We’re in the midst of a gaming renaissance right now, as multiple titles have dropped, or will be dropping soon, on console and PC. Naturally, one would hope that all these titles would be quality, fun, and something everyone can enjoy. But as you can likely guess, there will be games that rub people the wrong way for one reason or another. Gotham Knights is a game that will release tomorrow, and many are excited about it. However, that might change due to the critic reviews that came out today. While some have praised the game, others have critiqued it heavily or sometimes downright called it a bad game.
As of the time of this writing, Gotham Knights has a 69 on Metacritic. So when you average the reviews, it’s about a 7/10. That’s not a bad game, per se, but not the title that has been hoped for, especially given the quality of the Batman Arkham titles.
But what are people saying about the game that has given it such a divisive reaction? Well, most of the positive reviews praise the game’s narrative and having the Bat-Family to control versus just Batman. Fans of the Batman comics will revel in the wide-open Gotham City to explore, the villains to fight, the Easter Eggs to notice, and so on. In addition, the combat system is praised as each character has their own style, giving players variety in how they can do things. Finally, many commended the boss fights and wished there were more of them.
As for the critiques, the game’s console version is plagued with performance issues, which has to do with the 30FPS issue that fans are still unhappy about. The game might run better on a PC, depending on your own.
Another significant issue is that while there is much to do in the game, it’s not always fun. Not unlike other open-world games, the side quests and content can get repetitive, and it doesn’t help the overall narrative. The RPG skill tree system was another that got called out even in the positive reviews, as the upgrades don’t change much in combat despite you supposedly tailoring the characters to the playstyle you want.
While Co-Op is said to be fun, it doesn’t “feel necessary.” Since you can do it drop-in/drop-out style, it isn’t overall.
Finally, a common thread is that the game tries to do too much instead of focusing on one thing and doing it well as the Arkham games did. It tries to be a narrative title, a co-op game, an RPG, and an open-world piece but never nailing any of those fully.
To be clear, we’re not telling you that you shouldn’t play the game. Many reviewers loved Gotham Knights. However, you should go into the game with no expectations and see how the title works for you.
Source: Metacritic