WB Games Montréal might be retaining some DNA that made Rocksteady’s Arkham trilogy such a delight to experience, but make no mistake – Gotham Knights is a very different interpretation of DC’s iconic franchise. For starters, Bruce Wayne and, by extension, Batman, is nowhere to be seen in this particular tale, having supposedly died previously due to unknown causes.
The responsibility for protecting Gotham’s population from crime, then, is left to four of the Dark Knight’s talented entourage: Batgirl, Robin, Nightwing and Red Hood. The quartet, while all sharing the same goal of protecting innocent lives, do so in very different ways. Fans who have already witnessed WB Games’ initial reveal trailer during DC FanDome back in the summer will be acutely aware of how each vigilante differs from the other in combat, of course, but there is one shared ability that each team member will need to utilize in order to find the most notorious members of Batman’s rogues gallery.
Arguably even more than his limitless wealth and cutting edge gadgets, Wayne’s mastery over the art of detective work has rubbed off on his former students and will be a key gameplay feature regardless of which character you happen to be currently playing as.
According to Gotham Knights creative director Patrick Redding, so-called Villain Crimes – set piece missions which take place over several nights – will require the player to do “a certain amount of legwork and detective work” in order to “hunt down the villain at the next major confrontation.” What this will entail exactly, we’re not sure, as Redding doesn’t go into any greater detail, though one can likely expect objectives to change wildly, depending on whom (or what) it is that’s being tracked.
Sounds like an interesting – and loyal to the source material – gameplay loop, then, and we can’t wait to see how the system evolves in complexity when Gotham Knights launches next year for PlayStation and Xbox consoles, as well as PC.