Caitlyn Taylor October 21st, 2022 - 10:28 PM
Following the failure of Marvel’s Avengers, video game and comic book fans alike drew their attention to Warner Bros’ Gotham Knights. While some fans were initially ecstatic leading up to the game’s release most were concerned, from what little gameplay was shown, that the game wouldn’t live up to Batman games in the past. Today, not even a full day has passed since the game’s release and Gotham Knights has the video game community tearing itself apart.
Gotham Knights follows the lives of Batfamily members Batgirl, Robin, Nightwing, and Red Hood in the wake of Bruce Wayne’s death at the hands of the Court of Owls. This combat-focused game had huge shoes to fill, considering it was the next title following the wildly successful Batman Arkham games. Unfortunately, it seems that Gotham Knights failed to climb out of the Arkham series’ shadow.
#GothamKnights reviews are in:
IGN – 5/10
PC Gamer – 49/100
Game Informer – 7.3/10
GameSpot – 4/10
VG247 – 3/5
Game Rant – 3.5/5 pic.twitter.com/SKbklX2u9E— Batman Arkham Videos (@ArkhamVideos) October 20, 2022
IGN dubbed Gotham Knights “…a consistently disappointing return to Batman’s troubled city and a distinct step backwards from the past decade-plus of Batman games.” In a similar vein NPR reported that while the game had potential it failed in its execution. The general consensus is that Gotham Knights was a step down in quality, with a set 30 fps, quests that just fill up time and bland combat. Tamoor Hussain, Managing Editor of GameSpot, echoed similar sentiments in a Twitter thread despite holding out hope for the game to exceed his expectations.
I really wanted to like Gotham Knights, but it realised pretty much every fear I had for it. There are some baffling design decisions that fundamentally undermine the experience, and much of it stems from the RPG/GaaS stuff. Such a shame because it had so much potential.
— Tamoor Hussain (@tamoorh) October 20, 2022
While Gotham Knights continues to get blown out of the water by negative reviews, it should be noted that a rising number of people are starting to counter its wave of hate. Seeing how its Steam rating is currently stuck at mixed, it’s unknown when the initial confusion and anger from the gaming community will blow over.
