It seems like it’s been forever since we’ve seen anything substantial from Gotham Knights, and with it coming out later this year, it’s about time to see more of the game. The folks at Warner Bros. Montreal feel the same way and have released a 13+ minute gameplay walkthrough featuring two members of the bat family, Nightwing and Red Hood. Not only do we get to see plenty of new gameplay, but the studio has also announced Gotham Knights is officially available to preorder as of today.
Gotham Knights’ game director Geoff Ellenor introduces the walkthrough you can watch in the video above. The footage is from about halfway through the game’s story and begins by following Nightwing as he patrols the city, scouting out scoundrels from the rooftops. Soon after, Red Hood joins in on the fun to show off the cooperative element of the game.
Nightwing is an acrobatic character and uses agile flips to move around the battlefield, closing the distance swiftly to bash enemies with his batons. He can cause elemental damage with some of his special moves like the “Elemental Shockwave” and temporarily apply a cryo status to foes, freezing and taking them out of the fight. Nightwing maneuvers around the skies of Gotham, hanging from a glider he calls “The Flying Trapeze,” a great name and a nod to his past life as a circus performer as part of “The Flying Graysons,” which, of course, ended tragically.
Red Hood has more mystical elements to his gameplay, allowing him to leap off of his soul energy mid-air. Rather than the up-close approach that Nightwing takes, Red Hood sticks to his guns, literally. He keeps a slight distance in combat, using his akimbo pistols and other weaponry to shoot Gotham’s thugs with non-lethal ammunition. That’s not to say he can’t break a dude’s face with a good old-fashioned punch, but it’s not the preferable way to fight. When he does get into arms-reach, Red Hood can slap a bomb on an opponent and shoot it later to detonate the explosive to damage a whole group of ne’er do wells.
The walkthrough also gives a look at a ton of other activities and systems within Gotham Knights. The Belfrey will be the base of operations for the Knights, where you use the Bat-computer to view a map of the city, activate challenges, and advance the story. You can craft new gear and upgrade existing gear in the hideout, which will power up the playable characters and give them cool new cosmetic costumes to wear. The footage shows a few slick-looking unique cosmetics for Nightwing and Red Hood.
A good chunk of a mission is shown, too, with Nightwing sneaking into the Powers Club in search of information on the shadowy Court of Owls. Here we get to see a bit of stealth, takedowns, and augmented reality vision before the pair of former Robins come to blows with members of the Court in the catacombs below the club, including a knockdown, drag-out fight between Red Hood and the super-powered Talon Gladiator.
Warner Bros. has also announced multiple editions of Gotham Knights that are up for preorder. The first is the Standard Edition ($69.99) which includes the base game and the pre-order bonus that’s available for all editions, the 233 Kustom Batcycle skin, which is modeled after the same look of the vehicle that debuted in Detective Comics issue #233. The Deluxe Edition ($89.99) is the next step up, which comes with the Visionary Pack DLC, a bundle of exclusive gear, cosmetics, and Batman Beyond-inspired Beyond Suitstyle character skins. Last but certainly not least is the Collectors Edition ($299.99), packed with the Deluxe Edition of the game, augmented reality pin, 16-page media book, a map of Gotham City, a diorama statue featuring four characters (assume its the Bat Family), and more.
Gotham Knights is scheduled to release on October 25 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
