Superhero content is over-saturated in many forms of media. Surprisingly superhero Video Games (especially good ones) don’t seem to be as prevalent as they could be.

DC dominated the video game industry with the immensely successful Batman: Arkham series, but after the big conclusion to the saga in 2015, DC kind of went dark.

Marvel took that as an opportunity to put out some games, ranging from pretty great to pretty bad.

Insomniac’s Spider-Man game from 2018 was largely considered the competitor for the Arkham games, and The Avengers game… exists. 

Despite the monstrosity of a game that Avengers was, Marvel continues to make the right decisions, continuing Insomniac’s Spider-Man series, and ordering the studio to produce a spin-off game based on Marvel’s Wolverine. 

Luckily, DC managed to pull together 2 games to release within the next two years. Although underwhelming compared to Marvel’s 7 games slated for release, it is still good to see the company continue to make games.

Among the games are Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, a 3rd person action game set in the same continuity as the aforementioned Batman: Arkham series, and Gotham Knights, a action RPG about Batman’s former sidekicks investigating the hero’s mysterious death. 

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Courtesy of Warner Bros. Interactive

Dick Grayson is a natural leader, an optimist, and the most charismatic of the Batman Family. He grew up in an unorthodox but loving circus family, so he values close personal bonds. Dick believes that, for the fight to be worth it, there must be something real to fight for; and that something has always been other people. He was Batman’s first protégé before becoming a hero in his own right. Dick boasts mastery in acrobatics and is an expert at taking down enemies with his signature dual escrima sticks.

Interestingly enough, the game’s concept seemed to match up directly with the end of Batman: Arkham Knight, in which the titular character gave his life to protect Gotham. However the two stories are not connected whatsoever, which seems like a missed opportunity. 

I was skeptical about the game because the story wasn’t following the same characters I cared about from the Arkham series, and it didn’t necessarily help that I am not a huge fan of RPGs. But I thought I would put my worries aside and Pre-Order the game. Here’s what I have to say about it. 

The Good 

This game really surprised me.

I found the combat super enjoyable, and I appreciate how each of the 4 characters have very different and distinctive abilities.

The plot is pretty good, I enjoy the game’s portrayal of the Court of Owls, as well as the side missions with Clayface, Mr Freeze, and Harley Quinn. I also really like the personal time you spend with each character, which can really raise the stakes of a story when you actually care for the characters in danger.

The graphics are phenomenal, which a lot of players seem to be complaining about surprisingly. You can practically count the pores on a characters skin, which is kind of weird but awesome at the same time to see something so detailed as it is.

The developers absolutely nailed the distinct characteristics of Gotham City. The lights, the grime, and the civilians who roam the streets all feel super natural to the setting. I would go as far to say that I like this map more than the one in Batman: Arkham Knight.

Despite many glitches(which I’ll discuss later), Exploring the city on the Bat-Cycle is a blast, so much so I think I’ve spent like %15 percent of the game on it.

The voice acting is pretty spot on, as every actor sounds like the comic characters popped straight out of the page. Every character in this game is nailed to a tee in every department imaginable.

Despite my disliking of the RPG elements in this game, I really like the customizable outfits. It lets me express how I see the characters and lets me get rid of those god awful default character designs.

The Bad 

The good may outweigh the bad, but there are still some disappointments.

Most characters in the Batman Family are well known acrobats, which did not translate well to the game. Traversal is disappointing, as most characters just blandly jump and climb over obstacles. Many of structures you would think would be able to be vaulted, aren’t, which leaves your character just awkwardly standing in front of a wall. I would have preferred if the game went down more of a Spider-Man or Watch Dogs 2 route with the traversal. You also can not jump on command which just seems strange in an open world game.

The previously mentioned RPG elements are not for everyone, including me. I find the gear and leveling up systems way to complicated, which is funny because you really can’t tell a difference when you level up. I also have a strong dislike the level bars above the enemies, I feel like I’m not intimidated by an enemy if I already know how powerful they are (Luckily the level bars can be turned off in the game’s settings.).

The game puts emphasis on a “Mod-chip” system which is just absolutely abominable.  Theoretically, you can fuse the mod-chips to get higher level ones, but most the time the fusions result in a mod-chip which is less powerful than all of the fused chips combined.

Also a minor thing, I really wish there was more destructible objects in the environment. Maybe it’s because I played Arkham Knight (which had amazing destruction physics) to prepare for this game, but the lack of destructible objects somewhat messes with the player’s pacing The Bat-Cycle is going at top speed and manages to be stopped by a dinky little fence.

The Buggy 

The game has its fair share of bugs, although nowhere near as prominent as games like Square Enix’s Avengers. I thought it would be fun to showcase some bugs I encountered in my play-though, because who honestly thinks bugs make the game worse? While watching this, please consider the microphone quality of the PS5 Controller, and ignore my somewhat ugly laugh.

Conclusion:

Just play the game and decide if you like it for yourself! Its no Breath of The Wild but it’s really fun, and that’s what video games are for!

My Final Verdict: