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Batman: Gotham Knights - CONFIRMED - 2021


Ryannumber1gamer

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Normally I'd await for more details to make a topic regarding this, but in this particular situation, there's been several elements of evidence popping up to suggest this is coming very soon. WB Games posted this on their Twitter: 

Two very big things about this - not only does the caption "Capture the Knight" obviously fit in line with Batman, but the symbol featured in the video has been said by a lot of people to be in reference to The Court of Owls, one of the most popular Batman arcs in recent years, and one of the best set of villains introduced in the mythos in a long while.

Furthermore, after the game wasn't shown on either State of Play, or Inside Xbox, a dev replied to someone asking for information with this: 

The other thing that gives this some credence is that evidence exists of a failed Batman Arkham followup based on the Court of Owls, this was planned to feature Damian Wayne as Batman. Just this year, details of said project finally leaked, showcasing some of the scraps of concept art from it: 

On top of everything else, this year in particular is a important year for the series, because it's the 10 year anniversary since the release of Arkham Asylum, which strangely enough, for such a big milestone for such a huge step up in quality for comic book games, but furthermore, it's Batman's 80th Anniversary, and in terms of games, neither of these huge milestones has gotten little to no acknowledge from Warner Bros, apart from some tweets, and a steelcase re-release of Return to Arkham and Arkham Knight bundled together.

Arkham Knight was also given away free on PS Plus this month, where sometimes they'll give away a previous game in the series to hype up a new game, as they're doing with The Last of Us Remastered for The Last of Us Part 2. 

With all of this, I think it's highly likely we'll be seeing this game announced very soon, even if it wasn't announced in the State of Play, or Inside Xbox streams. There's rumours floating around that it could possibly be shown off in the next issue of GameInformer, since both Arkham Knight and Arkham Origins were debuted via that magazine.

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  • 8 months later...

Another big tease that things are happening - WB Games registered domains for two games - Gotham Knights, and Suicide Squad.

Suicide Squad was being planned since Arkham Origins, and Gotham Knights sounds like it'd fit right in as an Arkham Spinoff. 

There's a DC event happening in a few days, which is where the announcements are rumoured to be happening.

The key rumours is that Rocksteady is developing the Suicide Squad game, which will have a single player campaign, and multiplayer mode, while Gotham Knights is developed by WB Montreal, and features the Court of Owls targeting the Bat-Family, as well as a co-op portion.

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  • 1 month later...

Rocksteady has confirmed the Suicide Squad game that was being rumoured alongside Gotham Knights. Given the evidence to this point, it likely means Gotham Knights will be announced during the DC event over the coming days. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

WB Games retweeted this, and even the official PlayAvengers twitter has gotten in on it. Looks like Gotham Knights is set to be revealed tomorrow according to some news outlets.

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It's confirmed.

Look closely at the key hole - it's the Court of Owls.

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Gotham Knights is confirmed. Will post gameplay/trailers when I can. Info so far:

  • Batman is dead
  • Nightwing, Batgirl, Robin, Red Hood playable
  • Co-Op game
  • Upgrade trees for each character
  • Doesn't take place in the Arkhamverse it seems (Mr. Freeze is still alive and a villain, when he was redeemed in Arkham Knight)
  • New outfits for the characters.
  • Levelling System
  • Releases 2021

Trailer:

 

Gameplay:

 

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First of all, yay the new batman-less game has been announced ;)

I like the idea of playing as Batman's sidekicks, and I'm all for co-op gameplay (which was briefly explored in Arkham Knight but no where near as much as I would have liked). Looks like a hard-reboot rather than a soft one. Not really getting any Arkham vibes (asides from the combat) and with Commissioner Gordon & Batman apparently being dead (not bloodly likely) it feels like this games' universe is going to be very different from Arkham. Also, sounds like all new voice actors. Don't think it was RGS voicing Batman?

Kinda disappointed to see Freeze as he appeared so much in the Arkham games.

Also slightly disappointed that when the Bat-bike (whatever it's called) changed direction the wheels didn't rotate like in The Dark Knight Rises :P

I just watched Dark Knight Rises for the first and... | NeoGAF 

 

 

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I have to admit, I'm kind of disappointed.

With Suicide Squad having been confirmed to be yet another GaaS title, I was really hoping this would be a proper mainline Batman single-player game. I love a lot of the concepts here, the co-op, playing as the sidekicks, all of that, but with both Avengers and Suicide Squad already coming, I really didn't want to see the Arkham system screwed with to service this.

Not only do Predator Sections already look much more bare basic compared to even Origins, let alone Knight, but they've completely gotten rid of the freeflow combat system for enemy levels, and all of that, and that IMO just heavily sucks.

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I'm so conflicted with this.

To get the negatives out of the way, I am greatly disappointed at this being another GaaS game. The moment I saw that enemies had levels to them, my heart just sank. They seem to have completely changed the combat gameplay I loved from the Arkham games. Now, doing well in this game will be less about reflexes, reading the environment and enemy patterns, and accurately executing on combos, and more about how much you've grinned out for a higher level. Imo, after what I played of the Avengers game last night (I'll post about that later), that's stupid.

Enemy difficulty being directly tied to how much damage it can take needs to die off. Not everything needs to be some rpg mechanic. Completely destroys any sense of a well made action boss or even generic enemies for that matter. Hell, I couldn't even help but laugh at how they decided to show off Mr. Freeze here as their introduction to the new system. Like really, your first step into the wild with this damage sponge bs is with the character who had one of the best boss fights in the entire series? Specifically due to its in-depth ties to the actual game system? Lol

Anyways, with that being said, literally everything else about this was cool af to me. I love the new looking Gotham (also looks like we're finally getting actual civilian npcs this time around), the overall art style, the entire main bat family being here, the gd batcycles, and the story premise which seems to be half Arkham Knight sequel and half new canon which I can honestly get down with. And hell, while I still greatly prefer the original Arkham style compared to what we've seen, what's here didn't really look bad on its own standings. Inferior as hell for sure imo, but still something I can see myself finding some enjoyment in. It's simply a more standard beat-em-up now. You can still seemingly pull off some sweet take downs so it's not all for not.

So yeah... thanks to what the industry really is nowadays, I can't really say that I'm hyped for this. Though, I am cautiously interested at least. I love me some batman games and this does seem to be hitting a fair amount of marks so far.

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I didn't actually want another Batman game out of DC to begin with but I was willing to give one that starred my favorite characters from that side of the DC universe a shot.  I think the art direction is an improvement from the Arkham series even if the visuals don't really impress. I like the lighter, bolder colors and the more surreal environments. It's not a huge shift, but it's a noticeable one. No sign of the vehicle emphasis that killed Arkham Knight for me either so I can at least see myself liking this better than that. 

Count me as one of the people that checked out as soon as they saw the first health bar though. I didn't see anything too ridiculous like an enemy shaking off a stealth takedown, but I'm wary of those types of mechanics in AAA games. They're almost always implemented in the most cynical way designed to pad out play time and get players on some kind of exp/loot grind to make up for a lack of meaningful content. The damage numbers also just look gross. The UI clutter just gets in the way of how beautiful this series's combat is supposed to look and how immersive it's supposed to feel. I'm also disappointed that they seemingly(partially) walked back the Arkham Canon? Gotham was still teeming with villains after Knight. Surely they could have just given Freeze a rest. I also hope that the boss battles aren't changed to just chipping away at health bars. The best Arkham battles have some kind of puzzle to solves. They aren't just wars of attrition where you show off how fast your new gear can melt the enemy's gear. 

Maybe co op and multiple fighting styles will go some ways toward making up for this new game's shortcomings. No need to count me completely out, but I'm not invested in it yet either. 

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Cassandra Cain for DLC or this game can eat a big-ass batarang...

I like the idea they have with co-op tho. That and the Court of Owl are the real highlights for me.

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My heart pretty much sank at the enemy level bar. I didn’t even mind the idea of online co op when I saw the “Robin joined the Session”, but the RPG elements immediately frustrated me, knowing the free flow system was now likely kaput. 

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Looks fucking dope, yo. 
 

I’m honestly glad that we’re moving away from the Arkhamverse. Not sure how the suicide squad game is going to fit well in it, but I’m ready for a fresh take. I’ve been waiting forever to play as the bat family. Still a bit salty that we don’t get Cassandra Cain as batgirl but it looks like a fun time. Sign me up. 

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IGN interview dropped with some good news. 
https://nordic.ign.com/news/39183/batman-gotham-knights-our-biggest-questions-answered

This is a single, self contained, open and shut type of release. It's not GAAS. 
You can play the game solo. You can also use the same character the entire time if you want. Your choice.
Two players can use the same character if they want.
The entire city is open from the start with steps taken to avoid level gating or grinding
There are multiple villain questlines to follow at the same time, similar to the sidequests in the original games.
The game takes place over multiple days. You spend daytime in the home base: The Belfry.
This is the start of a universe unique from the Arkham series and there's plans for more.

I'm sure this won't stop some GAAS/MTX elements from creeping in but I'm at least glad it's not the intent of the whole package. Really starting to miss games I could just fire through in a weekend and move on from, lol.

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They're going to be selling most of the costumes the characters have ever worn with the remainder being carved out for exclusives.

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The voice actors/actresses for the game have been confirmed via social media:

Michael Antonakos voices Bruce Wayne. A bit surprised and disappointed they didn't bring back RGS.

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  • 1 year later...

We got some new gameplay today of both Nightwing and Red Hood:

Pretty ok showing all things considered. Combat still looks a bit janky compared to the Arkham games but still is a fair bit better than previous showings imo. Though, one thing I noticed is that if you crank the video up to 1.25 speed the gameplay looks much more in line with an Arkham game. I feel like the game could use a speed boost of sorts to help alleviate some of the clunk.

Also sorta laughed a bit that they elected to show off gameplay without all the hug information seen in previous videos as to try and match it more up with the Arkham games. Though, it doesn't exactly work as the enemies still seem to be damage sponges. Combine that with this being yet another game that looks to have some stupid equipment/armor management system and yeah... still not as hyped for this as I wish I was.

I do like how we at least have the option to make it look like more of what we're use to with the Arkham games though. Not to mention that there are still a lot of other things that do have me there day one at this point (story, art-style, still having some flashy finishes, playable Nightwing, ect.). It's just that you can clearly see that this game was meant to follow more of the route that SE Avengers game tried to go and that sucked. They seem to be course correcting but I'm not sure how far they can pull this into something that works.

 

Also turns out they're cancelling the last gen versions too. That's probably going to piss off a lot of fans. Imo, it's going on two years since this current gen started and I'd like to see new games start to really push things without the need of worrying about what last gen can realistically handle though I know I'm in the minority there (also I'll be playing on PC anyone so eh).

Overall a pretty interesting news dump. Imo, this is really going to be an interesting one to look out for as we get closer to October.

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3 hours ago, Strickerx5 said:

Pretty ok showing all things considered. Combat still looks a bit janky compared to the Arkham games but still is a fair bit better than previous showings imo. Though, one thing I noticed is that if you crank the video up to 1.25 speed the gameplay looks much more in line with an Arkham game. I feel like the game could use a speed boost of sorts to help alleviate some of the clunk.

I'll have to give that a try.

I don't want to say the combat movement looked low-budget... just unpolished. Couldn't quite put my finger out it. Still looks like some corners need to be sanded down.

I am always in desperate need of Co-Op games to play, so this one has been on my radar since it was announced. But the Arkham games leaned in on silky smooth combat flow. This game has to get that squared away.

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Even with its unpolish, I can’t help but like how they coalescing all these ideas together.

Not sure about the equipment/armor management, but the ideas and aesthetics just have my curiosity piqued even more.

still better get Cassandra Cain as DLC…

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  • 5 months later...

So I just finished this game and thought I’d share my thoughts on it to sort of put a nail in this after all this time.

To put it simply, this is one hell of a good time that I wouldn't recommend to anyone at the moment.

There is a lot of love that went into this, especially in its narrative. There are a ton of little details and references hidden throughout the game that, honestly, make this feel like the most lived in Gotham we've gotten in game form. The game looks like a last gen title and, in a lot of ways, falls short of Arkham Knight's heights in the visual department but after playing... I wouldn't call this an artistically void game like many are making it out to be atm. There's some well realized areas in here (especially a lot of the interior levels), it's just not pushing any boundaries is all.

I really enjoyed the narrative here. It was everything I wanted from the premises the trailers laid out. The game does a great job displaying the bat family in every angle of the name. There are a fair share of heart felt moments combined with the usual adrenalin action bits that the franchise is known for. While I wish the mystery behind the Court was baked/ foreshadowed a bit more throughout the earlier sections (as well as through the side missions as those just seem isolated from the main plot entirely oddly enough), what's there is great and hits on just about every story aspect one could hope for imo. Also, this is the best Jason Todd I've seen; period. Also also, if you ever play this (specifically after a patch but more on that later), read the emails lmao.

Though, one thing I will point out about this game is that, depending on the character you're playing as, cutscenes will change to be in their perspective. So, there are multiple cutscenes in here that you're never going to see which... honestly, just seems like a waste of resources. Idk, I just feel like if this game had taken a more standard, single player approach, more work could've been spent elsewhere instead of making 4 separate cutscenes for entering, say, a university area as all 4 playable characters. 

The combat was... well let me put it this way. When I came off my first session with the game I was kinda angry at the state of it. So many rpg elements in what was suppose to be (at least in the Arkham games) a very simple to understand yet rewarding to master system. Combat felt broken, enemies felt like damage sponges, and I quickly concluded that I'd be speeding through this one for story and that's it.

Though, between that time... I logged about 33 hours into this shit.

Something clicked. The feeling of getting new equipment, leveling up, and plowing through enemies is... simply, great. The combat started to take form with more abilities at my disposal. Once the story progressed a bit more, Gotham became more interesting to explore. The gameplay loop in general formed and locked me in.

Now, with that being said, at the end of all this I still had my fair share of issues with the system. The whole damage sponge enemies never really went away (even at max level). Especially in the side cases where you can tell there was no balance made to the bosses to account for single player runs. The game expects you to have another person in there and it ends up creating bosses that you just hit for several minutes on end with little thought put into it. Which is a damn shame because the bosses were great spectacles otherwise.

Also, even after getting accustomed to the system, I'm still not a fan of the gear upgrades and what not. Shit does that thing where you're discarding costumes you like for ones that are better stat-wise (the transmog system is a fucking joke as it gives you base looks that you can't further customize). Add in that you're doing this constantly, the game barely explains it early on, and you're left with a lot of time in menus (poorly done ones mind you).

You can tell that a lot of this was left over from when the game was supposed to be a more live-service driven experience. While I'm very happy a lot of it was scrubbed, it shouldn't have gotten even this far in the first place. I can only imagine how bad that version of the game would've turned out.

As for the leveling system in general and the claims that this game is a grind... well, I'm probably not the best one to speak on that as I spent a stupidly long time on things early on and ended up reaching max level about half way through the main story lmao. If you're speed running the story I can see things getting stupid pretty quickly though.

As an aside, stealth in certain sections is almost broken. There are times where the game won't be able to tell the difference between an input for a stealth takedown and a ranged attack (which of course just ends up alerting the entire area). Made me end up avoiding side missions that required it at a certain point.

Though, to finally address the elephant in the room, performance. Shit is bad. Inexcusably bad. Even on my rig with a 3080 and i7 11th gen, I was getting drops like no one's business. The game cannot keep a consistent framerate in the overworld. The kicker being that, throughout my entire playthrough, the game never even went about 60% utilization on my gpu and often just hovered around 45%. They did not optimize this game what so ever. Makes the overall experience feel clunky and, honestly, pisses me off so much that even while I ended up enjoying my overall time with the game (I just got sorta numb to the drops after several hours), I can't recommend this game to a single soul until a big ass patch is applied to this shit. The fact that WB fumbled the ball here almost maybe even worse than they did with PC Arkham Knight is horrific.

What's even worse is that at least AK was really pushing things for its time. Gotham Knights can't say that at all. There is no reason it should run this bad.

*deep breath*

But yeah, overall... ugh, I mean what can I even say here. It's a good game, but one hidden under a lot of filth. A lot of that filth being things that I don't recommend anyone deal with. Maybe catch this on sale on next year's Black Friday or something. On that, I feel as though the overall reception its gotten has been warranted. Though again, it is a great bat family experience when all is said is done.

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