Batman: Gotham Knights

Batman: Gotham Knights is a side-scrolling platform game developed for the XBox 360 and One (XBox Live Arcade), the PS3 and PS4 (Playstation Network), and Ouya. It will be developed and published by Warner Interactive. It is unique in the sense that, instead of having free-roaming gameplay like most games of the day; it is a side-scrolling game. It is based on the DC Comics character of the same name.

Gameplay
Batman: Gotham Knights is like any kind of 2D Platformer. The player runs around and defeats enemies. Each character has a close range attack and a long range attack. All characters can use a grappling hook to scale high buildings, and can perform a baseball-like dash. You start off in the intro stage as Batman, but afterwards you have the option to play as Robin (Tim Drake) and later on, Nightwing. There is also a feature called the "Assist Emblem" that sometimes appears after defeating enemies or smashng crates. Depending on the emblem either Superman, Batgirl, Commissioner Gordon, Green Arrow and Black Canary, the Huntress, or Red Hood will appear on the screen and assist the player. It is very similar to Megaman in the sense that, you have a choice (With the exception of the Penguin who you must fight first) of eight enemies.

Playable Characters
Batman: The power type. He is the only character who can glide. He is a bit slower than Robin and Nightwing, however he makes up for this with powerful attacks. His close range attacks consist of punches, kicks, and suplexes; his long range attack is the Batarang.

Robin: The agility type. His attacks are weaker than Batman's, but he makes up for this with his remarkable agility speed. He is also the fastest of the three characters and can jump the highest. Instead of gliding he does a somersault double-jump, which helps him to cross wide gaps and spaces. He uses his staff to perform close range attacks, he also incorporates kicks into his close range attacks. His long range attack is the Sticky Bomb.

Nightwing: The most balanced of the three characters. He combines Batman's power with Robin's agility. Like Robin, he can do a somersault double-jump. He uses his trademark escrima sticks to attack enemies; in addition, he uses punches, kicks, knees, and elbows. His long range attack is the Wing-Ding.

Villains
The Joker: The primary antagonist and mastermind behind the events of the game. He can best be described as a violent, psychopathic mass murderer with a sadistic sense of humor. He and his army of Arkham inmates have kidnapped the mayor, and plan on throwing all of Gotham City into complete anarchy.

Harley Quinn: The Joker's girlfriend and sidekick. A former psychiatrist at Arkham. When she was tasked with treating the Joker, she felt sympathy for him after hearing his "life story" and helped him escape. Although she has bubbly disposition, she can be as crazy and violent as the Joker. Although the Joker physically and psychologically abuses her, she remains loyal to him.

Deathstroke: A world renowned assassin and mercenary. He has been hired by the Joker to slow down and/or kill Batman and his allies.

The Penguin: A crime boss known for his short height and bird-like appearance. Born into a wealthy family, he was bullied throughout his childhood for his appearence. As a result, he turns to a life of crime. He is ruthless and cruel. He is in league with the Joker and his planning his operations from a nightclub.

Scarecrow: A psychopath with an obsession with fear. He uses a hallucinogenic toxin to make people's worst fears come to life. The Joker plans on poisoning Gotham's water supply with his toxin in order to cause mass panic and anarchy. He is developing his toxin in the Gotham cemetary.

Riddler: A criminal that is obsessed with leaving complex clues and riddles at the scene of his crimes. He is also in league with the Joker, and his hiding out in his mansion.

Mr. Freeze: Once a respected cryogenicist. After his wife falls sick, he freezes her in state until he can find a cure for her. When his employers realized he was diverting company resources to treating his wife, they pulled the plug on his research; and sadly, as a result, his wife died. In addition, he spilled cryogenic chemicals on himself and must now stay in cold temperatures and wear a refrigerated suit in order to survive. He becomes insane as a result of these experiences and turns to a life of crime. It is unknown why Freeze, who usually works alone, is working with the Joker; but he has frozen the entire East End.

Two-Face: Once the district attorney of Gotham, Harvey Dent succumbed to his life-long mental instabilities when a gangster splashed acid on one side of his face; horrifically scarring him. He becomes a bipolar and schizophrenic crime lord who is obessessed with chance and duality, and makes every decision with the flip of his lucky coin. He is in league with the Joker and is planning operations in an abandoned building.

Poison Ivy: An ecoterrorist with an obsession with plants. She has mutated to the point that she is now half plant, and uses plant toxins to poison enemies. She is in league with the Joker and has turned all of Gotham Park into her personal garden.

Killer Croc: Born with a rare disease that gave him crocodile-like skin and brute strength, he has been treated like an outcast his entire life and as a result developed a hatred for humanity. He is in league with the Joker and has escaped to the sewers.

Bane: A highly intelligent criminal who is able to match both brains and brawns with Batman. He is best known for breaking Batman's back during the 1993 Knightfall comic book storyline. After being clean for several years, he has become addicted to the steroid known as venom once again; and is developing it in a warehouse outside of Gotham and selling it to the Joker and his thugs.

Beginning
An uprising has occured at Arkham Asylum. It is led by none other than, The Joker. After murdering several guards, the Joker and his allies break out and set their sights on Gotham. Some of Gotham's most dangerous criminals have escaped, making the situation even more dangerous. The army of criminals, once they reach Gotham, promptly loot, burn, and plunder the city. Hundreds are killed within a few hours, and the police are overwhelmed and outnumbered. The Joker and his allies attack City Hall and kidnap the mayor. The Joker then declares himself mayor, abolishes the police department, and makes crime legal. Thus throwing all of Gotham and its environs into a state of anarchy.

Bruce Wayne, who is away on a business trip, is forced to return to Gotham after hearing about the uprising. He flys back to the Batcave by helicopter. After assessing the situation, Batman realizes that he cannot stop the Joker and his cronies alone. So he puts together a task force consisting of himself, Batgirl, Black Canary, Catwoman, Green Arrow, The Huntress, Robin, The Red Hood, Superman, and a militia consisting of armed citizens and remnants of the Police department led by Commissioner Gordon. The heroes rendezvous on a hill just outside of Gotham City Limits and set out for the city.

Knowing Batman and his allies would try to stop him, the Joker hires the mercenary known as Deathstroke to kill Batman. Batman rides his Batmobile to Gotham, where he meets a wounded Catwoman; she tells him that one of the Joker's thugs had shot her. Batman then tells her to go back to the Batcave for treatment. Batman then fights his way through Gotham before meeting The Joker, Harley Quinn, and Deathstroke who are abord a helicopter. The Joker begins shooting at Batman with a rocket launcher while Batman dodges his shots. After running out of rockets, the Joker reveals his plan to Batman: That he is going to split the city among Gotham's other super-villains, kill the mayor, and poison the water supply with Scarecrow's fear toxin; thus causing mass panic in Gotham. He then tells Deathstroke to kill Batman, Deathstroke jumps off of the helicopter and fights Batman. Both Batman and Deathstroke fight to a draw, and Deathstroke warns Batman that he would return to kill him and his allies later.

Race Against Time
Batman calls the rest of the task force to rendezvous at his location. There, Batman tells everyone about the Joker's plan and orders everyone to split up: Batman would search for and arrest the villains, while everyone else would provide Batman assistance along the way. Robin asks Batman if he can go out and search for villains as well, Batman agrees.

Everyone splits up and a helicopter arrives to take Batman and Robin back to the Batcave. There they meet Batman's butler Alfred and Catwoman. Batman asks Catwoman how she's doing, before asking Alfred about the locations of the supervillains. Alfred shows the location of eight supervillains on the computer: The Penguin who was in his nightclub; Scarecrow, who was creating the fear toxin in Gotham Cemetary; The Riddler, who was holed up in his labyrinth-like mansion; Mr. Freeze, who had frozen the entire East End; Two-Face, who was planning his operations in an abandoned building; Poison Ivy, who had turned all of Gotham Park into her personal garden; Killer Croc, who was hiding in the sewers; and Bane, who was developing his steroid known as "Venom", in a warehouse and shipping it to the Joker's thugs.

Either Batman or Robin (depending on which one you are playing with) first head to the Penguin's nightclub. After defeating the Penguin, Nightwing appears and tells the player that he had heard what had happened and offers his assistance. Nightwing henceforth becomes a playable character. The heroes then set out to find and defeat the remaining villains. After defeating all of the villains, the heroes return to the Batcave; where they find that it has been ransacked and also that Alfred had been brutally beaten. They ask Alfred what had happened and Alfred reveals that: Catwoman had been working for the Joker, was faking her injuries, had stolen some of Batman's equipment, and was heading back to City Hall to reveal the secret identities of each of the heroes to the Joker. This enrages everyone and as Batman prepares to stop Catwoman, both Robin and Nightwing tell Batman to get some rest and that they will find Catwoman and stop the Joker. Batman insists that he must find Catwoman and refuses to allow either Nightwing or Robin to fight the Joker alone. At this point you must now pick one of the three. After the player makes his or her choice, he or she heads out to Gotham on bike to find Catwoman.

Ending

Either Batman, Nightwing, or Robin (again, depending on who you are playing with) confront Catwoman on top of a moving flatbed truck, demanding an explanation for her actions. Catwoman tells the character you are playing with that she owes them no explanation, and then mocks him for trusting her in the first place. A fight ensues and after Catwoman is defeated, the truck explodes and goes off of the bridge; it is not clear whether or not Catwoman survived. The task force regroups at the player's location and begin planning the final assault on City Hall. Suddenly, the Joker appears on helicopter and says that he was taking the mayor back to Amusement Mile and that they must go through the tunnel to get there. The heroes knew that the tunnel was a trap but there was no other way. Your character tells the rest of the task force that he'll be alright and vows to defeat the Joker. The task force wishes you good luck and you are given another bike. You must now ride into the tunnel and fight your way through it before confronting Deathstroke, who is aboard a shape-shifting mecha suit called Death Force. Depending on who your playing with Deathstroke will say one of three things:

If you are playing as Batman, he will say: "Ahh, So we meet again Batman. I told you that I was going to kill you when I saw you again, now you must face Death Force!" Batman responds by saying "You're not the first person who's ever tried to kill me, and you certainly won't be the last; Prepare Yourself!"

If you are playing as Nightwing, he will say: "So you're still riding Batman's coattails Nightwing? I thought you had gone solo. You've just made this personal for me, and I will kill you like you and the Teen Titans killed my son!" Nightwing responds by saying "As usual Slade, I will be left waiting."

If you are playing as Robin, he will say: "Ha! They sent a small fry like you down here to face me? Doesn't matter, as long as I get paid I guess..." Robin responds by saying "I never thought you would stoop so low as to work with the Joker, Slade. I'm taking you and your mecha suit down!"

After defeating the first six forms of Death Force, it takes the form of a flat surface. The player jumps on it with his bike, steps off of his bike, and must fight Deathstroke one-on-one. After defeating Deathstroke, Death Force begins to self-destruct and breaks out of the tunnel unto the road leading to Amusement Mile. As Death Force is exploding, the player quickly grabs his bike and jumps off. A helicopter comes to pick up Deathstroke, who warns the player that he will return. Your character rides his bike down the road to Amusement Mile. Once you get there, you step off of your bike and fight your way through Amusement Mile. Afterwards, you reach a room the Joker is heard over the intercom telling Harley Quinn to dispose of you. Harley Quinn then appears with a hammer and charges at you with it. After you defeat and tie up Harley Quinn, you go to another room where you see the Joker. A cage is lowered, it's the mayor! The Joker has one last card to play, he injects himself with what was left of the venom given to him by Bane. His strength and speed are increased and he becomes a hulkish brute. After he is defeated, he returns to his normal state. The player then takes him back to Arkham, before returning to Wayne Manor where the heroes are celebrating their success. Although there is celebration, Batman has a feeling of uneasyness. Robin asks him what was wrong, and Batman tells him that he has a feeling that the Joker will return. He then warns Robin not to let the celebrations make him less vigilant.

After the credits finish rolling, a mysterious man is seen sitting in a chair. Another man walks in and says, "Sir, the Joker's plan failed." The man sitting in the chair says, "As expected, time to execute plan B." Thus setting the stage for the plot of the next game.

Ports
The game appears on:

Playstation Network: (PS3/PS4/PS Vita)

XBox Live Arcade: (360/One)

Nintendo Network: (Wii U/3DS)