Reviews have begun rolling in for the highly-anticipated Gotham Knights, and it's proving to be quite divisive among critics. The open-world, non-Arkham Batman title - which doesn't feature the Dark Knight as a playable character - allows players to fight crime in Gotham as one of four iconic heroes, with a focus on co-op play. While many players who've been looking forward to the game may not even care to read critic reviews beforehand, others will no doubt appreciate the help they offer when it comes to deciding whether to buy the title.
Gotham Knights' story starts with Batman's death, leaving four of his allies behind to fight crime in his absence: Batgirl, Robin, Nightwing, and Red Hood. Although the game mostly focuses on conflict with the shady organization known as the Court of Owls, players will also encounter several other famous villains over the course of the story. Players can improve the stats of their chosen fighter and weapons while playing, and Gotham will continue to evolve as well, with Gotham Knights offering day and night cycles as well as special events.
Many outlets have weighed in on Gotham Knights ahead of its release this Friday, with scores having a large range of positive and negative connotations. While some reviews praise the game's open world and strong story, others criticize it for repetitive combat and performance issues. Here's what some critics are saying about the game:
Ewan Paterson - 4/5 - Screen Rant
Despite the cumbersome gear system and its repetitive combat elements, Gotham Knights largely succeeds as a unique, story-driven adventure that sells the vigilante experience. Its story of a Bat Family in crisis is undoubtedly the highlight, but the game also deserves praise for its open-world presentation, co-op, and detective-based approach to unraveling Gotham's many mysteries.
Mark Delaney - 4/10 - GameSpot
It's these rinse-and-repeat objectives that feel like they're made to fill time and push the loot that ultimately hamper the experience more than any other misstep. The game seems built to serve an almighty hours-played statistic that has lately felt frighteningly ubiquitous. Strong character work and a well-considered co-op experience can't save all that ails Gotham Knights, leaving this experience neither the one fans deserve, nor the one they need right now.
- GameSpot
Jordan Middler - 4/5 - VGC
While some open-world fatigue may blemish Gotham Knights, its core campaign of missions and extended side quests make for a very enjoyable open-world prowl through DC’s most famous city. The Bat-family are an absolute highlight, providing not only one great main character but four. The shadowy dealings in the background of Gotham City make for a compelling story that manages to hang its hat on some of the newer parts of the Batman canon, elevating them to stand alongside the Two Faces and Riddlers of the world.
- VGC
Joshua Duckworth - 3.5/5 - Game Rant
Gotham Knights is a lot of fun, and for someone looking to mindlessly beat criminals as a superhero, it's an easy recommendation. Yet, anyone interested in anything more than that is going to face a lot of disappointment with its story beats, gameplay elements, individual features, and many other elements.
Travis Northup - 5/10 - IGN
Gotham Knights is a consistently disappointing return to Batman’s troubled city and a distinct step backwards from the past decade-plus of Batman games. Even if running around Gotham in two-player co-op can be decent fun and each of the four playable crime fighters are well executed in their dialogue and distinctive moves, too many of the fundamentals fall short for me to recommend it. From the inconsistent frame rates, to the weak story, to one-note combat that rarely feels good, there was virtually always something going wrong to make sure I wasn’t experiencing the triumphant return with my friends at my side I had envisioned.
- IGN
Why Gotham Knights' Review Scores Vary So Heavily
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Just like all players, every video game reviewer goes into a title expecting different strengths from the game. While some may focus on the writing of the game's story and dialogue, others may care more about combat or the game's world as a whole. These seem to be the main dividing factors when it comes to Gotham Knights. While some found the simplistic combat negative, others didn't mind it as much because of the fun had with other players in Gotham Knights' online co-op. Similarly, while the story and in-game Gotham world were the saving grace of Gotham Knights for some reviewers, others found it couldn't make up for what the game lacked in other areas.
After such a strong line of Batman games from the Batman: Arkham series, expectations for Gotham Knights were certainly high. Even though the game was developed by a different studio, it's difficult for many to not compare Gotham Knights to previous titles, despite the absence of Batman himself setting the game apart from the beginning. Whenever a new game is made featuring what's perhaps the most-adored DC universe, fans will undoubtedly come into it with very high standards, and the hype surrounding Gotham Knights that's made it one of the most anticipated games of 2022 surely raised the bar even higher. Ultimately, fans must decide which features matter most to them when making the decision on whether they want to purchase Gotham Knights.
Source: IGN, Game Rant, GameSpot, Screen Rant, VGC