[h1] [b]Gotham Knights[/b] and why it is flawed despite potential[/h1]
I honestly wish I could give this game a [i] mixed [/i] review score but unfortunately and despite liking some aspects or elements of the game, there are some elements which I personally found are tedious or negative and outweigh the game's good things. I was initially inspired to give it a try after seeing a youtube gameplay video of a high level Robin player making it look somewhat fun despite the open criticism the game has received and do not regret my time with it at all. However, with this review I'd like to offer some perspective on what is tedious or outright bad design-wise and ultimately led me to not pursue 100% completion.
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[h2]Story & Premise[/h2]
After battling Ra's Al Ghul inside the batcave, both Batman and him ultimately kill each other. Gotham Knights is centered around Batman's protegées Nightwing, Robin, Batgirl and Red Hood taking it upon themselves to solve the case of their mentor's death as well as some unresolved investigation he was in pursuit of prior to his demise. So far a genuinely decent opportunity to put the spotlight unto other characters besides the beloved caped crusader each with their own style and personality. The game introduces one of the most fascinating opponents of the Batman Rogue Gallery with [spoiler]The Court of Owls[/spoiler], only to completely negate their potential towards the end of the game and substitute them yet again for Talia al Ghul and the League of Assassins which already appeared in previous Arkham Games and kind of feel like a boring choice alltogether, given the fact the the Batman Universe has a tremendously diverse rogue gallery that could have delivered far more interesting story ideas. I suppose SBI is to blame for this but I won't go into details because the story really isn't that interesting and the ending was quite underwhelming anyway. Also Gotham Knights is not even connected with the Arkham Universe so this and Arkham Knight (the far more superior game imho) have no relevance with each other.
[h2]Gameplay Tedium[/h2]
The gameplay loop consists of picking one of the four titular characters and patroling a version of Gotham that is far less atmospheric or detailed then the iterations of the Arkham Games.
There are several objectives on the map like saving hostages from a bunch of faction thugs, preventing waves of enemies from hacking a terminal, preventing a robbery or small crimes of 2 to 3 thugs mugging a civilian. In typical looter game fashion, these objectives or mini-missions are repeated over and over with specific map locales being constantly reused. The idea is grinding these similar like i.e. replaying an open world activity in the Division or any other loot based game. The objectives feel similar to the challenge maps from the Arkham Games but only misused for open world looter gameplay, i.e.: "take out 5 targets silently and unseen"....The reward being materials and blueprints for gear and the loop is only broken up by the far more superior (but still shallow) story missions. In some ways, the game reminded me of Shadow of Mordor/War - you'll understand when you play it and compare them.
However, one of the worst decisions is having to cancel a patrol and return to the Belfry, the Base of Operations for the Heroes, in order to swap to the new equipment! I'm sorry but whoever came up with this is hopefully not working in the game industry anymore, that's how stupid the idea is! On top of that, the game does have a modchip fusion system that is so barebones, that I could have been left out in the first place and probably just serves to pad out the grind for loot. While there is a positive element of adding a transmog system for gear so the player can choose among their favorite designs for each character, again a letdown is that only the currently worn gear can have elements changed (like color schemes etc) whereas the transmog cannot! Seriously why!? Do you expect the players to stop their patrol just to be able to customize their look!? In a looter game!?
The combat system is a departure from the Arkham games with their reactive counter system and instead use a dodge move called "perfect evade" that immediately flows into "perfect attack". Landing hits succesfully generates "Momentum", which in turn fuels the special abilities that are gradually unlocked for each character. It is a very simple system and not bad per sé, but makes some fights very monotonous in comparison to let's say Arkham Knight or Arkham City where Batman can freely use his tools in oder to dictate the flow of battle. But this here is a looter after all and should first and foremost be considered a looter rpg and not an open world action adventure. The enemies I hated fighting the most where just the ranged units shooting you from off-screen, often disrupting the flow of battle because the awarness marker for their attack often is hard to track in the heat of combat where the player juggles different attacks for different enemy types. Same goes for units that just perfectly dodge and evade every basic attack and mostly can only be stopped with some option that somehow tediously disrupts the flow.
[h2]Collectibles etc[/h2]
Gotham Knights has some of the worst collectibles collections of any game I ever played and I'm not ashamed to admit that I used an interactive map online to track and find them and save me some tedium. The game expects you to discern some landmarks in terms of them being historically important.Naturally you would expect some specific places to be , like let's say Arkham Asylum etc but the scanable plaques are sometimes placed in corners that are just tedious to track. Or Robin wants you to scan public murals and artworks for a school project with not discernible payoff whatsoever! Except maybe one or two points for unlocking passives or skills that you might never even use in the first place. Or the worst offender - The Historia Strigidae Pages which can be found by looking at a hardly visible symbol on walls all across the city both above and below ground. Yeah, no. Use a guide or a map and save yourself some time and massive pointless tedium if you hunt for achievements.
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[h2]Additional Thoughts[/h2]
The game intrduces a higher level cap in ng+ raising the max level from 30 to 40 and thus also the level of loot. This ties in to the addition of "Showdown", a mode where some of the story's bossfights can be replayed at higher difficulty threshold for loot and achievements and "Heroic Assault", a 4 player coop dungeon crawl that seems copied straight from Games like the Division 2, where players have to clear 30 levels with boss floors and objectives etc. I just hate that some of the achievements are tied to this, but it it's also understandable given the fact, the GK is first and foremost conceptionalized as a multiplayer or coop game. Both modes can be played solo of course, but some objecives are super tedious whithout backup like repairing a generator while being attacked by endless waves of enemies. Which for me is the point where I finally gave up on completing the 100%.
There were some elements I liked and some that where straight adapted from previous Arkham Games here and there, but ultimately the tedious elements paired with a weak story, limited character growth and a somewhat uninspired playground in comparison to previous Arkham games led me to a mixed feeling about the game with a tendency more towards the negative. Now, please keep in mind, this is not a Rocksteady game - but given the fact of how [i]Suicide Squad kills the Justice League[/i], another (SBI-infested) looter shooter game turned out, that wouldn't have saved this game from ultimately being just "mid" but at least worth a try at a deep discount.
