Gotham Knights offers a lot of personalization between its four playable protagonists. The game does not have distinct character classes in particular, but Nightwing, Robin, Batgirl, and Red Hood all have separate playstyles and distinguishable skill tree abilities. Part of these unique abilities is each character’s own means of traversal: Nightwing’s glider, Robin’s short-range teleportation, Batgirl’s cape, and Red Hood’s mystical leap. Gotham Knights’ traversal mechanics are exclusive to respective characters, but a grapple and a Batcycle will be ubiquitous no matter who fans play as.
The last time that fans had a AAA DC game with a vehicular component was in Batman: Arkham Knight. Early previews have already remarked upon how the Arkhamverse’s roots can be discerned in Gotham Knights, but that it is ultimately its own individual experience. There is no doubt that Rocksteady and WB Games Montreal’s Arkhamverse is seminal, but Gotham Knights is stamping its own mark on the DC mythology. This applies to Gotham Knights’ protagonists, co-op features, and also its Batcycle mechanics, which should not need to compete with Batman: Arkham Knight’s Batmobile.
Batman: Arkham Knight’s Batmobile is a Controversial Powerhouse
The Batmobile from Batman: Arkham Knight was highly conflicting. In the fourth installment of an incredibly influential franchise, the Batmobile is a refreshing feature that introduced new mechanics. The Batmobile can be used as a means of traversal, where players could barrel through cement pillars and the corners of buildings at remarkable speeds.
Pursuits throughout tight, winding streets on each island borough of Gotham City is exhilarating, and ejecting from the Batmobile to launch into a cape-glide along the city’s tallest skyscrapers is phenomenal. However, such a foundational addition stirred disappointment in many fans. There are many fans who believe Batman: Arkham Knight is bogged down by how much the Batmobile is entrenched in the game’s narrative, and how much of the Batmobile’s gameplay involves meticulous puzzles or obstacle course trials.
A huge part of the Batmobile’s gameplay is combat-oriented in a maneuverable tank function, where players strafe and dodge while firing missiles. There is an abundance of instances where players must maneuver in an enclosed area and fend off approaching militia drones, and having to sneak up to the Cloudburst in the Batmobile is certainly arduous.
Gotham Knights’ Batcycle is Little More Than a Means of Traversal
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The Batcycle from Gotham Knights seems to purely be an alternate means of traversal through Gotham, and that may be what all fans had hoped it would be. The more that it differs from Batman: Arkham Knight’s Batmobile the better, since it will create fewer comparisons between the two.
Because both Gotham Knights and the Batman: Arkham franchise share a DC mythology and characters, it is impossible for the former to ignore any comparison or influence from the latter. But Gotham Knights is taking mechanics and making them as unique as they can while still taking place in an open-world Gotham City full of crime. For example, Gotham Knights made a smart play by giving each character their own drastic traversal in the open world.
Gotham Knights has a grapple gun, but it does not seem to have a grapnel boost feature. Gotham Knights’ Batcycle is great for players who are disinterested in their preferred character’s unique traversal, giving them the option to simply ride through city streets to their destination. Gotham Knights may also include more street pursuits than it has let on, since it has been revealed that players will be able to fire their characters’ projectiles while on the Batcycle.
Further, the Batcycle will have co-op time trials that fans can compete in as an optional, fun feature for the vehicle. Being much more streamlined and less intrinsic to Gotham Knights’ narrative may be what sets it apart most from Batman: Arkham Knight’s Batmobile, but both should be respected for what they bring to the table.
Gotham Knights is scheduled to release on October 21, 2022, for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.