Parents' Guide to Gotham Knights

A Batman game where you don't play as Batman? That's the idea behind Gotham Knights. By playing as the Dark Knight's former sidekicks, players get a chance to experiment with a few different and distinct play styles. It also gives players the opportunity to take part in some good ol' fashioned comic book team-ups, fighting crime with a partner in online drop in/drop out co-op play. This can be a lot of fun with a friend, but players might want to hit the Settings and switch things to Friends or Invite only, as it can get frustrating to have random players jumping in and out of your game on a whim. It's even worse when the visitor decides be more of a distraction than an ally.

As far as the rest of the game goes, Gotham Knights isn't necessarily bad, but it feels like it definitely could use a little extra work. While the freeflow combat style, and chaining moves together into combos with well-timed actions, is effective, it's not as fluid as it should be. There are also odd glitches that pop up on occasion, such as characters getting momentarily stuck in the environment. Some of these issues could get fixed via future patches, but in its current state, these are more than minor annoyances. In one instance, a mission had to be abandoned because two enemies inexplicably began to levitate above the ground, spinning in a seated position, unable to be defeated. Patrols can get a bit repetitive as well, though how much supplementary crime fighting gets done is left up to the player. On the upside, the story feels true to its source, like living out a string of comic book story arcs. There's also a lot to explore and discover while patrolling the bright lights and back alleys of Gotham. Much like Gotham City itself, Gotham Knights has its rough areas to contend with, but still shows it has the potential to be greater.