Gotham Knights Review in 2025: Has the game improved since launch, or is it still stuck in shadow of the Arkhamverse? Here we break down its story, gameplay, combat, and performance.
-Robin Bhuyan
It’s 2025, and Gotham Knights is still sitting on digital storefronts trying to prove it wasn’t just a post-Batman identity crisis. When it launched in 2022, reactions to Gotham Knights were mixed at best — some called it a generic co-op brawler with flashy capes, others called it a disappointing Arkham pretender. So, we gave it time. But the game’s been patched, rebalanced, and modestly improved over time. So this Gotham Knights review in 2025 asks the real question: Has it finally found its footing — or is it still trying to market itself on the success of the Arkhamverse?
Story Breakdown – Why Gotham Knights Feels Empty
Why Gotham Knights feels empty isn’t just about a lack of Batman — it’s about a lack of heart. The game opens with Bruce Wayne’s death, a setup that should carry massive emotional weight. Instead, we hardly form an emotional connection. The narrative limps through exposition-heavy dialogue, dry voice acting, and predictable twists. Even with the Court of Owls looming in the background, there’s very little tension or urgency.
In a city supposedly on the brink of chaos, the pacing is bizarrely calm. Character interactions often feel robotic, and the main story beats don’t earn their impact. The writers had a rich universe to work with, but what we got instead feels like a cold, lifeless checklist of superhero tropes. That’s ultimately why Gotham Knights feels empty — it tells you the stakes are high, but it never makes you feel them.
So, if you are playing only for experiencing a good story, you might be disappointed. It would be better if you go and revisit any of the top Batman movies for Batman fans!
Gameplay and Combat System Analysis
The Gotham Knights combat system aims to offer variety through its four playable characters, but it ends up feeling repetitive and stiff. Unlike Arkham’s elegant free flow combat, fights here are more about dodging red circles and waiting for cooldowns than stylish beatdowns.
Button-mashing gets you through most encounters, and enemy AI doesn’t challenge you to think creatively. Sure, each hero has unique animations and abilities, but the depth isn’t there. The Gotham Knights combat system lacks the satisfying rhythm, weight, and tactical flow that defined Batman’s brawls in previous games. It feels more like a mobile RPG trying to be an action game than a next-gen superhero experience.
Character Abilities – Do They Feel Distinct or Clunky?
If you’re excited to see how Gotham Knights character abilities differentiate Batgirl from Nightwing, prepare for some disappointment. Each character has their own skill tree, traversal method, and combat flair, but in practice, most of them feel like variations on the same formula.
Red Hood’s ranged attacks are a nice idea on paper but lack the power fantasy you’d expect. Robin’s stealth is barely useful. Batgirl is probably the closest thing to Batman, but even she lacks the same smooth mechanics. Nightwing’s acrobatics stand out the most, but they’re still limited by animation stiffness and strange hit detection.
The biggest issue with Gotham Knights character abilities is that they’re surface-level — there’s not enough mechanical depth or strategic incentive to experiment meaningfully.
The Open World of Gotham – Stylish but Soulless?
Let’s talk about the Gotham Knights open world design — which is, in a word, bland. It may look good in screenshots: neon lights, towering buildings, moody rain — but it’s a shallow sandbox. The city is big but feels empty. Civilians wander aimlessly. Crimes feel copy pasted. There’s little sense of a living, breathing Gotham reacting to your actions.
Traversal, too, is a letdown. Each character has a unique method (Batgirl’s glide, Nightwing’s airship, etc.), but none match the seamless grappling and gliding of Arkham Batman. Instead of empowering exploration, it feels like you’re just floating past cardboard cutouts.
In the end, Gotham Knights open world design fails to immerse. Yes, obviously, it does look like Gotham but never feels like it.
Performance and Optimization in 2025
On a technical level, Gotham Knights performance in 2025 is… better, but not flawless. When the game launched, it was infamous for stuttering frames, capped framerates, and inconsistent optimization even on powerful PCs. Fortunately, patches have addressed many of these issues.
The game now runs decently on mid- to high-end hardware. Visual bugs and animation glitches have been reduced. Loading times are shorter. Still, Gotham Knights performance in 2025 isn’t a major selling point — it’s finally “playable,” but it should’ve launched that way.
This is one area where time has helped, but not enough to reframe the whole experience.
Co-op Experience – Playing Gotham Knights with Friends
Now to the one big selling point: Playing Gotham Knights with friends. The game supports two-player co-op (with a four-player mode added later via Heroic Assault), and in theory, this should elevate the fun. In practice, it depends on your tolerance for repetition.
Playing Gotham Knights with friends can make grinding street crimes and doing missions more bearable. There’s novelty in teaming up as Nightwing and Red Hood, but the lack of synergy between abilities or tactical coordination means it’s rarely deeper than “beat up bad guys side by side.”
It’s not a bad co-op experience — just a shallow one. Like the rest of the game, it lacks depth.
Gotham Knights vs Arkham Knight – A Legacy Comparison
This is where the disappointment becomes clearest. The Gotham Knights vs Arkham Knight debate isn’t even close. Arkham Knight had its flaws, yes — but it was dripping with atmosphere, rich in storytelling, and mechanically tight. Gotham Knights lacks all of those.
Batman: Arkham Knight hooked you with intensity in the first 10 minutes. Gotham Knights spends that time giving you tutorials about bat-computers and telling you Bruce Wayne is dead — over and over. The combat isn’t as fluid, the stealth isn’t as satisfying, and the city doesn’t feel like it’s on the brink of destruction, which reduces the excitement level.
In the battle of Gotham Knights vs Arkham Knight, it’s clear which game wears the cowl and which one just borrowed it.
Final Verdict – Is Gotham Knights Worth Playing in 2025?
So… is Gotham Knights worth playing in 2025? The honest answer: it depends on your expectations.
If you’re a diehard DC or Batman fan, you can grab the game on a sale. There’s some entertainment value in roaming Gotham with a friend, unlocking gear, and beating up thugs with flashy moves. But if you’re expecting the depth, polish, and narrative punch of the Arkham series? You’ll be disappointed. So better not buy it at full price!
The game has improved technically, but the core design flaws remain. This Gotham Knights review in 2025 concludes that while it’s not as broken as it was at launch, it’s still not a must-play. Even for die hard Batman fans.
