DC shared a brand-new look at its upcoming co-op action role-playing game Gotham Knights, developed by WB Games Montréal. Focused on Nightwing and Red Hood, the 13-minute demo is the most extensive look to date at the game’s systems-based combat.
Based on the footage, the heroes’ fighting styles are very distinct from one other. The first few minutes of the video showcase a fighting sequence on a Gotham City rooftop. Nightwing is extremely acrobatic, while Red Hood combines mystical abilities with gun play. The characters also have their own unique takedowns and finishing moves.
The deeper look at combat is the focus of the presentation, but the demo also debuts previously-unseen elements of the game, including the Bat Cycle, which the heroes use to roam the city, and the Fast Bat, a glider for fast travel. Their home base is Belfry, which contains the Bat Computer to access challenges and a workbench to upgrade equipment. Lastly, the video shows how the heroes use augmented reality vision (essentially a new version of the Arkham games’ detective mode) to solve puzzles.
The demo paints a much clearer picture of the gameplay than anything we’ve seen prior to now. Gotham Knights is obviously much more combat-focused than Rocksteady‘s Arkham series, prioritizing a pick-up-and-play style over a more immersive experience. But it’s also the first AAA Batman game in recent memory that not only includes but prioritizes co-op, so if you’re looking to fight through Gotham City with a friend than this is completely up your alley.
Gotham Knights is still scheduled to release on October 25, 2022, but with one significant caveat: the game will no longer come out on PlayStation 4 or Xbox One. In order to “provide players with the best possible gameplay experience” Gotham Knights will only be releasing on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.