Gotham Knights has come a long way since its announcement two years ago, and shows us a face that is both respectful of the DC universe, and disappointing.
[Mis à jour le 21 octobre 2022 à 18h21] Two years ago, Warner Bros. Games announced the release of Gotham Knights, a triple-A open-world action-adventure set in the heart of the darkness of Gotham City. In this universe, Bruce Wayne is dead, and it’s up to us members of the Batman Family to take up his torch. Attractive commitments and a different scenario brought by the experienced studio Warner Bros Games Montreal (Arkham Knights…). Two years and several postponements later, here we are in front of the finished product, asking ourselves a legitimate question: was all this waiting worth it? The answer in our test below.
In the DC / open-world game genre, Warner Bros Games Montreal has a little experience, and it shows. After the relative success of Arkham Knights in 2015, the studio had to prove once again that it mastered the universe of the dark knight and offers us the great epic Gotham Knights. An ambitious project, repeatedly postponed, and whose communication has been flooding us for a few months. We had the opportunity to play it before its release, and to discover the extent of the studio’s efforts for one of the most anticipated releases of this end of 2022. And one thing is certain, it there is a lot to say.
Gotham Knights immerses us from the first minutes head first in its universe, the fault of an introductory cinematic and a soundtrack both admirably produced, which lay the foundations of a high quality cinematic universe. Indeed, Gotham Knights is above all an investigation, a dark and convoluted story, strongly marked by mourning and which gives us good reasons to scour the streets of Gotham at night. The dialogues and cutscenes are worked, the scenario taking, the characters relatively credible and above all very attached to their origins in the DC universe. Because Warner Bros Games Montreal knows how to do it when it comes to representing Gotham and its inhabitants. The atmosphere of the city, its rampant corruption, its limitless crime, its inhabitants with dubious morality, everything is there to transport us to this universally adored and familiar universe. Gotham lives and is one of the main actors of this narrative fresco. In short, the studio appreciates and respects its universe, and proves to us once again that it masters its subject.
But unfortunately, if Gotham Knights excels as a “movie” especially at the level of its main quest, it fails on many points of its technique and its gameplay. Finally, fail is a very big word when we could simply speak of a certain lack of ambition. To start, you have to give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, the game is beautiful, and largely justifies its “next-gen” exclusivity (PC, PS5, Xbox Series). The open world of Gotham, although perpetually immersed in the rain in our night-only outings, is admirably constructed and plausible, sticking honestly to the typical image one would have of the legendary city.
Only, Gotham Knights falls in the defects of its advantages; admittedly, the player has the freedom to move wherever he pleases, but the city seems cruelly empty. A few taxis on the roads here and there, a few passers-by with generic conversations, and lots of bad guys repeating the same evil activities every night. At least Gotham Knights confirms one thing; the growth in popularity of the open-world genre has at the same time made us discover its limits. An open world can quickly seem empty and boring if it is not rigorously animated. This is unfortunately the case of Gotham here which, despite its hellish look, displays a blank stare. And it’s all the more surprising that Gotham City is a major player in the DC universe. The city is often personified, alive, almost endowed with its own consciousness. And although it is very difficult to convey this kind of feeling on the screen, it is not by strolling in its streets that you will feel it.
The game’s progression system is one of its strong points. Of course, your character has a skill tree that he can gradually unlock by gaining levels. Nothing really surprising here. But he will also have to complete challenges to unlock special skills, specific to his identity. A small dose of challenge that does no harm and offers us a bit of originality where risk-taking is rarely rewarded. Hats off also to the possibility of crafting your own outfits and the absence (for the moment) of an in-game cosmetics shop. There we applaud, although the ergonomics of the menu is sometimes squeaky.
Now let’s talk about an essential element of the game: its combat. Again here, Gotham Knights excels in some areas, and narrowly fails in others. If you’re looking for a comparison that lets you grasp the quality of combat in Gotham Knights, consider recent Assassin’s Creed. You have a light melee attack (pressing the same button gives you a heavy attack), a ranged attack (pressing the same button gives you a heavy attack), the possibility of grabbing injured enemies, and a magic dodge button. Add to that air attacks more or less silent as well as the option to spend your “mana” for special skills and you will quickly understand the comparison between the combat of the two games. Overall, the finishers and animations make the fight devilishly satisfying. Each of the four playable characters has their own arsenal, and where Red Hood will grab an enemy by the throat before slamming them heavily to the ground, Robin will opt for a more subtle elimination. The environment plays a crucial role in your decision-making and the artificial intelligence of the AIs offers relatively difficult infiltration phases.
But, there is bound to be a but, the fight does not feel organic enough. An observation carried by two factors, namely the lack of diversity of your enemies (the small ones in close combat, the small ones at a distance, the large ones, two models for each category, period) and their behavior turning to robotics. Let me explain, we sometimes find ourselves faced with a dozen Outcasts represented by four character models at most, who watch you hit their comrades while attempting from time to time a burst of AK-47 phoned three bullets and three only bullets, or throwing here and there the same molotov cocktail in a loop. Add to that that you take damage even when stuck in an animation with an enemy and you have a system that is sometimes impressive and far from perfect. Once again, Gotham Knights just misses the mark, where cutscenes and finishers offer a brutal fight with great potential, the lack of diversity of enemies and their actions limits what could have approached the grandiose.
This is also the overall feeling that emerges from our test of Gotham Knights. The game is far, very far from being bad, offering us an interpretation of Gotham close to perfection, a solid and gripping scenario, cutscenes and extremely worked dialogues and a soundtrack to die for. But it unfortunately falls into the biggest trap of the open-world genre: repetition. Gotham Knights is the victim of a universe made empty by an artificial intelligence that is too predictable and repetitive, with identical side quests from one night to the next, like untimely events during the free exploration phases. The game remains beautiful despite some performance issues on PC and the absence of a 60 fps mode on console, and offers an adventure clearly respectful of the universe of Gotham City. But it proves to us once again that style isn’t everything if you’re basically lacking in substance. It will be in our opinion crucial to fill the void of the streets of Gotham City by the presence of a companion in co-op mode.
For the moment, Gotham Knights is making a slow start in the specialized press. The game accumulates a score of 69/100 on Metacritic, a passable rating for a similarly passable game if you ask us. But there are still some glowing reviews, like that of JVC who attributes to him 16/20 : “Gotham Knights, orphan of the iconic figure of Batman, takes up the torch with panache. Our heroes honor the Dark Knight for an exhilarating adventure inspired by comic books. The city of Gotham, darker than ever, the technical and nervous fights, and the complementarity of the four vigilantes blow a breath of super-heroic freshness on the universe of Batman. Without being perfect with its camera flaws and sometimes redundant missions, the title from Warner Games hits hard and proves that Batman is not the only hero worthy of the name in Gotham.
The game, on the other hand, is not to the taste of game blog who gives him 6/10 : “Gotham Knights is one of those games whose potential is wasted by a host of dubious game design choices. Not unpleasant to play, fun most of the time, pleasing to the eye, true identity, but broken by its rhythm and its lack of diversity, the title leaves us wanting more. Forgettable story, solo tarnished by the stigma of multiplayer, cooperation that does not go to the end of things … Warner Bros Montreal had good ideas that never manage to succeed. Without being inherently bad, Gotham Knights leaves us with the lingering feel of an abandoned service game that could have been promising had it been assumed. An honest game, nice to do in cooperation but which will remain in the shadow of Batman Arkham.“
On the other side of the Channel, the Telegraph he doesn’t do lace either: “If Arkham Knights was on the level of Christopher Nolan’s films in terms of inventiveness and genius, Gotham Knights is rather placed in the DC extended universe alongside Zack Snyder and Aquaman. Take your expectations into account and you can enjoy pleasant entertainment..” The newspaper offers him 3/5. GamesNews arises in the in-between in their analysis of Gotham Knights. According to them : “We had placed a lot of hope in Gotham Knights. The adventure was pleasant, but too imperfect, interesting but not legendary enough; especially for a license around the Dark Knight, without him being in the main role. Shame. It is therefore high time for him to make his big and beautiful comeback.The magazine gives it 14/20.