The newly-revealed Gotham Knights certainly looks promising in terms of presentation and story, but some fans are rightfully a bit concerned about the game’s new RPG-like approach. Would the introduction of enemy levels limit your freedom, as has been the case in recent Assassin’s Creed games? Is developer WB Games Montreal planning to take a games-as-a-service approach with Gotham Knights?
Thankfully, Gotham Knights senior producer Fleur Marty and creative director Patrick Redding dispelled most of these concerns in a new IGN interview. According to Marty, Gotham Knights has specifically been designed to not be a GaaS-style experience.
This is very much not designed as a game-as-service. There is an ability tree, which is different for each of the characters, and then there’s gear that you craft, and so choices that you’re going to be making, but that does not mean that this is a game-as-service. […] You can also completely experience [the game] in solo if you want to, you’re not going to miss out on anything. If you’re playing single player, you can be offline if you want to. We think that teaming up and living that dynamic duo fantasy can be also a really great experience for players, but we won’t force it on them.
You will be able to change your “suit style,” but that’s purely cosmetic. Any gear that actually affects gameplay is acquired through normal play. Meanwhile, on subject of RPG mechanics, Redding assures players they won’t need to do any grinding to see everything Gotham Knights has to offer. The full map will be available right from the get-go…
It is one open world city, right from the start. And no, there’s no level gating whatsoever. […] You’re gonna see a sliding scale in terms of not just the level of the enemies, but even some of the types of enemies that you’re going to be coming up against, but it’s not a grind. […] You might see guys that are a little bit weaker than you, and guys that are a little bit stronger than you. And how you approach each of those situations, it presents you with some choices that you’re going to have to make.
I like what I’m hearing! I suggest you check out IGN’s full interview, as they get into more topics than I can cover here, including combat, co-op, and more.
Gotham Knights leaps onto PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PS4, and PS5 sometime in 2021.
