The upcoming Gotham Knights looks to have created the most up-to-date and technically impressive rendition of Gotham City to date, outdoing the environments from the Batman: Arkham series. The game, which isn’t connected to the upcoming Gotham Knights television series, follows the Dark Knight’s allies – namely Nightwing, Batgirl, Robin, and Red Hood – as they strive to retain peace following the deaths of Batman and Commissioner Gordon. Warner Brothers Games seem to be taking the positives seen from the Arkham games (the team also worked on Arkham Origins) and their take on the open-world Gotham, and improve on it through upgraded technology and mechanics not seen before in a Batman-based game.
The introduction of a larger city to explore in Arkham Knight encouraged Rocksteady to allow players to use the Batmobile to traverse the map – and Gotham Knights seems to be further expanding on that idea. Instead of the Batmobile, players will be able to travel across Gotham City in another classic staple of Batman’s equipment – the Batcycle. The decision to move from the Batmobile to the Batcycle is not just a narrative decision – as it has already been confirmed that Gotham Knights is not linked to the Arkham Trilogy universe – but rather could suggest the Batcycle will be used to traverse through smaller and tighter areas of the map.
As with the Arkham trilogy, the majority of the story and exploration will take place within the darkness of the Gotham, and it has been suggested that Gotham Knights‘ city will be the biggest of any Batman game. Producer Fleur Marty has described the world in an interview with Game Informer as “a very dense and vertical city” and trailers have seen Nightwing use his Flying Trapeze glider to fly across buildings and landscapes. Robin will also be able to teleport short distances using the Justice League’s satellite as another means of transportation over Gotham’s City landscape.
Gotham Knights Will Have The Open-World Batman: Arkham Didn’t
A criticism of the Batman: Arkham trilogy maps was the lack of interaction with civilians and NPCs in the game world, and despite a sound explanation of why the public was missing through the narrative, it still left the city feeling empty. Gotham Knights, however, will feature a large selection of NPCs – the majority of which will be found enjoying late-night entertainment and working through their night shifts (thanks to the missions taking place in the evenings). It has also been suggested that different areas of the city will feature different demographics and some areas will be more dangerous than others, finally giving Batman and Gotham Knights fans a Gotham worth exploring.
It is evident how much effort and care has gone into WB Games’ upcoming rendition of Gotham City, and the map promises to be the most impressive variation of the famed location to date. Upgrading the methods of traversal and their variety, increasing the amount of NPCs, and improving their behavior, as well as the introduction of a dynamic weather system that will bring heavy rain and thunderstorms to night-time Gotham City are all means that promise to bring about an engaging and memorable map. It is hoped that Gotham Knights will finally give fans of the Caped Crusader the virtual Gotham City they’ve always dreamed of exploring.
