Gotham Knights looks sharp in 13 minutes of new gameplay
Red Hood and Nightwing take centre stage in new Gotham Knights gameplay footage from DC and WB Games
It's been a long time coming, but today Warner Bros. Games and DC revealed the first official gameplay for Nightwing and Red Hood in Gotham Knights, showing off some of the action we can expect in the upcoming open-world, third-person action-RPG from the team at Warner Bros Games Montréal.
We've known for a little while that the game will start up with Batman's bat-signal sending a distress call to his four protégés, warning them that all hell is liable to break loose in Gotham after he's been done in. Possibly by the mysterious Court of Owls.
But we didn't know how the game would play. Not really – a couple of glimpses at the title have been given to us, but the meat of the gameplay has remained obscured ever since the game was pushed back from its initial 2021 release date.
The new trailer – embedded above – is narrated by game director Geoff Ellenor, who talks us through the gameplay as the resurrected Red Hood and the acrobatic Nightwing. The duo (who you may know better as Jason Todd and Dick Grayson, respectively) are notably different; the former employs bursts of energy to dive around aggressively, fires burst shots with his guns, and can plant grenades and explosives on enemies which can be detonated on a whim to cause more damage to groups of thugs on the streets of Gotham.
Nightwing, meanwhile, is a more nimble and hands-on fighter – looking a bit more like Batman did in the Arkham trilogy of games. 'Ping-ponging' around the arena, Nightwing takes on multiple enemies at once with nightsticks, gadgets, and flexibility. His aerial glider makes an appearance, too, letting him get around with ease and navigate the grim streets of Gotham on a whim.
The game looks decidedly more RPG than we were expecting; there are more oppertunities for you to play and customise your experience. This is the biggest move away from the template the Batman Arkham series set up that we can see so far – and perhaps the most interesting part of the game at this stage, too.
We asked recently whether you should care about the DC game that doesn't star Batman – and this gameplay is making us think that you should. If Batgirl and Robin end up looking good, too, then this could definitely end up being a game to look out for.
Gotham Knights is currently expected to release on October 25, 2022 for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC.