Gotham Knights: 10 Things We Know About The Upcoming Batman Game

It has been long argued by fans that other characters in the Bat-family should also get their own Arkham style video game, and Warner Bros. is finally doing it in the form of Gotham Knights. The Batman: Arkham games have a legendary reputation in the community, and for good reason, as they truly showed the potential of superhero video games when done right. The game is being developed by WB Games Montréal, the studio behind Batman: Arkham Origins (the other Arkham games were developed by Rocksteady Studios)

The game will be an open-world RPG centering around Robin, Batgirl, Red Hood, and Nightwing instead of Batman. The official website of Gotham Knights provides much information about the game, and many details have been revealed through other sources as well, some of which have been compiled below.

Gotham Knights Will Release In 2022

Gotham Knights and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, both games set in the DC Universe, were announced at the same time in 2020. The latter was given a 2022 release date but has been delayed now, joining the ever-growing list of games that got delayed a bunch.

This raised some questions about whether Gotham Knights will release in 2022 or not, but fans can rest easy knowing that the CEO of WarnerMedia has confirmed it. The game will release on both current (PS5, Xbox Series X/S) and previous-gen (PS4, Xbox One) consoles, and of course Windows.

The Game Is Not Connected To The Arkham Universe

At the end of Batman: Arkham Knight, Bruce Wayne’s secret identity as Batman is revealed to the world, and this leads to Bruce executing the Knightfall Protocol which seemingly results in his death. The very first trailer for Gotham Knight established it pretty clearly that it takes place after Batman’s death, so it is only natural to assume that it takes place after Arkham Knight, and yet it doesn’t.

WB Games has officially said that “Gotham Knights is an original story set in DC’s Batman Universe and not connected to the Arkham series”. Whether this is the right move after Arkham or not remains to be seen.

Batman Is Supposedly Dead In Gotham Knights

One of the first things revealed about the game was the fact that Bruce Wayne is apparently dead, and it’s his death that brings the four main characters of the game together in their quest to protect Gotham.

Batman has died many times in the comics, and the story writers always manage to bring him back somehow. It would be surprising indeed if Batman is ultimately revealed to be alive in Gotham Knights, but what would be even more unexpected is if he is truly dead.

Jim Gordon Is Also Dead

James Gordon is one of the Bat family’s oldest and biggest allies and one of the few members of law enforcement that the vigilantes are on good terms with. Due to some yet undisclosed reason, even he is dead in the world of Gotham Knights, and the severity of absence is explained by Batman in the trailer when he says that the others can’t count on the GCPD and “they haven’t trusted us since Jim died”.

In place of Jim, Renee Montoya, one of the few characters already confirmed for Gotham Knights, will be playing a bigger role.

 The Belfry Will Be The New HQ

The Batcave, throughout its countless reincarnations, has always been Batman’s base of operations. In Gotham Knights, Batman is gone, and so is the Batcave, but he left an alternative for his family in the form of the Belfry.

First appearing in the pages of Detective Comics #935, this gothic clocktower will be the place of congregation for the four playable characters during the daytime. A place to rest, strategize and prepare for Robin, Batgirl, Red Hood, and Nightwing before they set out across one of the best open-world cities in video games – Gotham City.

It Will Have Online Co-Op

The Batman: Arkham games have always been a straight single-player experience, and Gotham Knights will be introducing an online element to the series. Players will be able to team up with others online (not local co-op) and do missions in teams of two, similar to how many live-service games like Destiny operate.

But even though the game seems to be interested in trying out novel online features, its primary focus will still be the single-player story, and the option to be able to play the game solo is a certainty.

Character Levelling

Leveling up characters is a staple feature of RPG games, and Gotham Knights is bound to make use of it in some shape or form. In the officially revealed gameplay footage, it can be seen that characters have a certain level, and as it always is this level will most probably be upgradeable with the acquiring of EXP points and such.

The game will have 4 playable characters of course, and it remains to be seen how the character leveling will work amongst all 4 of them. It was also revealed that the enemies will automatically level up with the characters to maintain a standard of difficulty in the game.

Characters Will Have Unique Powers

Taking into consideration how the game will focus on four different characters, it is almost a given that they will each come with their own unique powerset that will differentiate one of them from the other.

For example, Robin has access to the Justice League satellite and can teleport from place to place with it, and Batgirl has proven her technical prowess time and time again in the comics. The characters will also have unique weapons, such as Nightwing with his escrima sticks and Robin with his quarterstaff.

The Court Of Owls Will Play A Big Part In The Story

The Court Of Owls was first introduced in the pages of the New 52 comics of Batman in 2011, and it didn’t take long for fans to realize that they’re one of the most powerful and influential members of Batman’s rogues’ gallery. They are a secret organization that has controlled Gotham City from the shadows for centuries.

In Gotham Knights, the Bat-family will be going head to head against this group and their assassins called the Talons. Nightwing also has a personal connection to the Court, something only comic fans know about the Court of Owls.

There Are Other Villains Too

The Court of Owls just may be the big bad in the Gotham Knights, but no Batman game would feel complete without the inclusion of multiple iconic Batman villains. An appearance from Mr. Freeze has been confirmed and gameplay of a boss fight against him in a mecha suit as he messes with the weather of Gotham has also been shown.

The other Batman villain who is sure to appear is the Penguin, as he appears in the Court of Owls trailer where he warns Nightwing of how powerful the court is. But the list of villains we need to face in the game goes well beyond just these three.

About The Author