WB Games Montreal’s Gotham Knights is a spiritual successor to the Batman: Arkham series, and the game is set to give fans of those titles a highly-requested feature in the form of a “Batcave” called the Belfry. Following the apparent death of Batman, the upcoming adventure will follow Nightwing, Red Hood, Batgirl and Robin as they attempt to regain control of Gotham and encounter the mysterious Court of Owls. While the Batman: Arkham games are a clear inspiration for Gotham Knights stealth gameplay, combat and exploration, the title will also stand on its own thanks to a number of unique new features.
Each game in Rocksteady’s Batman: Arkham trilogy expanded upon its predecessors, but none of the games actually let players utilize the iconic Batcave. Batman: Arkham Asylum did let players visit a satellite base beneath the titular island, but this Batcave is small and players only spend a few minutes there. Arkham City was devoid of any safe haven, instead thrusting Batman into enemy territory in the titular walled-off and gang-ridden prison. Finally, Batman: Arkham Knight did feature a robust home base, but this took the form of the Gotham City Police Department rather than the iconic Batcave.
While Rocksteady never brought the Batcave to life, WB Games Montreal did let players explore the location in Batman: Arkham Origins. The prequel title features a full-fledged Batcave that players can return to at any point, though the base lacks meaningful content. Certain story events force players to visit the cave, usually to retrieve a useful gadget, and this is usually accompanied by a cutscene interaction between the Dark Knight and his loyal butler Alfred. Players can change costumes and enter challenge maps from the Batcave, which is a handy feature, but both of these actions can be easily performed through the game’s menu instead.
Gotham Knights’ Belfry Contains A Gear Workbench
While it may appear to be a Batman: Arkham Knight sequel, Gotham Knights is an unrelated project and will make many changes to the Arkham formula. Given another shot at adapting the Caped Crusader’s world, it seems WB Games Montreal may have perfected the Batcave seen in Arkham Origins. While returning to the Batcave in that game served little purpose outside of advancing the story, it seems that the Belfry in Gotham Knights will contain plenty of useful features to regularly draw gamers back home. Managing gear and conducting research to continue side missions was all relegated to menus in the Batman: Arkham titles, but these key gameplay systems are now held within the atmospheric and stylish Belfry.
The Workbench, which is used to organize and upgrade equipment, is located in the Belfry. Players will collect blueprints and crafting materials while patrolling Gotham and defeating enemies, and these resources are used to craft and upgrade specific pieces of gear for each hero. Each suit, melee weapon and ranged weapon has a different appearance and unique stats, allowing players to create a loadout that matches their mission and make Gotham Knight gameplay more varied. Different weapons may possess elemental effects, like ice or fire, which can dramatically change their performance in combat. Some suits also have room for Mod Chips, which can further enhance gameplay properties. Before a particularly difficult mission, Gotham’s defenders can return to the Belfry and adjust their gear to suit the threat.
Gotham Knights’ Batcomputer Is A Detective’s Dream
While the Workbench lets players manage their gear and resources, the Batcomputer is used to advance the story and initiate challenges. The enormous computer contains a map of Gotham, which illustrates the presence of factions and criminal activity as players choose their next objective. Case Files, a Database and an Emails section are teased as other functions of the Batcomputer, suggesting that players will use it to conduct research on their foes and progress certain side missions. This lets the Batcomputer serve both a gameplay and narrative purpose, so players will likely be spending a lot of time there.
Together, the Batcomputer and Workbench give players ample motivation to return to the Belfry on a regular basis. Returning to the Batcave to conduct detective work and create new gadgets is part of the Batman fantasy, but menus were used to manage Batman: Arkham side missions and gear upgrades. By putting access to important features like item crafting and challenges in the Belfry, Gotham Knights makes players return home to break up the action, initiate important narrative moments and solidify the superhero experience without being forced to as part of the main storyline.
Gotham Knights’ Belfry Is An Important Narrative Setting
Alongside features like the Batcomputer and the Workbench, exploring the Belfry also progresses Gotham Knights’ narrative by allowing the protagonists to interact. For example, playing as Nightwing and examining Batman’s shattered cowl can lead to an emotional conversation with Red Hood when he is also found contemplating their adoptive father. The relationship between the Dark Knight’s successors is said to be an important part of Gotham Knights, and exploring the Belfry seems to the primary way for players to trigger important interactions. All four of the game’s heroes can be found in the Belfry when they aren’t running around Gotham Knights‘ open world, suggesting plenty of potential conversations.
While each Batman: Arkham game takes place over a single night, Gotham Knights is said to take place over the course of a much longer length of time. This gives the Belfry an even greater purpose, as it lets the title’s four heroes appear outside of their costumes during the day for some casual down time. Batman rarely removed his suit in the Arkham games, which fits his no-nonsense approach to crimefighting, but Gotham Knights is able to portray more human characters thanks to the Belfry’s role as a safe haven. This will likely result in more personal and emotional storylines in Gotham Knights, when compared to the grander villain-driven stories of the Batman: Arkham games.
The Batman: Arkham series is considered the quintessential Batman experience, but the franchise failed to deliver a meaningful and satisfying version of the Batcave. No new Batman: Arkham game is planned for the future, but Gotham Knights looks poised to deliver a home base that is both visually interesting and functionally meaningful through the Belfry. From gear management to interactions between the title’s four heroes, Gotham Knights gives players many reasons to come in from the dark.
