Gotham Knights promises to take you to a "dynamic and interactive" open-world Gotham City later this year.
Coming from the studio behind Batman: Arkham Origins, WB Games Montreal, Gotham Knights doesn’t have its players step into the boots of Batman. Instead, you'll play as Batgirl (Barbara Gordon), Robin (Tim Drake), Nightwing (Dick Grayson) and Red Hood (Jason Todd).
Giving you the chance to play as all of these heroes, using their unique powers and abilities to stop criminals across the five district boroughs of Gotham City, Gotham Knights is a game that can be played solo or with a friend in drop-in drop-out co-op multiplayer.
After a delay, Gotham Knights is scheduled to release on October 25 for current and last-gen consoles as well as PC. This confirmed release date is sure to be a relief to DC fans who recently saw Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League pushed from 2022 into 2023.
Want to know more? Read on for everything we know about Gotham Knights so far.
Gotham Knights: cut to the chase
Gotham Knights has a confirmed release date of October 25 2022. When it releases it will be playable on PS5 , PS4 , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S , Xbox One and PC.
Officially announced during DC FanDome on August 22, 2020, Gotham Knights was initially set to release sometime in 2021, however, Warner Bros. announced in March 2021 that the game was delayed until 2022. Now, we know more specifically that's October 25 2022.
"We are giving the game more time to deliver the best possible experience for players," Warner Bros. stated in its delay announcement. "Thank you to our amazing fans for your tremendous support of Gotham Knights. We look forward to showcasing more of the game in the coming months."
Court of Owls story trailer Warner Bros. released a new trailer for Gotham Knights during DC FanDome 2021. It's tense, creepy and confirms that the big bad in this game is likely going to The Court of Owls. This is a secret society meets crime organization made up of Gotham's elite.
This would make sense given we already know the game features deadly assassins known as 'Talons'. According to DC canon, these assassins were trained by The Court of Owls.
Gameplay trailer In addition to a world premiere trailer, Warner Bros. premiered the first pre-alpha gameplay of Gotham Knights during DC FanDome 2020, showing Batgirl and Robin joining forces to take on Mr. Freeze during one of several villain encounters. Creative director Patrick Redding narrates the footage, stating that the Mr. Freeze storyline takes place about "a dozen or so hours" into Batgirl's character progression.
Renee Montoya is heard speaking via radio to Batgirl, seemingly confirming that the GCPD detective is working with the group in some capacity. Alfred Pennyworth - Bruce Wayne's butler and guardian - is featured over comms too.
A new addition to the series is the introduction of an XP system for leveling up characters, meaning all thugs will possess a number above their head, giving players an idea of their difficulty. This grows as the player increases in power and ability, so that foes keep pace throughout.
"Confronting a villain like Mr. Freeze can be a very different proposition at level five or at level 15, and not just in terms of stats but in the kinds of attacks and defenses they bring to bear," explains Redding, before teasing more to come in future.
World premiere trailer The first action-packed Gotham Knights trailer was revealed at DC FanDome 2020 and shows our four vigilantes receiving a posthumous call from Bruce Wayne, declaring Gotham unsafe and the GCPD distrustful, while also leaving behind all his files and a base of operations (The Belfy) to help keep the city safe.
We then receive a montage looking at the quartet's different fighting styles, before leading into the co-op element of the game and the introduction of the Batcycle. The trailer closes out introducing what is likely the game's main antagonist - the Court of Owls.
Simultaneously, a child's voice can be heard saying: "No one talks about them. Not a whisper word is said. For if you try to crush them, then the talon strikes you dead." This refers to the deadly assassins known as 'Talons', which were first introduced back in Batman #2 in 2011.
A completely original story, Gotham Knights is set in an open-world Gotham City, following the deaths of Batman and Police Commissioner Jim Gordon. As a result, crime is on the rise with infamous DC villains like Mr Freeze and Penguin aiming to take advantage of the bat's absence. But, having been left a pre-recorded message from Batman, the Gotham Knights take up the mantle to continue Batman's legacy of protecting the city - while uncovering who it was that killed the Caped Crusader in the first place and how the mysterious criminal society, the Court of Owls, is connected to the ongoing chaos.
Gotham Knights is an open-world action RPG that allows you to play as four characters: Batgirl, Robin, Nightwing and Red Hood. Each of these characters has their own playstyle and abilities. Batgirl is trained in a variety of fighting styles and is also well-versed in technology and coding; Nightwing is a master of acrobatics and carries his iconic dual escrima sticks; Robin is an expert fighter who carries a quarterstaff and is trained in stealth; while Red Hood is strong and proficient in a manner of weapons.
The Belfrey will act as the Gotham Knights' home base, with the Batcomputer at the heart of it, and will be where the heroes hang out in the daytime and plan their next steps. During the night, the heroes venture out to uncover clues, fight crime in the city's five districts and explore. Heroes will have the Batcycle and a grapple at their disposal for exploring Gotham City.
Before heading out for nighttime patrol, players will pick a hero to play as, however, you can return to the Belfrey to change your crimefighter. You don't have to play as a specific hero at any time and you can play the whole game with just one.
Each hero has their own unique ability tree and craftable gear, with experience earned through open-world activities. Players will be able to adjust heroes' gear and abilities at the Belfrey.
While you can play Gotham Knights solo, there's also an option to play co-op multiplayer, allowing a second player to drop in and out of the game as one of your fellow Knights - without affecting you.
Gotham City is set to be a living, breathing ecosystem which will feature citizens just going about their day-to-day business, a variety of criminal factions and iconic locations from the vast Batman Universe (film, TV and comics), including the GCPD. We'll also see appearances from Batman's Rogue Gallery.
Below, we've gathered up all the biggest news and rumors surrounding Gotham Knights:
Gotham Knights TV series A Gotham Knights TV series is in the works (which has the same name as the upcoming game) at The CW.
While both the game and the show are called 'Gotham Knights' (borrowed from the comic book series of the same name), the show won't be a spin-off of the game. Instead, according to Entertainment Weekly , the show will "Bruce Wayne's rebellious adopted son in the wake of Bruce's murder as he's forced to forge an unlikely alliance with the children of Batman's enemies after they are all framed for killing the Caped Crusader".
At the time of writing, no release date has been confirmed for the Gotham Knights TV series.
Studio working on another game? Warner Bros. Games Montreal, the studio behind Gotham Knights, might be working on a second, unannounced project alongside the game.
As reported by PCGamesN , Warner Bros. Games Montreal senior artist Megan Berry’s LinkedIn profile states that since 2019, she’s been working as a co-founder and art director on an unannounced game “in addition to our current responsibilities on Gotham Knights”.
In addition, also spotted by PCGamesN , WB Games Montreal was hiring for a Senior Gameplay / Animation Programmer in 2021 “to work with its game development team responsible for a new IP, AAA title.” Whoever gets the role’s job will involve optimizing “cross-platform gameplay systems” and “NPC behaviors” alongside other responsibilities. If gears are indeed actually turning on a new project, this bodes well for Gotham Knights meeting its October 2022 release date. What the game could be is currently unknown and though there are rumors that it could involve Superman, we’ll have to wait for an official announcement from the studio to be sure.
Family is a theme Speaking to GamesRadar , creative director Patrick Redding revealed that family is a key theme of Gotham Knights.
"One of our goals was to really tap into the aspects of the Batman universe that hadn't necessarily had exposure yet in games," Redding told the publication. "We drew on the idea of the Batman Family really as a core element of that. Family, in general, has become a theme in this game."
"It's the Batman family, and these are characters who, because of the death of Bruce Wayne and the death of Batman, have lost their mentor. They've lost this figure that's guided them. And, in a way, they're kind of orphaned. [But] the Court of Owls, as an adversary, has always been about the decadent, dark understanding of what families are, and their connection with the history of Gotham City… There's a dark reflection at work in this game, for sure."
World's Greatest Detectives In the same interview with GamesRadar, creative director Patrick Redding explained for mystery will play a critical part in Gotham Knights, with the Knights aiming to uncover what exactly is going on in Gotham, who killed Batman and how the Court of Owls is connected to it all - a mission that sounds like it will have many twists and turns.
"With the Court [of Owls], the things start out as one thing, and then they definitely end up somewhere else, and that's the exciting part," Redding told the publication.
"The reason we went for a mystery sort of structure for our main story is that it isn't something you can just grind through over a weekend. It's something where you uncover a piece of it, and you get a chance to explore that piece. And it has implications, and it changes the world. And then you have to kind and go and do the detective legwork in order to get access to what the next piece is going to be."
New Key Art Ahead of DC FanDome 2021, where we got a brand new trailer for the game, Warner Bros. released some new key art for the game. It doesn’t give a whole lot away but it does give us a better look at the game’s four heroes as they stroll through Gotham City—oh, and that interesting reflection of Batman in the water under their feet.
Combat with co-op in mind In an interview with GamesRadar , Gotham Knights’ executive producer Fleur Marty has revealed that the combat system for its upcoming Batman game, Gotham Knights, has been designed with two-player co-op in mind. According to Marty, players should expect something slightly different to WB Montreal’s previous Batman game Arkham: Origins, explaining that they “have entirely redesigned the combat system in order for it to work well in co-op.”
While Marty noted that Gotham Knights is “still a brawler” and “some of the mechanics won’t feel totally alien for people who played and enjoyed the Arkham series”, he added that “it is in many ways very different.”
Despite this focus on co-op, there will still be some flexibility in how Gotham Knights can be played. According to Marty, it'll still be possible to play Gotham Knights entirely solo and the co-op element is conveniently “drop-in drop-out”, so you’re not entirely dependent on another player.
Further to that, story progression is shared between all the characters so you can switch between heroes as you please, provided you’re in The Belfry, and invite a friend to join you without the worry that they’ll pick that one underpowered character you haven't played as at all.
Even with that flexibility, though, the idea and spirit of the “team-up” is important to the overall game as Creative Director Patrick Redding said, “The two-player dynamic fits the fantasy and the Gotham City setting. The ‘duo’ or team-up is such a central feature of the universe that there’s a literal shorthand for it in the comics, in animation, in the film and TV versions.”
It's so important, in fact, that it's affected the design of Gotham City itself, with Redding adding that “Gotham is a city of alleyways and rooftops, so the footprint for gameplay needs to be compatible with that.”
Is Batman really dead? The biggest rumor circling the web is that Batman is not actually dead, rather, the world's greatest detective has gone into hiding to infiltrate the Court of Owls before subsequently being revealed alive in the later portions of the story. This has some credibility, just going off the history and general popularity of the Dark Knight alone. WB Games Montréal has not stated that Bruce Wayne is dead either, just Batman.
On top of this, various images surfaced in August 2019 reportedly revealing the studio's previously canceled project starring Damien Wayne; Batman's son and the fifth character to assume the role of Robin. As Batman was set to be non-playable, Warner Bros. apparently scrapped the idea altogether. With this in mind, would the studio then repeat themselves in Gotham Knights?
Release date and location rumors Another rumor pertains to the release date. On Christmas Day, the official Gotham Knights' Twitter account posted a 'Happy Holidays' image from the team at WB Games Montréal, which includes presents, a gym setup, and most notably, a poster dedicated to the Flying Graysons.
For those that are unaware, the Flying Graysons were a group of trapeze artists and Robin's family members that were ultimately killed, leading to the latter becoming a crime fighter. The poster in question has a touring date of Tuesday, July 16 to Sunday, July 2, with many believing one of these to be the release date for the game. This is purely speculation (and looks to be disproved) as neither of those dates landed on a Tuesday or a Sunday in 2021 - plus the game has since been delayed until October 2022.
More interestingly, the bottom of the poster mentions that Haly's Circus will take place at Robinson Park, a location used by Poison Ivy during the No Man's Land comic book storyline. There's a much higher chance this one is real.
Voice actors Early on, WB Games Montréal confirmed the voice cast of Gotham Knights (via Twitter ) after the game's announcement, featuring a line-up of stars new to the Batman franchise, as well as some up-and-comers.
What wasn't confirmed was the role of The Penguin, which early-eyed fans spotted on IMDB will be voiced by Elias Toufexis, who has had a number of TV and voice roles and sounds perfect for the part.
The rest of the line-up consists of America Young as Batgirl, picking up the cowl after previously voicing Barbie in Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures and directing The Concessionaires Must Die, a low-budget comedy flick executive produced by Stan Lee. Young also voiced Dagger in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2.
Relative newcomer Sloane Morgan Siegel will play the Boy Wonder. Set to star in a new comedy series from Aaron David Roberts called Chartered, Siegel has had small roles in Modern Family and The Goldbergs, with the casting of Robin being his biggest role to date.
We then have Christopher Sean as Nightwing, who will be known to Star Wars Resistance fans as the voice of lead character Kazuda Xiono. Apart from this, Sean had a four-year stint as Paul Narita on Days of Our Lives, played Dr. Bernard in the Wastelanders DLC in Fallout 76, and popped up across Marvel's Avengers and Ghost of Tsushima as several additional voices.
Red Hood voice actor Stephen Oyoung is arguably the most well-known in the video game space, previously appearing in Spider-Man (2018) as antagonist Martin Li/Mister Negative. Since then, he has turned up as Alex Weatherstone in Death Stranding and Grayson in Cyberpunk 2077.
Bruce Wayne's long-suffering butler looks to have a major role in Gotham Knights, as Gildart Jackson steps into the limelight. Jackson previously portrayed Giles the butler in the ABC series Whodunnit?, Flyseyes in Netflix's Castlevania series, Gideon in Charmed, as well as additional voices across Star Wars: The Old Republic and its expansion packs. He's also married to Jan from The Office (Melora Hardin).
While Roger Craig Smith voiced Batman in Arkham Origins and Kevin Conroy carried the part in Rocksteady's Arkham Trilogy, Michael Antonakos has been confirmed as the new voice this time around. Antonakos's most prominent role was as Alexios in Assassin's Creed: Odyssey.
The choice to go without an already existing Batman voice actor further confirms WB's commitment that Gotham Knights is set in a different universe from past titles. So, we wouldn't expect the likes of Mark Hamill's Joker to manifest, that is even if the Clown Prince of Crime turns up at all.
How to watch The Bachelor 2022 online and stream season 26 from anywhere
After demonstrating his arm-wrestling and, uh, dancing prowess in the last season of The Bachelorette, Clayton Echard takes center-stage in The Bachelor, and it looks messier than any season we can remember as the beefcake sales rep struggles with his numbers, the search for The One becoming anything but... Settle in for a heck of a ride as we detail how to watch The Bachelor 2022 online from anywhere.
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The Bachelor is always a rollercoaster, but as we've said above, this season looks like one for the ages. Keep reading as we detail how to watch The Bachelor 2022 online and stream every new episode live from anywhere.
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The Bachelor 2022 (season 26): who is Clayton Echard?
A top-eight contestant in the 2021 edition of The Bachelorette, Clayton Echard's pursuit of Michelle Young came to an amicable end after their first one-on-one date failed to produce a spark.
By the time that episode aired it was already an open secret that the 28-year-old salesman from Eureka, Missouri, would be taking the lead in The Bachelor 2022, and it's safe to say the former aspiring NFL tight-end isn't close-fisted with his love.
He may be looking to start a family, but that's not going to stop him having some fun along the way...
Samsung Galaxy S22 vs Samsung Galaxy S21: which smartphone is for you?
The Samsung Galaxy S22 has been announced, representing the first major mainstream phone launch of 2022. So how does it compare to its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy S21 ?
We haven’t had a chance to review the Galaxy S22 as yet, but we do have the official lowdown on its specifications. There have been advances in certain areas, interesting alternative choices in others, and some instances where things have stayed the same.
We’ll be updating this piece with a more in-depth breakdown once we’ve spent some quality time with the Galaxy S22. For now, let’s take a look at how these compact flagships stack up, feature for feature.
Samsung Galaxy S22 vs Samsung Galaxy S21 price and availability
The Samsung Galaxy S22 was unveiled on February 9, 2022. Prices start from $799.99 / £769 / AU$1,249 for the 128GB model, and move up to $ 849.99/ £819 / AU$1,349 for 256GB.
The Samsung Galaxy S21 arrived on January 29, 2021, and was most notable for taking a more affordable approach than the Galaxy S20 before it. Prices started from $799 / £769 / AU$1,249 for the 128GB model, while the 256GB model cost $849.99 / £819 / AU$1,349.
It’s very similar pricing, then, but of course you’ll be able to get the Galaxy S21 for much less money now that its successor is imminent.
Design
Samsung has taken the interesting step of reducing the size of the Samsung Galaxy S22 compared to its predecessor.
The Samsung Galaxy S21 was hardly a big phone at 151.7 x 71.2 x 7.9mm. But the Galaxy S22 is smaller in every department at 146 x 70.6 x 7.6mm.
They share a very similar weight, with the Galaxy S21 weighing 169g, and the Galaxy S21 tipping the scales at 168g.
Essentially, though, Samsung is doubling down on the Galaxy S21’s status as a compact flagship. This is the phone to get if you’re sick of super-sized phablets hogging all your pocket space.
In terms of appearances, the Galaxy S22 might just induce a case of deja vu. It’s mostly the same design as the Galaxy S21, with the same ‘Contour Cut’ camera flowing from the side frame to the rear of the phone.
Not that we’re complaining – no manufacturer has handled the thorny issue of the sticky-outy camera module better than Samsung in recent years.
Both phones have managed to acquire an IP68 rating, meaning they’re equally dust- and water-resistant. No complaints here.
The Galaxy S21’s rear cover is formed from a plastic material that Samsung calls ‘Glasstic’, which we’ve always felt was a little cheap. The S22 switches that for glass on the rear, which feels more premium than the S21.
Display
As part of the Samsung Galaxy S22’s shrinking process, Samsung has downsized its display.
Again, the Galaxy S21 was far from a titan in this department, and its 6.2-inch display was considered small by 2021 flagship standards. But the Galaxy S22 goes even more petite to the tune of 6.1 inches.
Both phones have the same FHD+ resolution, however, and both are punchy Dynamic AMOLED 2X Displays. This means they’re bursting with vibrant color output and can refresh at up to 120Hz.
There is a subtle difference here in the refresh rate that both phones can drop to. While the Galaxy S21 could only stoop to 48Hz when the situation required it, the Galaxy S22 can drop all the way to 10Hz.
This means that the Galaxy S22 screen is more power efficient than its predecessor, which should have positive ramifications for battery life. We’ll get into that a little later.
Both Galaxies sport a 240Hz touch sampling rate in Game Mode. This isn’t class-leading by any means, but it should make for a nice responsive screen during gaming nonetheless.
Camera
Both phones sport triple camera systems, but Samsung changed its hardware for the Galaxy S22.
While the Samsung Galaxy S21 leads with a 12MP wide sensor, the Samsung Galaxy S22 ramps up the pixel count to a full 50MP. This is the ISOCELL GN5 sensor that Samsung announced in September, which features Dual Pixel Pro autofocus technology for quicker autofocusing.
Switching to the ultra-wides, both phones give you a 12MP 120-degree sensor with an f/2.2 aperture.
The telephoto sensors are where the differences manifest again. Samsung gave the Galaxy S21 a particularly sharp 64MP telephoto the used hybrid zoom technology to attain a 3x zoom effect.
The Galaxy S22, on the other hand, uses a 10MP telephoto, which is lower megapixel, but can hit a 3x zoom optically. No cropping required. Both Galaxy phones pack 10MP selfie cameras around front.
Specs and performance
The main advantage the Samsung Galaxy S22 has over the Samsung Galaxy S21, at least on paper, is performance.
While the Galaxy 21 supplies either the Snapdragon 888 or the Exynos 2100, depending on region, the Galaxy S22 gives you the next generation of both chips. That’s the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 or the Exynos 2200.
This doesn’t seem to be the biggest leap forward in raw performance terms. Last year’s chips were build using a 5nm process, whereas this year’s use 4nm.
Early reports suggest that CPU performance is quite similar, but the newer chips seem to hold more of an advantage when it comes to GPU performance. In the case of the Exynos 2200, AMD has supplied the same RDNA2 architecture that you’ll find in the PS5 and the Xbox Series X.
We’ll have to wait and see what kind of advantages these meatier GPUs hold out for the Galaxy S22, as well as its potential AI/machine learning advantages.
Both phones back their chips with 8GB of RAM as standard, and both give you a choice of 128 or 256GB of storage.
Battery
As part of the downsizing process, Samsung has reduced the size of the Galaxy S22’s battery from 4,000mAh to 3,700mAh.
That’s a little worrying, as the Galaxy S21’s was hardly considered massive. What’s more, as we’ve just discussed, the Galaxy S22’s upgraded processors aren’t hugely more efficient than their predecessors.
Additionally, we were a little underwhelmed with the Galaxy S21’s battery life in our review. We found that we could generally get through a full day of light to moderate usage without having to plug in, but more intensive days would see us coming up short before lights out.
Samsung hasn’t changed its underwhelming charging provision from the Galaxy S21, either. Both phones support up to 25W wired charging, which is well short of the 45W charger supplied in the Galaxy S21+, not to mention the 80W charger of the OnePlus 10 Pro.
Neither Samsung gives you the relevant power brick in the box, either.
In terms of wireless charging, both the Galaxy 22 and Galaxy S21 support up to 15W. Again, rival phones will give you much faster
Takeaway
It’s early days for the Samsung Galaxy S22, but based on the initial specs and press materials, it seems to be a case of holding station for the company.
There are few material differences that we can spot here, with a similar design and display front and center. On the plus side, we’re intrigued to see what the Galaxy S22’s new 50MP camera can do, and we’re generally all for Samsung’s decision to slim its new flagship entry point even further.
The accompanying reduction in battery capacity is undoubtedly our biggest area of concern at this early stage, and will be one of the key areas we seek to address come review time.
In a year that doesn’t seem to be promising any great smartphone surprises, the Galaxy S22 looks like another solid pick – especially if you’re done with super-sized phones.