and the number of darts he shoots. Everything will depend on your playstyle because each of them will become a powerhouse after this power up. Knightwood will also unlock an easy-to-move around tool for the Knights. Batgirl will glide like Batman while Robin will teleport and Red Wood will literally jump on air. Most of them are useful but you will mostly use the hook to move around Gotham as it is the fastest method. We sure have the Batcycle but it is not that fast and versatile as being able to move over building and stuff. As I said the game features this level progression system that doesn't make any sense as it is just a +%stats with not good or intriguing passives skills. Lv cap is 30; 40 on NG+. Most of the game's hate goes to the controls and the combat's fluidity. We are all used to Arkham top notch levels so that's what everyone compare this game with. Controls unfortunately are not responsive as we expect from Any game and we are likely to get hit or detected and having nothing but to blame the game. Same goes for the fluidity and the animations which are Extremely cluncky, something that was well hidden in the commercials and might be easy to understand after watching some gameplay videos. Batgirl (or any other chara) will often target the absolute nothing, specific skillsor a grab strike (grabbing an enemy for a kill after depleting 70% of his health) won't trigger. You will also get stuck in the environment countless times and get spotted or Robin will decide to jump in the middle of the arena instead of quietly descend his observation point. All this seems born from a rushed development rather than incompetency as I have no doubt they will fix some of these aspects with future patches. As of now the game is a lot of fun, especially in coop where all the progress and loot are transferred to your own game as well, but at the same time is a huge work in progress and lacks of content. Gotham is beautiful to see but it's empty. There are just 8 main missions with relative side-quests as I explained before and tons of the same kind of beating thugs in the streets...and they always comes is few numbers so you don't even have the nice feeling of fighting hordes like in Arkham. Most of the challenge comes from the two side villains. The boss fights are some of the most spongy things I have ever played in 20 years. It will take a lot of punches to take them down and they hit hard as well. This said they are superb cinematic experiences. Overall Gotham Knights is a very fun game, despite all the flaws..this is just merit of the Arkham series though.
.sound
The Batcycle has the same 2 second loop sound going on and on... forever. The environmental sounds are copy pasted all over the game but they are not bad. Beating a Talon with a grab feels great along with our ranged weapons. Gotham is awfully quiet and empty. BGM has the right mournful tones but I would have overused these themes and pasted all over during the exploration of Gotham to make it more cinematic. VO is ready for an AAA level production. Every single voice actor did an excellent job and I would've gladly watched a movie of this. Batman is dead and you can feel it through their words and emotions.
.graphics
Gotham Knights has some cool features on PC that makes it work stable at rock-steady fps even on old machines. Dynamic resolution worked well indeed. Fighting is not crowded and there are no explosions of any sorts and fps drops mostly when driving the Batcycle..probably Gotham can't load her amazing neon lights and empty streets fast enough. Combat animations are so clunky and chain so badly I could easily say they belong to a PS2 generation game. Main missions and the two side boss fights have some crazy cinematic cut-scenes that frankly surprised me after the mediocrity I have seen.
.verdict
Gotham Knights works. It's not as bad as reviews are saying and the gameplay will probably get fixed overtime. Story unfortunately can't. It is out of focus and rushed. It never peaks despite the numerous cool and deep characters and major events. Gameplay is a mess. Animations are bad and don't flow harmonically but it still plays like Arkham and it's fun with the new abilities and element affinities. Exploring Gotham is fun and fast thanks to the hook, the Knighthoods skills and the Batcycle but there is not much to do. GK is clearly born under a difficult development. Being announced just 2 years ago I am sure they worked under a lot of pressure. Still, we are playing the game, not addressing the behind the scenes and I had more fun with Gotham Knights than many perfectly polished games.
I'm just gonna come out and say it the court of owls didn't need to be in this game they don't feel important to the plot I don't want to be disrespectful but you have the Batman license you would think they would do everything in their power to give us an amazing story but it sadly is just a very mediocre story and let's talk about the lack of villains really Batman has the best villains in comic book history and yet their aren't that much it's sadly very clear that this game was supposed to be a live service game and don't mean to disrespect WB montreal was not up to the task should have just made them make a sequel to Arkham origins.
It's getting hammered for a lot of graphic reasons and some glitches and yes I saw some but no more than in any open world game.
I'll say that it did force close on my xbox SX three times mostly as I was traversing but that's the only problems I had with it.
The story is no worse or better than the previous arkham games, I know its not an arkham game but it's impossible not to compare them.
The gameplay is solid, the world is detailed and the voice acting is fine, only one of the core leads stuck out as particularly bad but that could be part of the character.
If you're familiar with batman lore you'll see the story twists coming a mile away but damn if it isn't fun getting there and being able to choose who you are is pretty refreshing although I did miss being Batman.
It's not a patch on the arkham games but it's a very worthy successor.
Think of it as a typical sequel, not as good as but definitely not to be left out and really not as bad as people say.
I'll say that it did force close on my xbox SX three times mostly as I was traversing but that's the only problems I had with it.
The story is no worse or better than the previous arkham games, I know its not an arkham game but it's impossible not to compare them.
The gameplay is solid, the world is detailed and the voice acting is fine, only one of the core leads stuck out as particularly bad but that could be part of the character.
If you're familiar with batman lore you'll see the story twists coming a mile away but damn if it isn't fun getting there and being able to choose who you are is pretty refreshing although I did miss being Batman.
It's not a patch on the arkham games but it's a very worthy successor.
Think of it as a typical sequel, not as good as but definitely not to be left out and really not as bad as people say.
- NotAFakeReviewer
- Oct 23, 2022
- Permalink
Incredible graphics and decent stories. The combat is fluid and in 3rd person where melee should be. Gotham is amazing. The voice actors are perfect. People: WHY are special abilities activated with R1 on a controller? Switch it to R2. Otherwise I'll have to cut off a third of my thumb. Momentum related attacks are super hard to execute fast for all the wrong reasons. Holding R1 with your index finger and pressing buttons with your thumb is incredibly frustrating. The speed and precision needed for normal play is impossible to achieve. Furthermore, I open the bar computer because I'm furiously moving my thumb too close to the main pad/switch on a PS5 controller. Does ergonomics mean anything to you?
- scotrutherford
- Oct 23, 2022
- Permalink
The heroes here may not be as awesome as Batman himself, but they all make a good replacement for him. Gotham Knights is an enjoyable superhero video game that shares what we would get from the Batman Arkham Games. Well it's not as good as these games since some of the story in it gets predictable with the one character we know would be the true antagonist. But that wouldn't keep this from being worth something different from the previous DC superhero games with awesome graphics that matches the setting of the game, neat gameplay that would keep the players appealed with the side missions, pretty cool power ups from both suits and gadgets, and great instances where we see development from each knight we would play as. I'm pretty sure Batman fans will enjoy this one. But I would mostly recommend those that are familiar with Batman's sidekicks. Maybe some will be introduced to them once they play the game, so this would probably make their good first experience getting to know them. Like the Gotham Knights themselves, this game does have a lot to learn, but it accomplishes as the Batman family.
- TheMysteriousReviewer
- Jan 2, 2023
- Permalink
Decent game with a decent enough story that I enjoyed learning and playing until the story was done. After that, it got repetitive and the suit level up options just stopped and left me wanting.
The big issues I had besides repetitive gameplay and suit options, the voice actors didn't really match up well especially Alfred who sounds like a creeper who will harvest your organs. The other big issue, the sign of the times we live in. This is where the game has to affirm a small percent of the game players with who they think they are whether it is the rainbow flag in the Belfry or saying they really need to go to the pride parade. These are pointless additions to the game and only serve to show themselves woke.
I will probably never purchase another DC game again for all the reasons above.
The big issues I had besides repetitive gameplay and suit options, the voice actors didn't really match up well especially Alfred who sounds like a creeper who will harvest your organs. The other big issue, the sign of the times we live in. This is where the game has to affirm a small percent of the game players with who they think they are whether it is the rainbow flag in the Belfry or saying they really need to go to the pride parade. These are pointless additions to the game and only serve to show themselves woke.
I will probably never purchase another DC game again for all the reasons above.
- Badger1210
- May 11, 2023
- Permalink
So after playing Gotham Knights i must say that i'm neither disappointed or amazed. The game is a serviceable experience and is not terrible in the slightest. However due to it's price and the other alternatives i have some opinions to share.
The story and cast of this game is pretty mediocre at best. Nothing about the story and/or cast of characters blew me away. Getting a little annoyance of my chest however i want to talk about the dialogue. For the most part it is not at all atrocious but my word, the amount of times they mention the names Bruce and/or Batman is crazy. I understand a big plot point of this game is the death of Batman (Bruce Wayne), however in the game there is not a single cutscene were his name isn't mentioned 5 times (that being wither Bruce or Batman). In this game Batman is far more important to the story than any of the four characters you play as and anyone else besides. Now some may find this fine but it makes me care so much less about anyone else. Anytime anyone tries to have a heart to heart moment Bruce or Batman is always mention and it makes their current situation feel less important. Even if this wasn't the case however i honestly feel the story is not something you should buy the game for with terrible villains and a uninteresting cast make this a game you should definitely not buy as a player looking for a interesting story. Speaking of which the villains of this game (as mentioned) are uninteresting and frankly boring. Not only (in my eyes) is there a lack of them, but also the ones that appear are terrible at the best of times. If the game had villains that i actually had any interest in this game would have improved drastically. That is how low i rate the villains (and in fact the whole cast) in the game. The side-missions are absolutely fine but compared to games of a similar nature are also at best mediocre and the boss fights that take place during side-missions are boring and time consuming for little reason (with one exception).
The graphics and visuals of this game are fine. The graphics specifically are pretty poor considering games like Arkham Knight that came out in 2015, but that game is also ground-breaking in sim[ply how good it looks for the time and could easily be a modern game. Taking that into consideration this games graphics are simply average. Nothing about the graphics will amaze you and there are point were it looks truly bad. By this i mean certain assets like cars that look utterly abysmal for a big game like this. But overall the graphics are ok, simple as that. The world looks alright and is a ok designed Gotham. The world feels utterly dead and the NPC's say the same stuff constantly with no variety thud walking around the streets isn't an option. But overall the world feels easily passable. But it is nothing great or even good. There also seems to be parts that are not explained or just seem a little strange, such as the James Gordon memorial area of the game. Before the release of this game i heard talks about a Gotham with history and you get snippets of it in the game. But unless you break down every nook and cranny of this game you won't feel the history of this city to any notable extent. But overall Gotham feels fine and is definitely passable.
The gameplay is also simply fine. Compared to the Arkham games (especially Knight) it's bad, but as a standalone (which it is) the gameplay feels fine. There are certain parts like the unlockable glide feature for Batgirl that feels utterly abysmal and needed a lot more polish, but overall few major complaints. Combat specifically is fine and although nothing close to perfection it's one of the better parts of the game in my eyes. Whether this is seen as a positive or a negative i'm personally unsure. But it must be said that the combat animations get very boring around half-way through this game. A few more animations wouldn't have gone amiss, however this games combat is fine. Simply put this games gameplay (like most other things) is fine. Before i move on however i want to quickly mentions boss fights. Besides a single one i licked because of a unique and cool section most of them are simply average. There is two however (of the very limited amount of boss fights) that i thought were utterly abysmal. I will of course not spoil them here, but they are simply bullet sponges that have limited attacks and have easily readable attack patters. I spend around 25-30 minutes (without dying) on the boss fights and it was not because i had to use my brain but rather because they simply wouldn't die. I understand boss fights should have an enemy that's more difficulty to take down. But when it comes down to the point were they're only a bullet sponge for the sake of making it longer and adding nothing else to compensate the wasted time playing the fight, it simply drags on.
The ending was so very bad as well. In fact the ending was terrible. It isn't cool or WOW and is more like a seriously.... why. The last cutscene is also terrible (at least whilst playing as Jason Todd).
The price of this game is utterly abysmal it has to be said. Even considering how much games now cost, for what you get the game is simply too much. It should be much less for the game you get included. But i understand this is the case with many a game as they can get away with it.
Quickly before we finish up i want to compare them to the Arkham games. This is inevitable and my opinion is this. This game whilst not being abysmal is nothing compared to the Arkham Games. Particularly Arkham City and Arkham Knight. But even thirteen year old Arkham Asylum is far better in my opinion. That also isn't taking into account the fact that it's thirteen years old. As for the Arkham Origins game i haven't personally played that one thus i will not compare it here.
Story - 3.5/10
Characters - 2.5/10
Gameplay - 5/10
Price - 2.5/10
Ending - 0.5/10
I am the third person to review this on IMDB and the other two who said stuff such as "The story is no worse or better than the previous Arkham games" and "Incredible Graphics and decent stories" i think played different games. Obviously we can all have our own opinions but i just wanted to mention that i highly disagree with those statements.
Overall i do not recommend this game at all mainly due to the price but all the other factors mentioned as well, 3/10.
The story and cast of this game is pretty mediocre at best. Nothing about the story and/or cast of characters blew me away. Getting a little annoyance of my chest however i want to talk about the dialogue. For the most part it is not at all atrocious but my word, the amount of times they mention the names Bruce and/or Batman is crazy. I understand a big plot point of this game is the death of Batman (Bruce Wayne), however in the game there is not a single cutscene were his name isn't mentioned 5 times (that being wither Bruce or Batman). In this game Batman is far more important to the story than any of the four characters you play as and anyone else besides. Now some may find this fine but it makes me care so much less about anyone else. Anytime anyone tries to have a heart to heart moment Bruce or Batman is always mention and it makes their current situation feel less important. Even if this wasn't the case however i honestly feel the story is not something you should buy the game for with terrible villains and a uninteresting cast make this a game you should definitely not buy as a player looking for a interesting story. Speaking of which the villains of this game (as mentioned) are uninteresting and frankly boring. Not only (in my eyes) is there a lack of them, but also the ones that appear are terrible at the best of times. If the game had villains that i actually had any interest in this game would have improved drastically. That is how low i rate the villains (and in fact the whole cast) in the game. The side-missions are absolutely fine but compared to games of a similar nature are also at best mediocre and the boss fights that take place during side-missions are boring and time consuming for little reason (with one exception).
The graphics and visuals of this game are fine. The graphics specifically are pretty poor considering games like Arkham Knight that came out in 2015, but that game is also ground-breaking in sim[ply how good it looks for the time and could easily be a modern game. Taking that into consideration this games graphics are simply average. Nothing about the graphics will amaze you and there are point were it looks truly bad. By this i mean certain assets like cars that look utterly abysmal for a big game like this. But overall the graphics are ok, simple as that. The world looks alright and is a ok designed Gotham. The world feels utterly dead and the NPC's say the same stuff constantly with no variety thud walking around the streets isn't an option. But overall the world feels easily passable. But it is nothing great or even good. There also seems to be parts that are not explained or just seem a little strange, such as the James Gordon memorial area of the game. Before the release of this game i heard talks about a Gotham with history and you get snippets of it in the game. But unless you break down every nook and cranny of this game you won't feel the history of this city to any notable extent. But overall Gotham feels fine and is definitely passable.
The gameplay is also simply fine. Compared to the Arkham games (especially Knight) it's bad, but as a standalone (which it is) the gameplay feels fine. There are certain parts like the unlockable glide feature for Batgirl that feels utterly abysmal and needed a lot more polish, but overall few major complaints. Combat specifically is fine and although nothing close to perfection it's one of the better parts of the game in my eyes. Whether this is seen as a positive or a negative i'm personally unsure. But it must be said that the combat animations get very boring around half-way through this game. A few more animations wouldn't have gone amiss, however this games combat is fine. Simply put this games gameplay (like most other things) is fine. Before i move on however i want to quickly mentions boss fights. Besides a single one i licked because of a unique and cool section most of them are simply average. There is two however (of the very limited amount of boss fights) that i thought were utterly abysmal. I will of course not spoil them here, but they are simply bullet sponges that have limited attacks and have easily readable attack patters. I spend around 25-30 minutes (without dying) on the boss fights and it was not because i had to use my brain but rather because they simply wouldn't die. I understand boss fights should have an enemy that's more difficulty to take down. But when it comes down to the point were they're only a bullet sponge for the sake of making it longer and adding nothing else to compensate the wasted time playing the fight, it simply drags on.
The ending was so very bad as well. In fact the ending was terrible. It isn't cool or WOW and is more like a seriously.... why. The last cutscene is also terrible (at least whilst playing as Jason Todd).
The price of this game is utterly abysmal it has to be said. Even considering how much games now cost, for what you get the game is simply too much. It should be much less for the game you get included. But i understand this is the case with many a game as they can get away with it.
Quickly before we finish up i want to compare them to the Arkham games. This is inevitable and my opinion is this. This game whilst not being abysmal is nothing compared to the Arkham Games. Particularly Arkham City and Arkham Knight. But even thirteen year old Arkham Asylum is far better in my opinion. That also isn't taking into account the fact that it's thirteen years old. As for the Arkham Origins game i haven't personally played that one thus i will not compare it here.
Story - 3.5/10
Characters - 2.5/10
Gameplay - 5/10
Price - 2.5/10
Ending - 0.5/10
I am the third person to review this on IMDB and the other two who said stuff such as "The story is no worse or better than the previous Arkham games" and "Incredible Graphics and decent stories" i think played different games. Obviously we can all have our own opinions but i just wanted to mention that i highly disagree with those statements.
Overall i do not recommend this game at all mainly due to the price but all the other factors mentioned as well, 3/10.
This game is so much better then some of these reviews claim. If you're a fan of the Arkham series you will love this game. Yes the combat is different, and it takes a second to get used too but when you do the game is a blast to play. The boss battles are long and challenging, instead of beating the "boss" in 3 minutes you have to work to drain the health bar. You will fail, but eventually you'll figure it out. The level up system is something to work for, increasing your damage and abilities, making fights easier as you progress. Beautiful graphics on the Series X, can't wait for some DLC to do some new case files with some new iconic villains!
- smithc-30362
- Nov 26, 2022
- Permalink
- kaantamtunali
- Oct 28, 2022
- Permalink
Some say you shouldn't compare this game to the other Arkham games but that's just excuse. Of course we have to compare a BATMAN game to other batman games.
+ Pretty alright main story The switch between characters is nice Being able to switch gear and costumes
- Too few villains Boring side quests 30fps feel laggy and non responsive Combat system just nowhere near as good and creative.
Stealth mode just a lot clumsier as well.
Batcycle feels slow and is a pain to call.
Overall Gotham Knights it isn't as bad as some might say, but in my opinion it's just nowhere near the other Arkham games. It just lacks in overall experience. I haven't played City, Origina or Knight in over 4 years but I still remember explicit scenes from each game and even the music too.
+ Pretty alright main story The switch between characters is nice Being able to switch gear and costumes
- Too few villains Boring side quests 30fps feel laggy and non responsive Combat system just nowhere near as good and creative.
Stealth mode just a lot clumsier as well.
Batcycle feels slow and is a pain to call.
Overall Gotham Knights it isn't as bad as some might say, but in my opinion it's just nowhere near the other Arkham games. It just lacks in overall experience. I haven't played City, Origina or Knight in over 4 years but I still remember explicit scenes from each game and even the music too.
Introduction:
Gotham Knights is definitely a divisive game. It is an elseworld story and has nothing to do with previous Batman games. It came out to a lot of mixed reviews and got bad press due to people not liking technical things such as the 30 FPS, choppy game play (compared to previous Gen Arkham Knight) and a few other things, but I'm here to say that once I finally gave it a chance with an open mind I enjoyed this game very much.
Characters and story-line:
The biggest W is the dynamic of the characters with eachother. The game doesn't force the small cut scenes, but if you interact with every side mini cutscene quests you get this amazing feeling of family and see the relationship of the 4 heroes. It was such an amazing dynamic I long for a live action series of these titular characters (not the garbage series that CW/WB released currently) The chemistry is their if you take the extra time to look at it. I assume the developers didn't force those scenes as some gamers like to play more than watch cutscenes, but for those you liked fleshed our characters and storyline then this game has both. They really used the existing Batman mythology and created a unique story-line for the Bat-family that made a lasting impression.
Gameplay:
As aforementioned, the gameplay mechanics felt like a downgrade from Arkham Knight - which was disappointing considering this is a next-gen game, however was overlooked once the game picked up and introduced the character specific combat and traversal system. I loved how they kept the familiar gliding from the Arkham games for Batgirl and introduced fun traversal mechanics for the other 3 characters. Each character has their own unique style and are all fun to play with. I got addicted to upgrading all characters as their specific abilities made it easier and more fun to do specific task, quests and side missions. It'll make you sometimes wish to have all their skills in one character, but then you'd just be playing as Batman at that point - which clearly is not the goal of this game.
Conclusion:
Although it has its downsides, Gotham knight is a load of fun and the storyline has a lot of heart - the dynamic of the titular heroes was very pleasantly executed and left a memorable impression and gave me a new love for these "side kicks". I hope the studious learn from their lack of effort in improving gameplay for next-gen games and give us a sequel or DLC storyline - if it can tell an amazing story as this one did with a great character dynamic. I recommended buying this game only on sale and trying it out when you have time and an open mind.
Gotham Knights is definitely a divisive game. It is an elseworld story and has nothing to do with previous Batman games. It came out to a lot of mixed reviews and got bad press due to people not liking technical things such as the 30 FPS, choppy game play (compared to previous Gen Arkham Knight) and a few other things, but I'm here to say that once I finally gave it a chance with an open mind I enjoyed this game very much.
Characters and story-line:
The biggest W is the dynamic of the characters with eachother. The game doesn't force the small cut scenes, but if you interact with every side mini cutscene quests you get this amazing feeling of family and see the relationship of the 4 heroes. It was such an amazing dynamic I long for a live action series of these titular characters (not the garbage series that CW/WB released currently) The chemistry is their if you take the extra time to look at it. I assume the developers didn't force those scenes as some gamers like to play more than watch cutscenes, but for those you liked fleshed our characters and storyline then this game has both. They really used the existing Batman mythology and created a unique story-line for the Bat-family that made a lasting impression.
Gameplay:
As aforementioned, the gameplay mechanics felt like a downgrade from Arkham Knight - which was disappointing considering this is a next-gen game, however was overlooked once the game picked up and introduced the character specific combat and traversal system. I loved how they kept the familiar gliding from the Arkham games for Batgirl and introduced fun traversal mechanics for the other 3 characters. Each character has their own unique style and are all fun to play with. I got addicted to upgrading all characters as their specific abilities made it easier and more fun to do specific task, quests and side missions. It'll make you sometimes wish to have all their skills in one character, but then you'd just be playing as Batman at that point - which clearly is not the goal of this game.
Conclusion:
Although it has its downsides, Gotham knight is a load of fun and the storyline has a lot of heart - the dynamic of the titular heroes was very pleasantly executed and left a memorable impression and gave me a new love for these "side kicks". I hope the studious learn from their lack of effort in improving gameplay for next-gen games and give us a sequel or DLC storyline - if it can tell an amazing story as this one did with a great character dynamic. I recommended buying this game only on sale and trying it out when you have time and an open mind.
- syedawais-40130
- May 16, 2023
- Permalink
I dont think this game deserve the amount of hate it gets ...ah well critics ... until you personally play , you wont understand so dont listen to those all knows guys who call them-self a "critics".
As for the graphics , i see no problem or downgrade... the graphic is solid and good with excellent effect of cloud and mist as it should be (play on max) so the yeys are enjoying.
As for the game mechanic , i would say in some manner it got simpler , also there are 4 unique combat and travel styles so there is plenty to explore.
As for the story, well that individual , i only wish there were more to side mission for only three villains isn't enough for me espessially that each present different chalenges and interesting levels design ... the side quests like are pretty repetitively and you do it mostly for components and lvling but they still pretty different and yet after a week of play it do gets a little boring (but i played only one character :))
interesting futures are: i felt like the creating your own design and upgrading suit system for it felt fresh and interesting , also the super moves and addition power for each character is a great addition.
I think this game deserve more credits that it gets :)
As for the graphics , i see no problem or downgrade... the graphic is solid and good with excellent effect of cloud and mist as it should be (play on max) so the yeys are enjoying.
As for the game mechanic , i would say in some manner it got simpler , also there are 4 unique combat and travel styles so there is plenty to explore.
As for the story, well that individual , i only wish there were more to side mission for only three villains isn't enough for me espessially that each present different chalenges and interesting levels design ... the side quests like are pretty repetitively and you do it mostly for components and lvling but they still pretty different and yet after a week of play it do gets a little boring (but i played only one character :))
interesting futures are: i felt like the creating your own design and upgrading suit system for it felt fresh and interesting , also the super moves and addition power for each character is a great addition.
I think this game deserve more credits that it gets :)
- pistolstarserg
- Jan 23, 2023
- Permalink
Well, the story is so simple and cliché.. it hurts.
Even worse are the dumbed-down versions of these characters that feel underwritten and feel out of place in the DC Universe (Barbara being the only decent one, and Tim being quite bad). Their interactions and dialogues aren't essential or interesting, which is sad as these should be the meat of it. Also, forced villain encounters that don't mesh with the story being told are nothing but a display of lack of understanding of what you should be doing with the franchise. What a shame that they did nothing memorable or creative.
I'm sorry for anyone that purchased this, considering the gameplay isn't particularly good either, much less the traversal.
Even worse are the dumbed-down versions of these characters that feel underwritten and feel out of place in the DC Universe (Barbara being the only decent one, and Tim being quite bad). Their interactions and dialogues aren't essential or interesting, which is sad as these should be the meat of it. Also, forced villain encounters that don't mesh with the story being told are nothing but a display of lack of understanding of what you should be doing with the franchise. What a shame that they did nothing memorable or creative.
I'm sorry for anyone that purchased this, considering the gameplay isn't particularly good either, much less the traversal.
- daisukereds
- Jan 26, 2023
- Permalink
I haven't played this cool game but reading some of these reviews makes me not want the game. But it's like the Arkham games I can see through videos and hopefully it's like that but right now since I don't have the newier Xbox I will be sad because I can't play it. For right know until I get a new Xbox I will give this game a one star . For now until I play this game. But hopefully it is a really fun and good game but people say it is not and it should be like the Arkham games that rocksteady made but I don't know who made this game though.
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- Anonymousperson600
- Feb 4, 2023
- Permalink
As per usual for 2020s WB products based of DC characters this is made for as low an iq as possible. Anything involving batman that's not R/18 rated is going to be terrible.
The combat is clunky and responds poorly.
A plethora of villains to choose from and they chose Freeze, Harvey Quinn, League of shadows, Clayface, and the Court. Hardly surprising that it gets repetitive and dull very quickly.
The script the voice actors have to follow is one of the most cringeworthy I've endured in quite some time. These characters are all extremely intelligent and capable yet they're all made to sound that prepubescent teenagers. None of the specialities of the characters is truly embraced or utilised. You wonder about 10 mins into the main game after all the endless cutscenes if the devs had actually read the source material over the years.
The combat is clunky and responds poorly.
A plethora of villains to choose from and they chose Freeze, Harvey Quinn, League of shadows, Clayface, and the Court. Hardly surprising that it gets repetitive and dull very quickly.
The script the voice actors have to follow is one of the most cringeworthy I've endured in quite some time. These characters are all extremely intelligent and capable yet they're all made to sound that prepubescent teenagers. None of the specialities of the characters is truly embraced or utilised. You wonder about 10 mins into the main game after all the endless cutscenes if the devs had actually read the source material over the years.
- blackbird1048
- Aug 23, 2023
- Permalink
This is a decent game after all patches it can run smoothly co op is fun and it's got a good story. The thing is people compare it to arkham knight by rocksteady but it Isn't by rocksteady It is it's own thing. It's like comparing the amazing spiderman game to marvel's spiderman when they are made by different companies. Another thing people were annoyed about was there being no jump button but that's how it was in the arkham games and the city is much more alive. I love driving around the city on the bat cycle and hearing one of the npc saying "so this is red hood" then I shoot them. Go play this!
- legobeastboy
- Jul 2, 2023
- Permalink
So, this will be my first game review on IMDB and what a great way to start with one you have mixed feelings about.
To start I have loved all of the Arkham Batman games. This has a similar feel. The graphics are pretty good, and the story line is decent and like that they are touching on all things Batman. I guess with my mixed feelings come in is the fact that after a few hours of playing and doing side missions and roaming the city of Gotham, it gets pretty repetitive. Now that might be a small complaint to some, but for me even though there is plenty of content to keep you busy, which is great it does just feel like busy work. I want the game to have content yes, but I would like it to have variety too. What I found was getting tired of doing the same patrol missions over and over, leading me to just want to finish the main story as fast as I could.
I am not saying this game is bad in any sense, I did enjoy the story and the open world of Gotham. I just after putting in some hours found me wanting to rush to get to the important parts and be done with it.
To start I have loved all of the Arkham Batman games. This has a similar feel. The graphics are pretty good, and the story line is decent and like that they are touching on all things Batman. I guess with my mixed feelings come in is the fact that after a few hours of playing and doing side missions and roaming the city of Gotham, it gets pretty repetitive. Now that might be a small complaint to some, but for me even though there is plenty of content to keep you busy, which is great it does just feel like busy work. I want the game to have content yes, but I would like it to have variety too. What I found was getting tired of doing the same patrol missions over and over, leading me to just want to finish the main story as fast as I could.
I am not saying this game is bad in any sense, I did enjoy the story and the open world of Gotham. I just after putting in some hours found me wanting to rush to get to the important parts and be done with it.
- sawblade34-125-387288
- Mar 19, 2023
- Permalink
- ryanhogg-87454
- Oct 16, 2023
- Permalink
Feels like a ps3 game.
Level design lacks all creativity and detail, the open world is bland and empty, missions are repetitive and extremely boring, combat is laughable (one button mash), enemy variety is none existent, and the game is wasting the player's time which is unforgivable.
Performance is also bad. Can't run at 60 fps and it even has frame drops at 30... (Xbox Series X)
I wouldn't be this disappointed if the game wasn't £65, but a game this expensive (running on next gen only) should run like a dream. Even on 60 fps. Other games have the option to choose between quality or performance..
The costumes look phenomenal though. Whoever worked on them, deserves credit but everything else in the game feels last gen. Biggest disappointment of the year...
Level design lacks all creativity and detail, the open world is bland and empty, missions are repetitive and extremely boring, combat is laughable (one button mash), enemy variety is none existent, and the game is wasting the player's time which is unforgivable.
Performance is also bad. Can't run at 60 fps and it even has frame drops at 30... (Xbox Series X)
I wouldn't be this disappointed if the game wasn't £65, but a game this expensive (running on next gen only) should run like a dream. Even on 60 fps. Other games have the option to choose between quality or performance..
The costumes look phenomenal though. Whoever worked on them, deserves credit but everything else in the game feels last gen. Biggest disappointment of the year...
- roland_pataki
- Nov 1, 2022
- Permalink
- erminahotmail
- Nov 12, 2023
- Permalink
- AvionPrince16
- Jan 17, 2023
- Permalink
After Bob Kane passed away, I have seen most of people think Batman belongs to them and they can do anything with the character. I thought in this earth only Christopher Nolan did the wrong thing with batman by showing him as a noob, junk, poor guy just for showing joker is great. But after playing this game, I think there are more psychopaths in this world who thinks they can write any story on batman and everyone will accept it. Stop playing with the emotions of real batman fans, please stop it. Stop presenting Batman as a downgraded character or he is dead......you guys do not have the right to do this. And if you again do it, then you will meet your fate of getting poor reviews like this. Batman was, now, and always will be a hero.
- alapan-52510
- Nov 10, 2022
- Permalink
Ow. I just finished the game today (at least the main story anyway). And my hands are still in pain from the constant repetitive button mashing that is required to complete a simple boss fight or a group of villains. Let me take you through it - dodge, dodge, dodge, dodge, dodge, dodge some more, another dodge, HIT ONCE, dodge, dodge, dodge, dodge, etc etc. (all in very quick succession if you want to survive the game) and so on. This method repeats itself OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN. And when a bad guy or crook has a difficult health bar to kill, getting one hit in every 10-20 seconds can take a really long time. I've spent hours on one boss fight dying over and over because you just can't seem to survive. Attacks become increasingly impossible to dodge unless you're so quick with your thumbs mashing the same button over and over again that you end up feeling like you're going to get arthritis. Unplayable is what I'd call it, and it becomes very gratuitous as the extended array of bad guys come at you non stop and it feels like you're one guy fighting a whole army on your own, dodging attacks from every angle and only get one hit in occasionally. Therefore, this game isn't healthy to play for your hands sake.
This leads me onto the gameplay mechanics themselves. They are just awful, undeveloped at best. Not only will your character just freeze in a position and not move when you command them to, but they will also just not respond to your basic button actions. For example, they might not dodge according to your thumb, and just stands there and takes the hit instead. Manoeuvrability in the game is very limited. You can't jump in a fight, you just have to rely on dodging and hitting. It's doesn't feel free or exciting to play, it feels systematic, with the exact same fighting pattern being required throughout. Fights never change or vary, they just remain the same and become more difficult for you to conquer (I had to turn the difficulty down from medium to easy just to complete the game). The final boss is incredibly difficult and I would suggest you just sprint as far away from her as possible and do ranged attacks, because you simply will not survive her up close attacks, no matter how quick you mash that same button.
Talking about development, there is none. It becomes very repetitive and boring very quickly, with the same basic level design used and reused throughout. Nothing will feel dynamic or interesting or exciting - everything will feel the same. All that changes is the environment around you, but for some of the interior scenes I'm pretty sure they just reuse scenes etc. But the level itself is the same formula over and over. Run through some corridors, and throw in some group fights to keep you engaged. It's like the developer sat there and just put the level design on a loop and reused the pattern to save themselves time. Threw in some fights, thought that will do, and then went back to whatever else was keeping them so busy. This game feels like a cheap afterthought with no love and attention given to it, which is disgusting for how much they charge you for it. It's the idea of 'that will do, we'll do our jobs worth and nothing more and get a good profit from it.' People spend a lot of money on games, and this is a ****take. Just put a little bit of love and care into making it. It's not much to ask for considering how much you want for your cheap work.
Speaking of cheap, the graphics are nothing, and I mean NOTHING. For a next gen game, they look worse than the likes of Arkham Knight. The difference is striking, and you can tell this was rushed with no detail given. It's a bland game with no detailed textures like the Arkham games, this just feels like a cheap PS2 game.
As for the story, nothing really much to comment on. It's ok, average at best. The side missions are cool with old villains coming back but again any excitement from this is soon taken away when you strain your thumbs trying to survive their ridiculously difficult boss battles. There's no detective work involved either, you don't feel like the characters unlike with Batman in the others, you feel like you wanna give up with it.
And I did. I abandoned this game a long time ago because I couldn't be bothered to finish it and wanted to play other games. So I left it, maybe to return to and grind through the last bit one day. Today is that day. And I'm glad it's over. Because I will never return to this game. It's not replayable to me, not in the slightest. I've had a horrendous time playing this game and really haven't enjoyed myself.
I know I'm late to the party to add this. But I just couldn't put myself through the rest of the game until now. I somehow found a bit of energy within me to do it. So save your time. Save your money. Save your hands.
0.5/10 (half a point for being a Batman game, that's it)
This leads me onto the gameplay mechanics themselves. They are just awful, undeveloped at best. Not only will your character just freeze in a position and not move when you command them to, but they will also just not respond to your basic button actions. For example, they might not dodge according to your thumb, and just stands there and takes the hit instead. Manoeuvrability in the game is very limited. You can't jump in a fight, you just have to rely on dodging and hitting. It's doesn't feel free or exciting to play, it feels systematic, with the exact same fighting pattern being required throughout. Fights never change or vary, they just remain the same and become more difficult for you to conquer (I had to turn the difficulty down from medium to easy just to complete the game). The final boss is incredibly difficult and I would suggest you just sprint as far away from her as possible and do ranged attacks, because you simply will not survive her up close attacks, no matter how quick you mash that same button.
Talking about development, there is none. It becomes very repetitive and boring very quickly, with the same basic level design used and reused throughout. Nothing will feel dynamic or interesting or exciting - everything will feel the same. All that changes is the environment around you, but for some of the interior scenes I'm pretty sure they just reuse scenes etc. But the level itself is the same formula over and over. Run through some corridors, and throw in some group fights to keep you engaged. It's like the developer sat there and just put the level design on a loop and reused the pattern to save themselves time. Threw in some fights, thought that will do, and then went back to whatever else was keeping them so busy. This game feels like a cheap afterthought with no love and attention given to it, which is disgusting for how much they charge you for it. It's the idea of 'that will do, we'll do our jobs worth and nothing more and get a good profit from it.' People spend a lot of money on games, and this is a ****take. Just put a little bit of love and care into making it. It's not much to ask for considering how much you want for your cheap work.
Speaking of cheap, the graphics are nothing, and I mean NOTHING. For a next gen game, they look worse than the likes of Arkham Knight. The difference is striking, and you can tell this was rushed with no detail given. It's a bland game with no detailed textures like the Arkham games, this just feels like a cheap PS2 game.
As for the story, nothing really much to comment on. It's ok, average at best. The side missions are cool with old villains coming back but again any excitement from this is soon taken away when you strain your thumbs trying to survive their ridiculously difficult boss battles. There's no detective work involved either, you don't feel like the characters unlike with Batman in the others, you feel like you wanna give up with it.
And I did. I abandoned this game a long time ago because I couldn't be bothered to finish it and wanted to play other games. So I left it, maybe to return to and grind through the last bit one day. Today is that day. And I'm glad it's over. Because I will never return to this game. It's not replayable to me, not in the slightest. I've had a horrendous time playing this game and really haven't enjoyed myself.
I know I'm late to the party to add this. But I just couldn't put myself through the rest of the game until now. I somehow found a bit of energy within me to do it. So save your time. Save your money. Save your hands.
0.5/10 (half a point for being a Batman game, that's it)