Batman is “actually dead” in Gotham Knights, according to WB Games Montréal creative director Patrick Redding during a fan Q&A at San Diego Comic-Con. This time, there will be no take-backsies in the closing cutscene or anything else. The Joker won’t be in it either, though Redding added, “I will not confirm or deny if Harley is.” after making that claim. Given that Harley Quinn currently serves as the face of the DC Universe, her appearance wouldn’t be all that unexpected.
One final Gotham Knights secret was revealed by Redding: the number of the Riddler’s question marks that will be dispersed throughout the game’s rendition of Gotham City. There appears to be “exactly one” of them. Sorry, aficionados of puzzles.
Players should be wary of pre-release claims made about Batman video games. Rocksteady has previously stated that it wasn’t interested in having a playable Bruce Wayne in Arkham City and that the Arkham Knight was “a wholly original character,” both of which turned out to be untrue.
Even while Gotham Knights doesn’t take place in the same version of the DC Universe as the Arkham games, despite their obvious parallels, that was a different developer creating games in a different continuity. However, WB Games Montréal has experience creating games in a similar style. When Arkham Origins was being promoted, Black Mask was hailed as a prominent antagonist, but the Joker quickly eclipsed him and seized the spotlight once again.
At SDCC, a brand-new Gotham Knights character trailer also made its debut, including Batgirl. She engages in combat using an electrified tonfa that can be used for ground-pounding, ziplines herself into close combat, and uses batarangs to stun a gang of thugs. She also has a second outfit with a cowl that looks more like a helmet and appears to be more strongly armored than her standard one.
That much is certain—it certainly appears to be a lot better than the useless flips and Red Hood double-jumping with “soul energy” we saw in a gameplay demo back in May.
On October 25, Gotham Knights is expected to be released. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League by Rocksteady, meanwhile, has been postponed until 2023.
