Gotham Knights has been sharing brief looks at its open-world Gotham City, and sometimes with only a live, dynamic image representing an iconic landmark within it. This, as well as sharing that Gotham Knights has the largest open-world Gotham in games, demonstrates that players will have a ton to explore and navigate as they pursue the Court of Owls. Fast-travel will be available, though players are also encouraged to ride Batcycles or use each playable protagonist’s unique means of traversal to get around.
Random crimes will be rampant throughout Gotham’s island boroughs for players to engage in each time they depart from Gotham Knights’ Belfry hub. But as for where other points of interest will be and why, only glimpses of the game’s map have been shared with associable waypoint markers and other icons that are indiscernible at the moment. Rather, there is a curious feature that Gotham Knights includes that seems somewhat out of place in a city like Gotham: pedestrian NPCs who casually walk around at night.
Gotham’s Open World Has Regular Pedestrians
It is not altogether strange for a superhero game’s open world to have its own citizens walking around, especially if it takes place in a large, urban city. Marvel’s Spider-Man, for instance, replicates the bustling foot traffic of New York City pedestrians adequately.
In fact, it may be more noticeably curious when there are no people walking around, unless such an absence of populous is addressed. Batman: Arkham Knight, being the first Rocksteady Arkhamverse game to take place in the actual island boroughs of Gotham, logistically addresses its lack of citizens via a city-wide evacuation. WB Games Montreal’s own Batman: Arkham Origins excused its lack of citizens as the result of a snowstorm curfew, but there is no such inclement weather in Gotham Knights.
Instead, many open-world streets in Gotham Knights look completely sparse, and fans would not be remiss to think that citizens would be completely hidden away to make the player’s sandbox completely open to them and the enemies they face. But they would be wrong.
Gotham Knights has recently shared another look at a neighboring area in Gotham called Otisburg, and in it Robin approaches a crowd of nonchalant pedestrians on the street. Considering the fact that Gotham is traditionally portrayed as a cesspool of criminal activity, and that super-villains and faction gangs are evidently abundant in Gotham Knights, it is a curious feature to have included for a number of reasons.
What Citizen NPCs May Mean for Gotham Knights
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It is possible that pedestrians were decided upon in certain areas to spruce up their streets, assuming that they would have been empty otherwise. Without an actual reason as to why pedestrians would have to stay indoors, WB Games Montreal may have decided that it would be nonsensical not to have at least a few NPC crowds here and there.
But with a criminal resurgence following Batman’s absence, it seems foolish that citizens would be out at night, particularly if players are able to run into faction gangs around the city. One possibility is that citizens may repopulate an area after players have rid it of its faction gang presence, but this is purely speculation. This would be great for world-building, though it is an unlikely outcome as these games typically need an infinite resource of enemies to pursue in order for players to level up. Gotham Knights’ RPG features will surely rely upon faction gangs being present everywhere, even after players complete a villain’s questline.
Therefore, it is peculiar that pedestrians are present at all. It is unclear why NPC pedestrians are seen in some locations and not others, too, so hopefully Gotham Knights will be able to explain why when it releases next month.
Gotham Knights is set to release on October 21, 2022, for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.