Gotham Knights vs Batman Arkham Series
Round 1: Traversal
“Gotham Knights” features numerous ways to traverse your environment. While any of the heroes can break out the customizable Batcycle – more on that later – they’re also all able to grapple. They can grapple significantly further than Batman could in the “Arkham” games, too. But there are an extra four, unique traversal options, one for each character. Nightwing has a glider, Robin can teleport using the Justice League’s satellite, Batgirl can glide just like Batman, and Red Hood can bounce around with his bizarre, “mystical leap”. All of these abilities make the game and navigation significantly more fun, though you do have to complete the first Knighthood challenge for each of them to unlock their power. “Arkham”, meanwhile, only has one major way of non-vehicular traversal: gliding. It’s true that Batgirl glides in “Gotham Knights”, but likely because of the multiple-character set-up, her gliding isn’t anywhere near as complex or satisfying as the Dark Knight’s was. Batman’s gliding changed and developed over the course of four games, with it reaching its apex in “Arkham Knight”. Not only does he have the grapnel boost to launch him into the air, he can also gain altitude and dive bomb so effectively that he might as well actually be flying. Though “Gotham Knights” deserves credit for experimenting with new things, we’ve got to give this one to “Arkham”. WINNER: Gotham Knights 0 / Arkham 1
Round 2: Vehicles
10 Best Vehicles In The Halo Series
You could certainly argue that vehicles are part of traversal, an indeed in other games they are, but the Batmobile was SUCH a big part of “Arkham Knight” far beyond its ability to get from A to B, that it needs its own category. The Batmobile was one of the most divisive parts of “Knight”. People had been clamoring for it since the first game, and Rocksteady arguably leant a little too hard on the car this time around. Not only was it a slippery and destructive force of nature while simply driving around Gotham, but you also had seemingly endless tank combat missions AND had to use it to solve obtuse puzzles in the open world. We appreciate that a lot of time and effort went into the Batmobile, but if you don’t like tank combat, it’s enough to put you off the game entirely. “Gotham Knights”, on the other hand, made the wise decision NOT to bring the Batmobile back. Though they could have had a sleek muscle car with no combat capabilities, instead the Knights were given the Batmobile’s smaller brother, the Batcycle. The Batcycle does, admittedly, result in some choppiness when you use it, and never feels fast to drive, but it’s still fun enough when combined with all the other traversal mechanics. Plus, the Batcycle is customizable with a slew of skins and colorways, none of which are locked behind microtransactions; this is in stark contrast to “Arkham Knight”, in which all the alternate Batmobile skins were locked behind pre-orders and paywalls, and some couldn’t even be used in the open world, only in Riddler races. We give this one to “Gotham Knights” because sometimes, less really is more. WINNER: Gotham Knights 1 / Arkham 1
Round 3: Combat
Top 10 Games with Amazing Third Person Melee Combat
Like the traversal, “Gotham Knights” has four different heroes for players to ‘grapple’ with, and as such, four notably different combat styles. Nightwing and Red Hood aren’t even designed for the “Arkham” series’ trademark stealth and work best with an all-guns-blazing approach, which is definitely an interesting contrast. And once you unlock more and more abilities and get used to the fact that in this game, you’re dodging all the time, NOT countering, it’s very fun! However, if you’re playing single-player, you MAY find yourself mobbed with more enemies than are really fun to take down, not that it’s particularly difficult, leading to many grindy mini-boss battles. The “Arkham” games, on the other hand, reinvented third-person hand-to-hand combat in video games. By zooming far out every time Batman engages in combat, players can see every enemy coming at them in time to dodge, counter, stun, or attack them. “Gotham Knights’” camera work in this regard isn’t quite as good. Batman also has way more gadgets in those games, providing more opportunity for moment-to-moment decision making, not to mention a far deeper emphasis on stealth gameplay. And it also can’t be overlooked that the “Arkham” games feature all four of the Knights as playable characters at some point or another, as well as Catwoman, which means they also have combat variety across numerous characters. “Gotham Knights’” combat can absolutely be a lot of fun, but it’s just not as polished or deep as the “Arkham” games. WINNER: Gotham Knights 1 / Arkham 2
Round 4: World Design
Every Open World in Lego Games RANKED
The “Arkham” games started out small, with Batman in the enclosed biome of Arkham Island, and steadily grew in scope until “Arkham Knight” gave us the entirety of Gotham City to explore. But there was a problem. While “Knight’s” open world certainly looked impressive, many of the most iconic locations from the comic books had already been used in “Arkham City”, arguably the best game in the series. The Ace Chemical building, the Monarch Theater, the old GCPD – they were all done in “City”, and “Knight” had fewer memorable landmarks to choose from, even rebuilding Ace Chemicals entirely and sending you off to a dungeon on an airship. As such, “Knight’s” world is far less memorable, and even in “City”, it could get tedious to navigate those underground tunnels and walkways around the museum. “Gotham Knights”, on the other hand, is perhaps an even better video game interpretation of Gotham City as a whole, especially compared directly with “Arkham Knight”. It does have the major issue of there being a lot of bridges you have to navigate, but once you unlock fast travel, you don’t have to do worry about the bridges if you don’t want to. And we love how the many important locations, like again, Arkham Asylum, the Monarch Theater, Blackgate, the Gotham Gazette, and Wayne Tower, all come back. WB Montreal also invented a lot of additional history for Gotham, much of which comes through in the world design if you do the landmark side quest. Plus, this version of Gotham actually has civilians in it, rather than being totally evacuated, avoiding “Arkham Knight’s” emptiness. It's close this time around, but we think that “Gotham Knights” just ekes out a victory. WINNER: Gotham Knights 2 / Arkham 2
Round 5: Story
Horizon: Aloy's Origin Story
As shown in all the marketing, “Gotham Knights” follows the core members of the Bat Family after the death of Batman. The Knights need to investigate Batman’s last case, the one that got him killed, and save Gotham from the impending threat of the Court of Owls. They’ve also got to contend with a few supervillains from Batman’s rogues gallery - Harley Quinn, Mr Freeze, and Clayface - as well as encountering various side characters. The story of “Gotham Knights” is very much the kind of story you’ll get in a regular, monthly comic run; it’s hammy, cheesy, sometimes over-the-top, but it knows exactly what it is and wants to be – though, we can’t forgive ALL of its dicey writing. The “Arkham” games on the other hand, excluding “Origins” which is largely separate, tell one, over-arching story about Batman and the Joker. They were shooting for the lofty heights of “Batman: The Animated Series”, and some of the more critically-acclaimed graphic novels about the caped crusader. Starring the late and great Kevin Conroy as Batman yet again, as well as many of the other all-star DC performers like Mark Hamill’s Joker, the stories of these games live up to and often exceed the greatest Batman stories in comics, movies, OR other video games. Though, we have to admit, the plot DID suffer slightly when Batman auteur writer Paul Dini was unceremoniously dropped by Rocksteady for “Arkham Knight”; his absence definitely showed. Ultimately, though, we have to give it to “Arkham” because of Paul Dini’s increadible influence on the first two games. WINNER: Gotham Knights 2 / Arkham 3 It’s a closer contest than you might have thought, and “Gotham Knights” has plenty to love for hardcore Batman fans. But we have to give it to the “Arkham” games for their overall polish and quality – PC ports notwithstanding.
