WB Montreal’s “Gotham Knights” hit Xbox Series X/S, Playstation 5 and PC on Oct. 21. With the death of their past mentor Bruce Wayne, aka Batman, Nightwing, Red Hood, Batgirl and Robin (Tim Drake) are tasked to defend Gotham as its new protectors, solving many of Batman’s past cases along the way.

The game, similar to “Marvel’s Avengers,” features a co-op mode that allows players to team up with either friends or online randoms to take on higher leveled enemies as a pair. To be clear, “Gotham Knights” and the Arkham franchise do NOT take place in the same universe, which means anything accomplished within the Arkham universe will likely not be reflected in Gotham Knights’. 

Although “Gotham Knights” has brought many new things to the table, critics and fans have given the game a bad rap since the start. Travis Northup, with the famous review website, IGN, believes the game has not lived up to the standards of the Arkham Franchise.

“It just kept hitting me with bad news,“ Northup said. “WHAM! Underwhelming combat. POW! A weak, predictable story. BIFF! Puzzling progression design choices. THWACK! Sub-30 frame rates.”

The frame rate of 30-60 FPS (Frames Per Second), has triggered outrage among those expecting a next-gen experience, especially as the game is only available on next-generation consoles and PC. Considering its original hype when the game was announced during DC FanDom on Aug. 22, the inability to reach at least 120 FPS has been a major letdown for fans of the game.

With Co-op, “Gotham Knights” has finally addressed the issue of tether distance, meaning each player may explore around Gotham and complete various missions/cutscenes without having to drag their gaming partner along with them. This issue has been an inconvenience that co-op games in the past have failed to address, which gives this Batman-less game some justice. 

Sage Creek sophomore Trevor Acheff continues to have high hopes for the game despite the negative feedback it has received.

“I think the game looked cool with its atmosphere and the structure of the city,“ Acheff said. “I’m really looking forward to the combat because I think that’s what the game is mostly centered around. Though the bad reviews may be justified, I’m personally still looking forward to it.”

Compared with past Arkham Games, WB Montreal’s entry to the franchise has some noticeable differences; the first being the abilities selection. Arkham fans have grown used to the classic gadget wheel that gives players access to gadgets such as the batclaw, smoke pellets, a batmobile remote and hacking devices. 

“Gotham Knights” proves different with the introduction of momentum abilities, that, as unlocked, will require selected buttons/keys to use special attacks as the player’s momentum bar grows.  This has been seen in games such as Ubisoft’s “Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey” and the recent “Marvel’s Guardians of The Galaxy.”

Carol Pinchefsky with CNN Underscored  shares the belief that there are both upsides and downsides to the game.

“Its engaging story is marred by issues that other games have solved for years,” Pinchefsky said. “But despite a myriad of problems, ultimately it did more right than wrong.”

Despite receiving brutally honest feedback from those such as Northup, Pinchefsky is accurate in the sense that the game has accomplished “more right than wrong”. 

Yes, it undoubtedly has its setbacks such as a repetitive and dull story arch and a sometimes tedious progression system, but “Gotham Knights” still managed to provide the community with an ideal co-op experience, immersive combat paired with a manageable skill tree and makes for an overall enjoyable time. 

Rating: 8.5/10