WB Montreal’s Gotham Knights has been one of the two major game revelations at the DC FanDome digital event over the weekend. Despite not sharing the same universe as the Batman Arkham series (followers of that narrative will have to play Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League instead), there is still plenty of reason to get hyped for this new romp down the streets of Gotham City.
Recently, the devs have revealed that two-player co-op multiplayer — a key feature in Gotham Knights — will allow players to jump into the game playing as the same character. While this sounds a bit ridiculous in theory, but it makes perfect sense simply due to the fact that no two Robins, Batgirls, Nightwings or Red Hoods will be the same thanks to the diverse ability tree system that will let players build their character differently.
“Because the characters are so distinct from each other, there’s a bit of asymmetry, a bit of the complimentary skill set and ability set that actually makes teaming up kind of awesome if you happen to have different characters,” creative director Patrick Redding told IGN in a recent interview.
“Now, if you happen to have two Batgirls, you can also do that. Obviously, the potential of having different Batgirl builds, and how they look different and play differently is really cool too.”
This will play to the game’s strengths of adopting a drop-in-drop-out untethered multiplayer experience (à la Destiny), and make gameplay more seamless.
“You can drop in and out of Gotham, and, of course, bring your own character when you’re visiting someone else’s Gotham City. And it’s an actual untethered co-op play, so you can be in two completely different parts of the city if you wanted and join at some point to take on a specific mission,” says senior producer Fleur Marty.
Additionally, the devs added that the game will be set in a completely original story, with their own “interpretation of several aspects of the Batman lore and the Gotham City history”. How the Court of Owls and the presumed death/disappearance of Bruce Wayne plays into this remains to be seen.
Gotham Knights will release sometime in 2021 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC.
Marion has a serious RPG addiction. Sometimes it bleeds into real life; he forgets to sleep because he thinks he has a Witcher’s body clock. Forgive him in advance if he suddenly blurts out terms such as “Mind Flayer” and “Magic Missile”, because never once does he stop thinking about his next Dungeons & Dragons game.
Natalie
