WB Games Montreal’s last game before Gotham Knights was Batman: Arkham Origins, which was released almost nine years ago. Batman: Arkham Origins is part of the Arkhamverse canon as the only game in its tetralogy not developed by Rocksteady. Likewise, it was likely its work on developing Batman: Arkham Origins that led to WB Games Montreal getting tasked with developing another DC- or Batman-related title. Therefore, it would not be surprising to see features from Batman: Arkham Origins reprised in Gotham Knights. Such is the case for its fast-travel system.
Interestingly, Gotham Knights has already had to endure unending comparison to the rest of Rocksteady’s Arkhamverse. These comparisons include how combat may not look as fluid, or how Gotham Knights’ open-world Gotham City may not look as detailed or dense with content. However, its fast-travel system seems to have a direct connection to that of Batman: Arkham Origins. In what seems to be the only animation shared between both games as seen thus far, it is clear that Batman: Arkham Origins has had an influence on how fast-travel would be structured in Gotham Knights.
Batman: Arkham Origins’ Batwing is the Fast-Travel Blueprint
In order to fast-travel in Batman: Arkham Origins, players must first unlock relay network towers in each district in Gotham City. This can be arduous, as access to network towers is progression-locked, where certain points of the story must be reached in order to receive a requisite gadget before players can navigate a particular tower.
However, once a tower is unlocked, it can then be fast-traveled to at any point by interacting with its Batwing Drop Point icon on the map. This initiates a cutscene where Batman grapples into the Batwing, flies through a snowstorm briefly as the area loads, and then dive-bombs toward the city again. This makes use of the Arkhamverse's distinctive gliding system, where players dive-bomb and then rear upward with Batman's cape fanned out to gain momentum and speed.
It is from here that players can choose to land where Batman is descending, which is usually amidst unsuspecting criminals, or they can choose to glide and make their way to another desired location nearby. This diving animation is not unique to Batman: Arkham Origins, but it is a clever way to let the players choose whether to land or glide after they have fast-traveled. In Gotham Knights, however, that choice of whether to glide or land seems taken away.
Gotham Knights’ Fast Bat is Nearly Identical to the Batwing’s Drop Animation
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Gotham Knights does not allow Nightwing, Robin, Batgirl, or Red Hood to use Batman’s plane to traverse. Instead, they use a back-mounted mechanism called the Fast Bat that flies them to their desired fast-travel point. They then careen in the jet-propelled apparatus in the same dive-bomb animation before being gently dropped from it as it vanishes out of thin-air.
This is similar to how characters’ Batcycles in Gotham Knights suddenly appear and disappear at the player’s command, and is arguably acceptable for the sake of gameplay convenience. Either way, it is clear that fast-travel will be an important feature in Gotham Knights due to how immense its open world is. But if unique traversal methods and the Batcycle are truly satisfying, fast-travel will hopefully only be a feature for convenience itself in Gotham Knights.
After an incredibly long wait, WB Games Montreal is ready to launch its newest game since Batman: Arkham Origins with Gotham Knights later this month. When it does release, it will be interesting to see if any other similar animations or features have been inspired by Batman: Arkham Origins.
Gotham Knights is scheduled to release on October 21, 2022, for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.