When Batgirl gets to use the awesome power of her ass, we see the game’s full potential.The game's story takes place in a period of decline for Gotham City, after Batman's death. So much in Gotham Knights seems to exist because the game isn’t finished, because four heroes take four times as long to develop, or because corners needed sanding down to squeeze in every version of every idea ever pitched. I have no clue why traversal feels as awkward as clicking through Google Street View, nor why the vehicles in the game have the speed of a bicycle being pushed uphill with deflated flowers, but it’s not because someone thought it was a good idea. In rare moments, we see the type of game Gotham Knights could have been. Several parts of Gotham Knights seem to be redrafts of redrafts of redrafts where the ideas have never improved but only gotten watered down, with other thoughts diluting them until everyone is pleased and no one is happy. The best thing about superhero games is that you get to throw random cool things in there and have it be fun. This thigh chokery is in the game because someone said ‘hey, this would be cool!’ and that’s about that. In moments of combat though, it shows you what it’s made of. Instead it takes a design by committee approach to everything, cramming in an upgrade system designed to incentivise tiny incremental boosts, when all it really incentivises is reaching for the off button. Gotham Knights could, and perhaps should, have been more generic by copying them. The Arkham trilogy brought fast flowing combat and Spider-Man offered quick, creative transversal, but they were both pretty standard superhero games. I’m seeing criticisms that the game is generic, but I’m not sure that quite strikes at the heart of it. Gotham Knights flubs the superhero landing and instead hits the ground with a splat, but the secret to the sort of game it could have been might be hidden in Batgirl’s ass. Knights’ limited marketing (and lacklustre footage we have seen) made me wary of it in any case, but Guardians had a similar launch cycle last year and delivered one of the surprises of the year. I’ve played a little bit of Gotham Knights, and I might not bother playing any more, which gives you some indication of its overall quality.
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