In case you didn’t know, Gotham Knights is now set to appear exclusively on next-gen consoles, which wasn’t the case back when it was first announced two years ago. If you’re wondering why the Gotham Knights last-gen versions were cancelled, WB Games Montreal answered just that today.
In a AMA (Ask Me Anything) session on the game’s Discord channel, a bunch of WB Games Montreal devs answered that question and more. Check out the complete Q&A session for today compiled below.
WB Games staff who participated in the AMA:
- Fleur Marty – Executive Producer
- Geoff Ellenor – Game Director
- Patrick Redding (Holesinteeth) – Creative Director
Q: Why were the PS4 and X-Box One versions of the game canceled?
A: Fleur “Flaoua” Marty – When considering the scale and scope of Gotham Knights we had to prioritize and focus our efforts to deliver the game at a satisfying level of quality for current gen. We totally understand that this is upsetting to players who don’t own a current gen console yet, and believe me we really didn’t make this decision lightly, but, in the end, we wanted to focus on delivering a game we are truly proud of.
Q: How alive is the open world in terms of civilians, weather, traffic, crimes, npc interaction, enterable buildings etc..?
A: Holesinteeth — Everything mentioned in that question is present in our Gotham City to some degree.Each district in Gotham has a distinct mix of citizens. Since the player will only hit the streets at night, some neighborhoods have more of a civilian nightlife, others are more industrial and bleak. But you’ll encounter Gothamites from all walks of life, and they will definitely have opinions about you and your vigilante activities. There’s vehicle traffic of various types, pedestrians heading in and out of rail stations, city workers on the night shift. The weather varies from night to night, while remaining true to the Gotham vibe. Players will be able to enter a variety of buildings, usually because there’s some illicit after-hours activity underway. And there is crime everywhere, both petty and major.
Q: What made you decide to set this game apart from the Arkham Series?
A: Holesinteeth – The rich mythology to the Batman universe itself. We wanted to be able to interpret and adapt the characters – that’s both the heroes and their rogues’ gallery – in new ways that would support a new player experience and progression. We wanted to be able to write the history of these characters with an original story without being tied to a particular continuity or feature set.
Q: Can you play through the entire game as the same character, or will the story require you to play as each in different parts? Will some missions force us to play specific characters?
A: Holesinteeth – You can play through the entire game as any character you want. There are no missions that force you switch characters – although there is story content and a few side activities that are hero-specific.
Q: Do all characters have the option to do stealth attacks? (Asking in reference to red hood maybe he can add silencers to his guns?)
& I’m wondering if we can spec down different combat trees? Like redhood for instance can we spec into a more hand to hand combat or is he just guns?
A: Geoff.Ellenor — Silencers: no (sorry). The guns are loud in combat although you can still use the projectiles at medium range as ‘distractions’ because the sound of the high-tech pistols doesn’t travel as far as a regular gun. All the Knights have stealth takedowns, though
Red Hood always uses his guns for ranged attacks and uses his hands and feet with lots of pistol-whip strikes for his melee attacks. Every hero’s ability tree adds new moves and improves stats, so rather than having the option to play “bare hands mode” instead of using weapons, the ability design focuses on unlocking/adding new moves. Where you chose to invest in the ability tree early on is about choosing between unlocks that reflect how you want to play. So, for example, I like to use Red Hood’s grab and throw abilities, so I will unlock them early in the tree, whereas a player who wants to shoot a lot might put more energy on unlocking more ranged damage boosts. It’s about how you want to express yourself in combat.
RE: trees… There are three ability trees per hero, plus a Knighthood tree you unlock later, and then the momentum abilities are a whole other thing… so where you put your ability points and what challenges you complete to get momentum abilities will really change how you play, especially at the start.
Q: Are the random crimes completely Dynamic? Like if we don’t go save someone getting mugged can we come back 2 hours later and their still waiting to get rescued or will we be able to have consequences of our choices, to create a since of realism and urgency like the comics and films?
A: Holesinteeth – It depends on the crime. Some of the random opportunistic crime will still linger unless the player moves to intervene. Most of the bigger, more pre-meditated crimes have a failure condition if the player retreats after engaging. And of course, once the player returns to the Belfry and ends the night’s patrol, those crimes won’t be there the next night.
Q: Why does Nightwing have a Fortnite glider?
A: Holesinteeth – The “Flying Trapeze” was inspired by a couple ideas:
First, some of the classic issues in the Nightwing solo book where he extends his aerialist moves with jet-powered gliders.
Second, we liked the death-defying angle of him looking at all the various stealth drones in Batman’s arsenal and calculating that he could just get away with hanging off one of the smaller models and still be able to maintain or gain altitude with it.
It’s designed to feel a bit improvised, and dependent on his extreme athleticism, which fits Nightwing’s approach to everything.
Flying it has such a different feel from Batgirl’s cape-gliding, and it blends really well with his bigger parkour and leap moves, as well as with grappling.
Q: What was your thinking or inspiration in having Red Hood’s mystical leap as his traversal ability? Not to criticize its inclusion, I know that Jason probably has the most connection to mystical arts than the other three. It’s just that it caught many people off guard.
A: Holesinteeth – With each of the four heroes, we looked for a unifying theme to their heroic evolution, to link the new abilities they would unlock on their way to knighthood.
With Red Hood, we looked at a few examples of the lore around his resurrection in the Lazarus Pit and subsequent conditioning. We really liked the idea that as Jason starts to confront the trauma of dying and being brought back, he begins to be able to tap into some lost abilities. In the same way that he’s tried to reinvent himself from anti-hero to hero while retaining his strengths, he discovers he can channel these mystic talents in ways he finds familiar: Through his physicality, in how he moves, but also in how he fights and even how he uses his weapons. We’ll see that the Mystic Leap is just one manifestation of those powers.
Q: But in all seriousness, when it came to traversal, how did you make each Knight feel distinctly different from the other in how they traverse the roofs and alleys of Gotham?
A: Geoff.Ellenor – Fun question…. Basically we wanted a different ‘rhythm’ and core mechanical feel for each Knight so we did stuff that we knew had a totally different output. Batgirl glides in the most ‘batman-like’ way compared to the other heroes, and it’s got a certain speed and vibe but you are always ‘playing the wind’, like speed controls how fast you can go back up, and going down accelerates you… it has a certain feel as you’re hunting for crimes. Nightwing’s glider feels different because it’s a machine, and you can angle it to climb up and around tall buildings, as well as glide.. Robin’s teleport is almost more about “snapping into a specific spot” as you approach a crime and you can change direction of the teleporter-target pretty fast… And Red Hood is just… jumping on air, basically, so he’s playing a platform game where he can invent a platform when you squeeze the trigger, and it feels fast-paced but it’s the closest to the parkour feeling you have when you’re running and jumping on rooftops. His is the most ‘exotic’ but our Red Hood is really connected to what he had to go through, surviving being killed and brought back, and his traversal reflects that.
TLDR : they’re all really different in feel, and until you play them for a little bit it’s hard to appreciate how much it changes how you roam around Gotham.
Q: Is there a counter attack mechanism? When red hood is fighting the talon gladiator it looks like he’s got some unblockable attacks coming in but can you counter or block
A: Geoff.Ellenor – So, we do counter, but (as you spotted) it’s not in a “quicktime event” kind of way. Our combat system has regular and ‘armored’ attacks, which means they can’t be interrupted by normal moves, so you have to counter them with “piercing abilities”. Some enemies also have guard (block) which we counter with guard break abilities… So, our combat system has these layers where you sometimes need to provide a specific answer to a specific problem. Many player power-moves can’t be interrupted after the warmup animation, so you can sometimes time that to your advantage.
Q: What roles/archetypes would you say the cast fulfill and how what are some builds each character might particularly excel in?
A: Geoff Ellenor — So, rad question. I think Robin is the best stealth-focused hero, Red Hood deals high damage at range and can capitalize on enemy clusters, Batgirl has some health-focused powers and has some cool ‘hack stuff in the environment’ abilities, and Nightwing has the furthest combat mobility and has the most coop support abilities….
There’s a lot of variety in playstyle though so it’s not 100% straightforward to answer. Like I can build a high melee DPS Batgirl build (and I do a lot, because I love her beatdown ability)… you have options depending on what great gear you find, and what skills you decide to invest the most points in.
Q: Will the character armor upgrades be visible? I noticed in the trailer that Red hood had different guns in the first half and second half of the gameplay walkthrough. Will it be the same for armor? Pick it up through combat drops, equip it and it changes our look?
Q: Can we choose different outfits for the buffs, but keep the original design of the characters?
A: Geoff.Ellenor – Lots of mini-questions so here we go:
When you get a suit or a blueprint it has a visual style, a colorway, and stats. Weapons have a visual style and stats. For each suit you wear, additionally, you can customize mask, logo, gloves, and footwear. There’s a lot of custo for each suit, and there are a lot of different styles for guns, tonfas, batarangs, sticks…. Generally the visuals get more badass at the higher tiers, but each tier has a variety of suit styles.
You can equip any gear in your inventory whenever you want, but for getting new gear, you return to the Belfry. The workbench in the Belfry is connected to a 3D printer and so long as you have materials, you can craft any blueprint you find. Materials drop from activity rewards, supply chests, and defeated enemies.
You can equip mod chips (think gems in other games) at any time, if you find them mid-mission.
For extra visual customization: you also obtain extra colorways (override the colors of a suit) and transmogs (override the whole visual look of a suit). As you play you also find transmogs for suit styles you craft often, so if for some reason you want to override the look of your ultra-awesome Legendary tier suit with the visual of the suit from the start of the game, you can do that. This gives you some flexibility if your favorite gear stats-wise doesn’t have the look you want and it is all earned in-game.
Q: If you complete a story mission solo, can you replay the story mission again with a friend that hasn’t completed it?
A: Fleur “Flaoua” Marty – Absolutely! If your friend invites you into their game, you will play the story at the point where they are in their progression. The inverse is also true, meaning that if you invite a friend into your game, they will be able to play alongside you even if you are further in the story than them. And then, when they return to their own game, they will play the missing chapters and then have the option to either replay the part they played in coop with you, or simply skip ahead if they don’t want to go through it again.
Q: Will there be any point in the story where the Gotham knights work with the GCPD, and will the GCPD be a threat to the Knights?
A: Holesinteeth – The GCPD of Gotham Knights is VERY anti-vigilante but also frankly, more corrupt than ever. Without getting into spoilers, the player has one ally on the force, Renee Montoya; and even she’s trying to decide how she feels about Batman’s protegees picking up the baton.
Over the course of the game, the player will need to bust dirty cops and try to stay clear of GCPD tactical teams that sometimes show up at the scene of the crime. But they will also have occasions when they can assist officers who are at risk of getting overwhelmed.
Q: What explanation will you give for Barbara recovering the use of her legs? Will it be a chip like in the comics, or will here be that she never completely lost the use of her legs?
Q: I do not know if this was asked before due to…the internet, but may I ask what you are doing for Barbara like if she has some sort of metal spine work or something that’ll make her walk or move around?
A: Holesinteeth – First, as with many of our characters and plot elements, the circumstances around Barbara’s injuries differ in some important ways from how it’s been portrayed in the comics.
Second, we worked with the awesome folks at AbleGamers to learn about different types of spinal injuries and the potential for someone to regain mobility.
Barbara has been through multiple surgeries followed by a lot of physical therapy and pain management. The player will see it in the Belfry, where she’s doing exercises and stretches that are designed for that ongoing rehabilitation. She also has back bracing integrated into her suit and you’ll see it in her off-duty gear in the Belfry. Finally, we’ve also listened to feedback from the community who have fair questions and concerns about how Barbara is represented. We’ve changed up some od the descriptions on the Gotham Knights site in response of that.
Q: My questions are what was the inspiration for the bat bike to look like the way it does in game? and was it from the comics or something else? i think it looks amazing by the way.
A: Geoff.Ellenor – Somewhere in our early creative conversations we had the visual idea of “a bat holding a front wheel” and it gave rise to the exotic suspension of the Batcycle. We knew that our Batcycle was ‘your ride around the city’ but we didn’t want it to feel just like a motorcycle that anybody could have, so it became this awesome, heavy toy leftover from the Batcave.
We wanted it to feel like you could jump off it at any time and it could “take care of itself” in a smart way, so that influenced the design as well. It’s a bike but also this crazy, indestructible thing that you can patrol around Gotham on… Full credit to our amazing character team for executing this one. They took the inspiration from our design and came back with this beautiful ultra-metal thing with its own whole personality. I have drifted every flat surface in the city on this thing.
Q: Is this game in any way canon or connected to the CW Gotham Knights show which is going to release next year?
A: Fleur “Flaoua” Marty – No it is not 🙂
We know it’s been pretty confusing for our community and for the general public to discover that a CW TV Show called “Gotham Knights” was in the making and planned to release next year (especially since several outlets used the logo and images from the game to talk about the show at the very beginning), but there is no connection whatsoever between our game and the CW show.
Q: What would happen if we “accidentally” hit civilians at max speed with our bikes?
A: Fleur “Flaoua” Marty – But anyway, the inhabitants of Gotham City have learned to get out of the way when vehicles are coming at them at full speed. That’s the kind of skill you develop when living in a crime infested city, I guess?
Q: Are there any plans to expand the cake? it’s looking a little flat (Nightwing’s ass)
A: Geoff.Ellenor – Hahaha. Okay this question has been asked in my DMs … We are currently comfortable with the size of Nightwing’s posterior, even though I can’t promise that we won’t revisit this issue again someday.
Q: What’s your favorite thing of the game?
A: Holesinteeth – I’m probably wearing my stealth roots on my sleeve, but there is something deeply satisfying about approaching a crime in progress and setting up the perfect opener. Using a ledge takedown against a sniper, or dropping onto an enemy when their buddies are looking in the other direction…
A: Fleur “Flaoua” Marty – It’s pretty hard to give a spoiler free answer on this one, but I have to say I really love how the relationship between the Knights evolves throughout the game, as they each deal in their own way with the death of Bruce but also all come together as a family. As for a more purely gameplay focused answered, I greatly enjoy pummeling one enemy after the other with Batgirl. She’s a very focused combatant and I find it very satisfying
Gotham Knights is set to glide out this October 25 on the PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. You can check out the latest gameplay footage right here.
Returning to Radiant Escalation was a great opportunity to think about Escalation as a whole. One of the biggest changes to the game mode is the removal of the Strega’s Tonic talent and the addition of Strega’s Harvester.
Strega’s Tonic created a problematic design space for Escalation. While the mode has a lot of defensive power, always-on lifesteal for all players of all skill levels makes designing true challenges… challenging. With the addition of Iceborne and other defensive omnicells, Strega’s Tonic no longer contributed to the kind of experience we wanted Slayers to have.
On the other hand, adding Strega’s Harvester should now make it more rewarding to play Escalations past Talent Level 25. Slayers may not be able to choose the Behemoths they see, but they’ll receive more total breaks than they would have previously. This also gives Slayers an additional way to increase their odds and reduce the time spent getting the parts they need to craft legendary weapons.