Ask most people what the best comic book-based game is and odds are extremely high that the Batman Arkham series will be at the top of the list. While follow-up Batman: Arkham Origins was a good game, it didn’t strike with the core as the Arkham Trilogy did. Fans of the series have been biting for the next instalment since but WB Games Montréal are pitching a different style of game with Gotham Knights.

Its Own Thing and That’s OK

Gotham Knights is set in its own universe, so WB Montréal are starting afresh. They’ve crafted or introduced new characters and new looks. They’ve brought in new voice actors. Gotham Knights quickly establishes that it’s also built and structured in its own way.

For some, the fundamental changes from expectation mean that Gotham Knights will be unable to hit the highs of the Arkham games. But, in fairness, writing off Gotham Knights for going its own way is doing the game a huge disservice.

A Gotham Night

The game is an open-world affair where you get to explore a beefy Gotham. It begins with Batman being killed in an epic battle, leaving up to the titular ‘Gotham Knights’ – Nightwing, Batgirl, Robin and the Red Hood – to defend the streets of Gotham from thugs and supervillains alike, as well as get to the bottom of Batman’s death.

You play as one of the four, mostly free to choose your hero throughout the entire game. The four characters each handle in a different way. While the innate variety you get with such a mechanically diverse roster gives everything a little more depth, you will likely begin to favour one or two over the others quite quickly.

Each cut scene and line of dialogue has to account for this freedom to choose and it’s sometimes jarring. This also explains, in part, why the writing at points is weak and dull.

The main tale sees the group have to uncover the mysteries around the mythical Court of Owls, and what part they have played in the history of Gotham over the years. This is based on one of the best Batman storylines to have run in the comics over the past few years.

Borrowing a Bit

Gameplay is a bit of a tick-box sheet of the style that started out by the first Arkham game. Gotham Knights adds an RPG twist to things, for better or worse. At times, the gameloop veers towards a looter-brawler.

Combat jumps between ranged and close-quarters and sees you filling a number of different power bars to pull off evermore powerful attacks. It’s fluid but does feel a bit slower than what Arkham was best known for.

As you fight your way through the night you’ll come across a fair selection of bad guys, each with their own favoured way to be dispatched. The variety here helps immensely in letting the stretch its mechanics out across the hours of fighting you’ll rack up.

Unnecessary System

Each thug smashed will bank XP which you can use to build better and stronger kit. Gotham Knights often evolves into a bit of a numbers game. The biggest number is best. Your number isn’t big enough, come back later.

The RPG side of things also hurts the core in other ways. You’ll often face off against enemies that are just damage sponges and take way too long to defeat. Crafting elements only create diversions that similarly break the flow.

Sideshow Mobs

The world of Gotham Knights is full of side missions, collectables and generally cool things to see and do. The combat and exploration have the variety and quality to let the player lose hours traipsing around Gotham. More so, if you’re a Batman fan.

Gotham Knights knows it has some superb intellectual properties to use and crams the city with it. Side missions and mains alike get some beautiful fan service.

The aforementioned attention to variety in beating down foes also helps keep things interesting in a genre that grew tired for its repetitive gameplay and game loops.

This sense of fun and maintenance of interest in the game’s tasks only elevates when you team up with one mate for some co-op. The two of you can attack story missions and side-quests as well as find loot. All of which all transfers into their game once they leave.

This means that if you complete a mission in co-op that is deeper into the game than you are, you’ll be greeted with skip menu option, saving you having to play it again. This a much-appreciated touch that a lot of co-op games don’t include.

If you’re looking to team up with more than one other player, you’ll have to wait until the end of November. The four-player ‘Heroic Assault’ mode will be added to the game as a free add-on.

A Mood

Visually, Gotham Knights is dark, moody and grim – just how Gotham should feel. Characters also look that part with their new spin on beloved styles from across Batman media.

The soundtrack hits hard and knows when to kick in, which really makes you feel the part. Voice acting is more mixed. There are some solid vocal performances. Some of the supervillains absolutely steal the show. However, the moment-to-moment chat with the Bat family can see more than a few dud lines popping up.

Stepping Out of the Shadows

Gotham Knights tries to be big, brash and bold. It had a hell of a fight on its hands to get out of the shadows cast by games past. But the game carves enough of its own path to stand on its own.

It sets the right mood and offers four distinct characters to add some depth to its mechanics. The selection of side content offers plenty to do should you become enamoured with the combat and exploration of a substantial and well-realised Gotham.

The use of comic themes and plot across a perfectly gloomy Gotham, which has quite obviously been made with love by fellow Batman fans, will suck in DC diehards.

Approach Gotham Knights with fresh eyes and an open mind, you’ll find a fun, if flawed at times, adventure that open-world fans and Batman fans will get a kick from in equal measure.