Gotham Knights: PS5 Review

Developed by Warner Bros. Games Montréal

Published by Warner Bros Games

Platform: PS5

Batman is dead.

But the moment has been prepared for.

In Warner Bros Montreal's latest outing, it's upto Batgirl, Nightwing, Red Hood and Robin to step and investigate Batman's death at the hands of Ra's Al Ghul - as well as protect Gotham for the ne'er do wells who've stepped up in the power vacuum after word's got out.

From solving mysteries to beating down criminals, to taking on Gotham's most notorious villains, it's up to the fantastic foursome to step up and save the day.

Gotham Knights wants to be many things - a brawler, an investigation game, a successor to the Batman: Arkham series - and yet it somehow manages all of this and doesn't quite emerge with its own identity.

You can control and switch between the four protagonists as you wish, venturing into the five boroughs of Gotham's open-world on your Batcycle or swinging around the city by grappling hook to take on missions. By night, you fight crime and collect clues, by day, you level up and customise characters in the Belfry HQ, under the watchful eye of Alfred the trusty butler.

It's inevitable that Gotham Knights will be compared with the Batman: Arkham series.

There's much of the same design here in the world, and much of the similar gameplay mechanics. 

Though in truth, launching yourself from the sky to perform aerial attacks on criminals feels more like a touch from the recent Spider-Man and Spider-Man: Miles Morales games - particularly if you grapple through the skies and jump at the end. It all feels very familiar.

And there's no escaping from the fact a lot of Gotham Knights is about the grind. Catching crims in the act reveals clues to further crimes taking place; interrogating them while you have them subdued also gives you leads to the main storyline. 

There's much which relies on the same repetitive gameplay mechanic here, and while it's nicely executed, there's no accounting for the ennui that may set in after several hours of going to do the same thing - beat crime, level up, head to the belfry, head back out, repeat. It's a pattern admittedly, and while it's reasonably solidly executed, it's hard to see how the game's longevity will last.

Solving crime feels very much taken from the mechanics of Telltale Games' point and click Batman games. Scanning items yields clues and it's up to you to join the dots - again, very familiar territory, but solidly executed.

Perhaps that's some of the issue of Gotham Knights - it just doesn't have enough of its own feel to escape its occasional shortcomings.

But yet, if you're prepared to forgive its flaws, it does feel like a natural successor to the  Arkham series, and has some good strong characters to latch onto. 

Sure it may not be the most original of games, and may suffer for being locked to 30FPS, but for a co-operative brawler and dip back to Gotham, it's got the Bat-blood coursing through its veins.