Video Games
‘Gotham Knights’: Batman is Dead in First Look at New Co-Op Game Coming 2021
We’d known for a little while now that we’d be seeing two new DC video games at its FanDome event this weekend. One, which will be revealed later, is Batman: Arkham series developer’s Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League game, the other is Warner Bros Montreal’s long-rumored Batman game, which we now know officially is titled Gotham Knights.
Only it’s not exactly a Batman game because Batman is apparently dead, and from beyond the grave, he’s called on his friends to take on Gotham’s criminal underworld in his place. Players will take up the mantle of Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl, and Red Hood as they clean the streets of Gotham together in a co-operative adventure.
The trailer suggests that in this world, recent events have caused a divide between the heroes and the GCPD, and crime is bubbling over in the wake of Batman’s death. If that wasn’t enough to deal with, the emergence of the Court of Owls looks to further escalate the chaos in the city.
The gameplay footage shown after that sees Batgirl teaming with Robin to infiltrate Mr. Freeze’s base. While the open-world Gotham City looks fairly similar to the one found in Rocksteady’s Arkham series, this footage clearly shows how different this latest Bat-game will play out, as RPG elements and online co-op are front and center.
There’s no firm release date mentioned for Gotham Knights, but a loose 2021 window was shown, and we’ll see it on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC
Video Games
Demo Now Available for First-Person Action Title ‘Vampire Hunter: Nightrise’, Coming July 14 [Trailer]
Over the Moon Games has announced that their upcoming first-person title Vampire Hunter: Nightrise will launch on Steam on July 14. You won’t have to wait until Steam Next Fest next week to get a chance to get your vampire slaying fix in, as the game’s demo is available now.
Touted as “Castlevania meets Tunic,” Nightrise puts players into a vampire’s castle with a single goal: reach him before nightfall. Of course, it’s easier said than done, since you’ll be needing to deal with the castle itself. Rotating fireplaces, moving bookshelves, watching portraits, and hidden passages are open from the start, but they only give way once the player understands how the place works. No keys, only knowledge.
Meanwhile, despite not having a whip, you’re equipped with something just as cool in a stake launcher that pins enemies to walls. You can also fire stakes through flame to ignite them, and even turn the castle’s own furniture into ammunition.
Underneath it all, the player’s faith is a major gameplay mechanic, functioning as as a literal resource that the castle constantly tempts them to trade away for power, quietly shaping how the story ends. As your conviction weakens, the castle’s influence grows stronger. You’ll have to manage faith as carefully as ammunition.
“In Nightrise, almost everything is open to you from the very beginning, if you know how to reach it,” explains Over the Moon Games’ John Warner. “There is something deeply rewarding about learning to overcome an obstacle instead of just finding a key. It creates a real sense of power and wonder. We took huge inspiration from Tunic in that respect, and from Outer Wilds.”