Gotham Knights, overall, is a solid if flawed open-world superhero game that is definitely worth your time if you are a fan of DC comics or superhero games. While the game is clearly inferior to any of the Batman Arkham games, I still think it's worth the price, especially if you can get it for under $10 like I did for the deluxe edition.
Starting off with the bad, the voice acting and dialogue, while fine for the most part, can, at times range from mediocre to downright awful for some of the characters (Batgirl, the freaks henchmen, random Gotham NPCs, etc.)
The combat is also a mixed bag. It's far simpler, less precise, and at times way more annoying than any of the Arkham games. You can often just mash the attack button to victory with the right build, except when fighting certain annoying enemy types (e.g. Owl Talons, mob grenadier leaders, drone operator leaders, etc.) which can only be defeated using very specific contrived move sets.
In addition, the inclusion of RPG mechanics, while fun at times, dilutes the combat overall. Most people playing the game (especially at higher difficulties) will either find the combat stuck between being punishing to being a total walk in the park. If you start playing the game on hard, or if you fail to grasp the upgrade and crafting system, you may find yourself doing next to no damage on low level henchmen. Conversely, If you know how to find and build the right gear, like weapons that instantly regenerate your health and momentum meter on every hit, you will absolutely steamroll almost every encounter the game throws at you, even at the hardest difficulty level. There really isn't any need to master the combat system itself, as it ultimately just comes down to finding and crafting the biggest, baddest weapons and armors.
Unlike the combat which has some redeeming qualities, the stealth sections are just downright lazy. WB Montreal clearly didn't put any time or effort into the stealth mechanics. Large sections of the games' missions will have big open rooms with very few grapple points and almost no cover to hide behind. Even if you want to try your hand at stealth, you'll quickly realize there is usually no point anyway since, if you're making the most of the crafting system, you can just openly obliterate anything in your path. It's also baffling how they removed the quick takedown move when you get caught. If an enemy happens to catch you choking out their buddy, they'll usually politely wait for you to finish before starting their attack. Because there is no quick takedown move like in the Arkham games, you'll often be waiting for 5-10 seconds for the stealth takedown animation to finish while every enemy in the room is directly looking at you. This is just a farcically silly oversight on the developer's part.
Traversal in the open world also leaves something to be desired, at least initially. The Batcycle is just way too slow. Once you unlock each characters' knighthood traversal ability, you'll probably not even bother using the Batcycle anymore. It looks and feels a little silly when you're driving at what feels like snail speed. After you unlock Lucius Fox's fast travel points, you probably won't even bother moving around the open world, even with the knighthood abilities.
As I mentioned before, while there are many faults with the game, there is also a lot to like. To start, the storyline is well-told, with both the main quest and side missions offering a tale that is interesting from start to finish. From the death of Batman, to uncovering the plot of the Court of Owls, and ultimately fighting the League of Shadows, I think the story is one worth experiencing. The interaction between the four knights is also good to see, with each character experiencing personal growth as they try to fill Batman's shoes.
Each character also controls differently with their own moves and skillsets that are both unique and fun to play, with Robin being my personal favorite. The addition of tons of unlockable costumes is also awesome. The sheer variety of cool costumes and color palettes to unlock was enough motivation for me to complete the game to 100%.
The environments were also a treat. Almost all of the missions, from Arkham Asylum, to Elliot Tower, to the Powers Club were detailed and very well designed and went a long way to pulling me into the experience. I actually think the level designs in Gotham Knights were superior overall to the levels in any of the Arkham games.
I played the game to 100% completion entirely on my Steam Deck, unlocking all achievements and getting all collectibles and outfits, even those not tied to any achievements. The game ran well and looked good on the Deck at 720p with only a few crashes in several cutscenes. I also played the game hooked up to the Steam Deck Dock and while it looked okay, at 720p, the edges do look rough when blown up on a large TV or projector screen.
Finally, while the game does have some controversial "woke" messaging, likely courtesy of Sweet Baby Inc., it is for the most part very minimal, relegated to collectibles or items buried in the menus. I'd say most casual players would probably never even notice any of it. However, how much this does or does not bother any particular player is ultimately a very personal question. For me personally, as long as they respect the characterization of the heroes (which they did in my opinion), I do not mind the inclusion of some left-leaning or woke content. Without a doubt, the most transparently woke part of the game is the side-quest to find all the collectible murals for Tim's art class project. Aside from perhaps three of the murals, the rest clearly depict woke themes that folks on the political-left often advocate for. While I can't speak for everyone, I think the developers made the appropriate balance of including their own viewpoints without attempting to overtly force them on players.
If I had to give this a score out of 10, I would say it's somewhere along a 6.5 or even a 7.0. Definitely worth a playthrough, at least once.
