Warner Bros. Montreal revealed a new look at their upcoming superhero action-RPG, Gotham Knights. This 13-minute presentation was all about the game's other two leads, acrobatic Dick Grayson and Tim Drake, and was the only one where the game's debut was focused on Tim Drake and Robin and Barbara Gordon. With Batman seemingly dead, it falls to Dick, Jason, Tim, and Barbara to protect the city from villains who will take advantage of the Dark Knight's absence.
The footage didn't tell us anything we didn't already know about the game, which is a third-person superhero game. WB Montreal doesn't need to sell the game's combat or loot system if Knights is intended as a live service game. If you've played any westernRPG in the last five years, you already know how Knights will be, just include a fighting and stealth system similar to Rocksteady. What will make or break the game, and what needs to be showcased more, are the dynamic that the Gotham Knights have with one another.
Batman has one of the strongest supporting casts. There is a strong chance that you love at least two members of theBat family, including Batman and future. For much of the last decade, fans of the Bat family were left wanting if their favorite character wasn't present during DC's New 52 era. Nolan's films had no interest in setting the stage for future Bat-heroes up until its final moments, and Ben Affleck's DCEU Batman was kneecapped before he could start looking.
The Bat family had fun in the games. Several members of Batman's team were brought in by Injustice, and they were fun to play with or see pop up. The DLC chapters for Batman: Arkham City and Knight focused on characters like Nightwing, Robin, and Harley Quinn, and there was a mechanic that allowed players to swap between Batman and another of his teammates. Rocksteady's saga was so focused on selling the power fantasy of being Batman that it forgot Mr. Vengeance.
Batfamily fans have been looking up in recent years. Family members who were missing in the comics are now getting time to shine in solo and team books. Since it first emerged in 2021, the Wayne Family Adventures has been a delight and it feels like an actual family in a slice-of-life context. Family members like Harley, Batgirl, and Cass have been or will soon be starring in their own films, and there is also the CW's upcoming TV show called "Gotham Knights" that is related to the game. It feels like Robert Pattinson's version of Batman is just hopeful enough to take a kid under his wing and teach him to fight crime using nothing but his wits and a staff.
Since it isn't set in Rocksteady's Arkham universe, there is a lot of freedom in establishing the relationship between the heroes and their father figure before the game starts. WB Montreal will need to sell the idea that Dick, Tim, and Barbara are a family in this game, with feelings complicated about the man who inspired them to fight crime, and maybe even each other. The dynamics that have made the Batfamily compelling to read over the decades, and Knights is in a unique position to bring that across in a way that is distinct from the comics that preceded it. Dialogue and banter during missions is good, but the game can't rely on that to convey history and tension between its four leads.
There are games that have succeeded in making relationships feel as important as their combat. Both games approach this in different ways, with one game giving its two leads gifts and the other only allowing them to spend one-on-one time with their party members. The Underworld's many denizens that help him grow as a person and make the House of Hades just a little bit more of a bearable place to be in, is one of the things that helps him grow as a person.
We are seeing relationships explored in different ways in superhero games. The banter of Injustice 2 makes the DC and guest fighters feel like their fights are small, emotional stories in the moment. You need to bond with each Avenger in order to gain extra abilities and gear in the upcoming tactical game by Marvel. Insomniac's Spider-Man games feel like a good fit for Peter and Miles because of the relationship between its a-holes that feel meaningful with on-the-fly decisions.
Even if the characters exchange gifts, they won't be allowed to eat in the middle of the day or fight in their base, which would give the game a little more life. The fun of having superheroes hang out has always been watching them interact. The blend of combat and stealth that the Arkham games so perfectly nailed is no doubt what Knights will deliver. If the game has four heroes, and whoever else may show up down the line via DLC, then all the flashy cooperative fisticuffs and gear in the world won't mean a thing.
October 25 is the release date for Gotham Knights.
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