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The recently confirmed Gotham Knights may look like another in a long line of would-be Destiny follow-ups at first glance, but the game is instead highly focused on a choice between offline single-player and two-player online co-op experiences. Coming from WB Games Montréal, the same studio that created Batman: Arkham Origins, Gotham Knights is a different spin on the Batman universe featuring four members of the Bat Family picking up the scraps after the death of Bruce Wayne. Players can step into the combat boots of Red Hood, Robin, Nightwing, or Batgirl to take on Gotham’s worst criminals and dig into the mysterious group known as the Court of Owls.
While set in a slightly alternate DC Universe, fans of the Batman: Arkham games will seemingly be right at home in Gotham Knights. The scenario is close to where the universe was left after Batman: Arkham Knight and the characters that are in both games share similar weaponry and fighting styles. Newly introduced characters like Batgirl have some room for creativity, which leads to the energized tonfa weapon she wields in the gameplay trailer. This version of Mr. Freeze also has a more complicated cryo cannon that looks like a minigun and what could be a freeze-powered jetpack.
As seen in the gameplay walkthrough shown alongside the reveal of Gotham Knights, players can take on the streets of Gotham City solo or team up with a friend online. Despite the splitscreen presentation seen in the video, the game does not support local co-op, and players will need to gather with their buddies online. Levels are designed so that players can take on any challenge with any hero, which is quite a feat considering the range between Robin’s teleportation based melee combat and Red Hood’s dual pistol action. The playstyles will mesh when needed, as showcased by the team-up move shown in one of the brawls.
If DC fans are looking for a game with a more robust co-op structure, they’ll have to wait an additional year for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. This game, which is developed by Rocksteady and set in the Arkham universe, will support a full four-player co-op setup. This puts it in line to compete with games like Marvel’s Avengers, although the team hasn’t revealed how far the game might lean into the games as a service model. Gotham Knights seems to be a more traditional narrative experience with a confirmed lack of microtransactions and other service add-ons.
Fully functional co-op is one thing that fans of Batman games have wanted for a long while, and Gotham Knights looks to deliver. Taking these characters out of the training room and into the wider city for their own adventure is a much-anticipated move, even if it isn’t exactly the same characters as before. Considering that WB has already borrowed the Arkham combat for games like Mad Max and Middle-earth: Shadow of War, all signs point to Gotham Knights letting players join forces and take advantage of their combat skills in a new environment.
Gotham Knights will be available on PS5, Xbox Series X, PS4, Xbox One, and PC in 2021.