Gotham Knights is a daring Batman-without-Batman game, and the focus on playing as the Bat-family in co-op means a revamped combat system is needed. With that in mind, WB Montreal reveals how the team reimagined the Arkham combat for dynamic duos.
In an interview with GamesRadar as part of its Big in 2021 series, executive producer Fleur Marty said the combat system in Gotham Knights has been "entirely redesigned" to work well in co-op. "Of course, we're still a brawler, and some of the mechanics won't feel totally alien for people who played and enjoyed the Arkham series, but it is in many ways very different."
Players will be able to swap among any of the game's four playable heroes - Batgirl, Robin, Nightwing, and Red Hood - and use drop-in/drop-out co-op with friends. Progress is carried over across characters too, so players are encouraged to take each of the masked crusaders out for a spin every now and then. Because of the co-op, the game's creative director Patrick Redding reaffirmed how even the city would undergo several changes to better implement the co-op play. ""Gotham is a city of alleyways and rooftops, so the footprint for gameplay needs to be compatible with that."
With more of an RPG focus than the Arkham series, including gear scores and skill points to spend, Gotham Knights is shaping up to be a markedly different superhero experience than Rocksteady's trilogy or WB Montreal's Arkham prequel, Arkham Origins. Currently, Gotham Knights is due from WB Montreal sometime in 2021. Meanwhile, Rocksteady is staying in the DC Universe with Suicide Squad Kill The Justice League, a further-off co-op brawler starring Harley Quinn and the rest of the expendable anti-heroes.
Confusingly, it's Suicide Squad that exists directly in the Arkham story universe, while Gotham Knights is a separate canon, though still inspired by the ending of 2015's Batman Arkham Knight.
