WB Games Montreal's Gotham Knights started out as one of the most highly anticipated games of the year, but it appears excitement about the action RPG has turned to anger and disappointment. The most recent trouble initially began brewing when WB Games Montreal announced that Gotham Knights would only run at 30 FPS on PS5 and Xbox Series X, but now a day before release, it appears the low next-gen console frame rate was just one of the problems of the upcoming game. For some, it appears to not even be the worst of it.
PC gamers already expressed displeasure about Gotham Knights' recommended hardware specifications, with the game requiring an NVIDIA RTX 2070 or greater GPU for optimum performance. The demanding PC specs and framerate lock didn't help anything, but now that Gotham Knight reviews have poured in, the sour situation has seemingly deteriorated further.
Gamers took to social media to express their displeasure with the 30 FPS announcement for next-gen consoles. Joined by a choir of PC gamers upset about recommended hardware specifications, the last thing Warner Bros. Montreal could have wanted to see was middling-to-lackluster reviews. Many gamers across all social media channels claimed they had canceled their pre-orders (and have been for days), with some complaining about the game's price tag, but the majority upset about the frame rate.
In an era when most next-gen games strive to run at 60 FPS or more, many gamers couldn't justify a full-priced game that performs at half that average. While Warner Bros. has used timed media releases and trailers to build hype about Gotham Knights' storyline, the fact that multiple game reviewers claim the title is underwhelming is quickly overshadowing the studio's previous hype.
It's been years since fans have ventured inside the world of the Arkham series' Gotham City (though the two are not set in the same universe), and many gamers have fond memories of the previous games. Yet, as gaming has evolved, both in technology and gameplay style, reviewers point out that Gotham Knights seems stuck in the past. Several reviews stated that Gotham Knights simply cannot escape Batman's shadow, and without strong lead protagonists, the game feels disjointed and hollow.
Given that the most identifiable response to Gotham Knights on social media is currently anger, it appears the title is off to a rocky start.
Gotham Knights is scheduled to release on October 21 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.