On October 21st the highly anticipated New Batman title Gotham knights was Finally released after some delays and The reviews were not great the game's Got a 69 meta score and an even worse User score on Metacritic and we here Game ranks take that with a grain of Salt you know these scores rarely are an Objective view of what the game's Quality is good or bad but it does show A lot of reviewers and fans found the Final product from WB Games Montreal a Bit of a disappointment so what happened Why isn't it as good as it should be hi Folks it's Falcon and today on gameranks We're asking the question what went Wrong with Gotham Knights so I'm just Gonna be blunt here to start Gotham Knight sits in the long shadow of the Batman Arkham series and when compared To those games it's left wanting in so Many areas now I know Gotham knights was Supposed to be its own thing the Developers have explicitly said that It's in no way connected to the Arkham Games but it's impossible not to compare The two it to Batman game with the same Publisher and made by the same developer That worked on one of the Arkham games We've said this before that actually Kind of underrated Arkham Origins so While these games aren't connected by Story in basically every other way Gotham Knights is kind of an unofficial
Continuation of the Arkham series now The Arkham story arc was completed so They needed something to do right now on Its own merits gothamites might have Done a little bit better without the Unflattering comparisons to the Arkham Series but I mean how do you avoid that It's in every way the same kind of game That the Arkham series was and that Established an expectation of quality From these developers and gothamites Doesn't have it I'm not 100 sure what Was going on behind the scenes with this One but after playing the game to Completion uh I'm left thinking there Was a bad decision that sunk the whole Project they essentially tried to make a Batman game using the live service model Now Gotham Knights isn't a live service Game you can play the entire thing Offline but the Looting the static Quest Givers the awkward crafting system and The very basic Co-op all have live Service smell on them and it's not Something that you wash off easily takes Turpentine and that stinks too it's not Like you smell good after you get it off He's still got the turpentine smell and That goes away eventually but you get The point now this is a game like I said That got delayed in development so I'm Wondering was the game originally gonna Be a full live service game and they Ended up cutting back on it because of
The negative reactions to The Avengers Game or if this is the game they wanted To make but so much of this stuff just Doesn't gel with what this game is like It's very clear they started from the Arkham formula and got here so another Major major point of contention is Something that doesn't even feel like it Should be a issue in 2022 uh the frame Rate game looks mostly like a last gen Game visuals are good but rarely great And while I'm not gonna lie there were Some things they showed us ahead of time That made me think ah this is going to Have much better graphics than it does This thing's locked at 30 frames per Second on PS5 in the Xbox series no 60 Frames per second option and there's Noticeable frame drops at 30. Ray Tracing is probably the most likely Reason for the frame rate but why not Let us disable it basically every other High profile release lets us do that so Why not how is this game supposed to run On the canceled last gen ports if it Struggles on PS5 and Xbox series like There are things that I'll go to bat Defending some uh like the experience Levels I don't mind having the knights Level up as they progress through the Game and get stronger I think that fits With The Narrative of them starting out Relatively inexperienced and slowly Working their way up to be the true
Successors of Batman about the execution It's a little frustrating building Different suits is also an idea I can Get behind but again the way they do It's weird why are you collecting Hundreds of random bits of materials From enemies like all the Revan this was At its core a live service game take That thing out of the equation and every Piece of equipment has so many numbers And percentages that I just don't know Why any of this correlates to one Another at all like spend a thousand Green things for a few hundred purple Things and you got a new suit I I that It's weird compared to the Arkham games Where everything felt so purposeful and Tactile many of the gameplay systems and Gothamans just felt half-baked or even Tacked on almost like the game was Supposed to be a fully live service game Before they pulled it back like I said I Have my theories it's pure speculation But like it's the only explanation I can Come up with like compare something as Simple as the mission structure from Gotham Knights something like Arkham Knight or even Arkham City and the Cracks just really start to show so much Of your time in this game is spent Traveling to a quest Giver who tells you What to do in a long cut scene that's Primarily just your two characters Standing around and then you're off to
Do some random crime Mission gets Shoehorned into the main story as a Means of padding eventually it gets the Full featured side mission and these Parts are a lot better but to get to Them you're forced to Wade through some Pretty stock side missions and none of It really adds a lot to the overall Experience the way the story is Presented often feels just lifeless in Comparison to the Arkham games too they Always have something interesting or Subversive going on Rocksteady was Nothing if not creative constantly Coming up with interesting shots and Scenarios to keep things Lively I mean Just take something as simple as an Elevator ride in Arkham Knight with Poison ivy could have been nothing but Rock said he made it so that Batman gets Pulled out of the elevator by Ivy's Vines and we watch Ivy continue taking The elevator and the door opens and Batman's already on the ground waiting For it it's totally unnecessary but just This little detail that makes Batman Feel like Batman one of the better Things about this game actually the Characterization of the knights if You're all about the bat family it's Nice to see some of them take the Spotlight for once and their Interaction's pretty Charming too but All this character stuff is done through
Dialogue while in the Arkham game so Much of what makes Batman Batman is not What he says but what he does like There's always something interesting Going on and while Knights does have a Cool set piece or two like the chase Sequence with Clayface which is Legitimately it is really impressive and I understand why they wanted people to See that but so much of your time is Spent of these doll go here and beat up These guys type quests I'm trying to Keep things spoiler light here but Here's a perfect example near the end of The game they introduce a new mini boss Type anime it's literally right before The climax of the game and it's a fun Fight that mixes things up then the Mission ends and the game tells you I'm Not kidding here you gotta fight the Exact same mini boss three more times at Random spots in the open world like this Is supposed to be the exciting climax of The game but instead of ramping things Up and racing towards an exciting Conclusion The Game Stops you dead just Forces you to do something that you just Did three more times in a row just to Unlock the final mission where you have To fight you guessed it another one of These guys like I don't really Understand how they thought this was a Good idea speaking of boring missions I Might as well get into the biggest point
Of comparison uh the open world getting Around in nights never feels as good as Any of the Arkham games including the Original trying to Grapple around the City just feels awkward and Batgirl's Glide ability feels pretty much just Like Batman's but it doesn't compare Because you never get a grapple boost Ability or really anything to make Getting around feel snappier it's just Kind of like a slower less good Batman's Glide ability the bad cycle at fares Better but it's just not the Batmobile I Know the vehicle stuff and Arkham Knight Is divisive to say the least but I think Everybody can agree that just driving Around the city the Batmobile is pretty Awesome to control this is a small thing But I think notable when comparing these Games because it says a lot remember the First time you summoned the Batmobile in Arkham Knight and Batman some in the car And jumped inside and controlled it Seamlessly it's probably the best car Summon I've seen in any game it's Exciting and cool looking and when you Find out that no it's not just some Scripted game thing it happens every Time you call the Batmobile that's Awesome it's even kind of mind-blowing But when you call the bad cycle just on Cloaks nearby you can't directly get on It call it have come to you just appears And then you run up to it and hold a
Button you get on it's functional but It's boring and a lot of things in this Game are kind of like that they're Functional but they're boring or they Don't work as well as they did in any of The Arkham games and that makes a stark Contrast to the Arkham games which was Able to take things as basic as calling Your car and make it fun the actual Missions are a little more interesting At least compared to the open World Stuff but even then they don't hold up Compared to any Arkham game in those Games you are always doing something new You are sneaking you solved the puzzle Then there was some brawling Rocksteady Oh always mixing things up in the Gameplay and it never felt stale or like It was dragging in Gotham Knights you Just fight the whole time pretty much The only system in the game with any Level of depth to it is for fighting the Gadgets are almost completely gone There's very little creative exploration Or puzzle solving it's just fighting There's the occasional investigation Screen that's interesting but you really Rarely interact with the environment and Do anything in comparison the Arkham Games there's just very little thought Put into it maybe some people were Getting sick of them but the lack of Riddler trophies actually stands out to Me a lot getting all of them was
Annoying and maybe they could have cut Back on them in fact even when I did a Video before the release of this game I Even thought ah 100 that might be good It might be nice not to have this but I Don't know maybe it's that there's a Lack of other things but I feel like They probably should have had more Collectibles or just bring the Riddler Trophies back and not have so many of Them that it's impossible I that stuff Hurts but what really kills me is the Neutering of stealth the Arkham games Had some of the best stealth mechanics Of all times stealth sections were fun Dynamic and not really a lot of games Out there can manage to be as good as The stealth in those games in the Arkham Games enemies would get scared they'd React to you in interesting ways the Environment was filled with interesting Interactions that you could use and Perform eventually enemies would start To adapt they'd come up with new weapons To stop Batman uh facing a bunch of guys With machine guns as Batman was suicide So stealth was both exciting and it felt Natural but in Gotham nights you don't Even need to do stealth if you don't Want to guns can be easily dodged and Stealth sections are very basic there's No fear meter no adapting enemies just Alert or not alert mostly flat Arenas so You're not doing the verticality thing
That Batman did so well no villains Talking over a loudspeaker no special Stealth suction enemies nothing it's Just the gutting and one of the best Parts of Being Batman and probably the Thing that hurts most for me because I Remember playing the first Arkham Asylum Down just being like oh wow so that's New they really implemented this well I Don't recall saying that at all during The course of this game like it just Falls back on combat and they endlessly Do it 90 of the game is combat and yeah It works and it can be fun when you get Further in the game there's a good Variety of enemies but once again the Comparison of the Arkham games hurts it The combat system introduced in Arkham Asylum was revolutionary when you got a Flow going it felt like you were an Unstoppable badass but by now it's a Combat system that's been done to death By all the imitators and copycats that Said Gotham Knights could have kept the Core and innovated in some way and it's Not like they deleted the entire combat System or anything they just really Gutted it in some ways to like the Counter system it's not there now you Get like a much more common Dodge system Which works but without the other major Gameplay pillars of stealth and puzzle Solving you're spending so much of the Time fighting and it just gets boring
Ring I can remember all the cool stuff You do in Arkham games like disable Enemy weapons or trick guys into Shooting each other you don't do that None of it boss battles aren't good Either there's potential with some but So much of it is just mindlessly wailing On them getting away patiently wait till You get the next attack in uh like That's it I didn't hate all the villains Some of the villains layers looked Really good and some of the set pieces Were really impressive I mentioned the Clayface stuff that was really really Awesome they really Flex their muscles With the Clayface Chase sequence but I Want to make sure that that that gets a Special mention as much as it can Because it if the whole game was like That that level of creativity those Graphics all that this would be a great Game and you know a lot of the game's Faults might possibly come from making It Co-op compatible the loading screens Between levels the empty wide streets The simplistic objectives it points to What makes cooperative play accessible I'm tempted to give the game a little Bit of a break because of it because I Mean I get it but the co-op stuff isn't Creative or fun either like imagine if Gotham Knights included something like The Riddler sections from Arkham Knight Where Batman teams up with Catwoman and
They make it so you have to solve Puzzles with the help your Co-op partner Like that would be cool but this game Just feels like a single player game Where another player can tag along it's Kind of like the worst of Both Worlds And I'm not knocking the co-op I'm just Saying that playing with a friend can Make anything fun and the developers Could have done a lot more because that Could have been the game's main selling Point now I don't hate the game or Anything I love Batman it's great to see The bat family get their time in the Spotlight for the most part I had fun Playing through the story and if you Don't think about it a lot of the Gameplay systems feel all right it's Just you're not gonna not compare it to The Arkham games like you can tell the Deficiencies in the game design period I Was glued to Arkham City I played Through it in a day Gotham Knights I did Not I was really like finishing it out Of obligation by the time I got there so I've pretty much said everything I can About the gameplay I haven't really Touched the story because it's gonna be Spoilers and if you do want to play the Game now is a good time to stop Listening to this because I am going to Go into the story there are going to be Spoilers but I have complaints at the Start of the game Batman's killed by
Raja cool that's the setup for the plot And it was a shocking way to open the Game because the pre-release trailers Made it look like the court of owls was Involved in Batman's death but the Mystery's kind of killed right from the Beginning like they hyped this game or Tried to Hype it I guess saying you were Gonna be trying to unlock the mystery of Who killed Batman like it was Raja ghoul You saw it mystery solved it's a weird Opening because there was supposed to be Mystery so remember how the court of Owls was teased as this big like new Thing in a Batman game and they were Going to be the big bad they were the Big problem but like right immediately They're secondary to the League of Shadows because Raz uh kills Batman so Everybody knows that the league Shadows Are going to come back and yeah just Like you can probably guess they end up Being the real bad guys the parts with The court are actually some of the best In the game but the investigation into Them doesn't really go anywhere the true Identity of their leader is just Laughably obvious and they don't get any Kind of Master Plan outside with fight The League of Shadows because they want To kill us climax of the game oh boy is It a disappointment for some reason they Loaded the final sections with tons of Open world padding that kills the pacing
And the big ending twist it was obvious The second Talia showed up anyone who's A Batman fan knows that Bruce Wayne is Gonna get revived in the Lazarus Pit and That's what happened and yeah he dies Almost immediately afterwards in a Heroic sacrifice but the whole thing Doesn't feel big or emotional and it Really should I don't know maybe some People are into this ending but it left Me feeling super indifferent like Indifference to an exaggerated extent And maybe it's just because of the rest Of the game like maybe this exact same Thing could have happened in the context Of a better game but it didn't what was Supposed to be a big dramatic climax Wasn't and this is a lot of complaining I know but just to be clear I didn't Hate this game parts of the story The Arkham games could be sloppy too and Those are some of the best games of all Time in my opinion it's just that when Compared to the Batman games that Rocksteady did or like I said even Arkham Origins which WP games Montreal Did Gotham Knights is just weaker in Every possible way it has all the Telltale signs of Iraqi development Though so maybe we'll get a clear Picture of what was going on inside that Made them go from a relatively good Arkham Origins to this I'm not just Gonna say to you like this is the
Biggest piece of trash I've ever seen in My life or anything but yeah how did it Go wrong it just did everything much Less good it gutted a lot of systems and Didn't bother giving us the fun little Details that Batman games typically do Like as a fan of the other games I don't Regret playing it but it's still a major Misfire as the spiritual successor to The Arkham series if you remember when I Made the video about what to expect in This game I said I played these games I Love these games I wanted more I was Really excited for another Batman game And it's like it's less it's not enough It didn't do it it's all right but That's all it is what did you think Though leave us a comment let us know if You like this video click like if you're Not subscribed now's a great time to do So we upload brand new videos every day Of the week best way to see them first Is of course a subscription so click Subscribe don't forget to enable Notifications and as always thank you Very much for watching this video I'm Falcon you can follow me on Twitter at Falcon hero see you next time right here On gamers
