If you're going into Gotham Knights fully expecting that the Clown Prince Of Crime is there, then you're going to be disappointed.
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That's because the development team at Warner Bros Montreal (specifically creative director Patrick Redding) has confirmed that the Joker won't be making an appearance in any way. As reported by IGN, Redding confirmed at a panel at San Diego Comic-Con, when a fan asked him whether The Joker would make an appearance.
However, he did say that he doesn't deny or confirm whether Harley Quinn, the Joker's on-again-off-again lover, will be in the game. As such, maybe you could expect a Harley appearance somewhere - but the likelihood is low given how dominant the game's four protagonists are.
Aside from confirming that Joker won't be in the game, Redding also reiterated that Batman is, in fact "really dead" and stays that way throughout the entire game. So no wishful thinking for the Dark Knight's return somewhere. Otherwise, Robin, Nightwing, Red Hood, and Batgirl wouldn't even have a good-enough motivation to be Gotham's new crime-fighting vigilantes.
With the Joker not being in Gotham Knights, it is now roughly three years since anyone has seen the Clown Prince Of Crime in a major video game role. Sure, he's been a part of Mortal Kombat, a Fortnite skin, and the Lego Batman series. But since Mark Hamill's turn as the villain in the original Batman Arkham trilogy, he hasn't been seen in the main role since.
Either way, Warner Bros Montreal is still set to launch the game on October 25th for the PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. This is after the last-gen PS4 and Xbox One versions of the game were canceled out of nowhere. Several Gotham Knights gameplay trailers have been revealed over the past few months, covering all four protagonists.
The latest Gotham Knights gameplay trailer featured Batgirl, aka Barbara Gordon. In the character trailer, she shows off a couple of suits, combat skills, gadgets, and traversal, among other things. Here is the trailer, uploaded to PlayStation's YouTube channel:
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More Gotham Knights Details
It's still several months before gamers get to go back to Gotham. Then, let us help you build your hype, even more, considering the game's open-world map, which Warner Bros Montreal says is the "biggest version" of it ever seen.
According to a Kotaku report, director Geoff Ellenor and executive producer Fleur Marty made the map's scale very clear by using the Batcycle. Ellenor says that he's spent "a lot of his Zoom calls" riding the motorcycle just driving around Gotham, citing how it's the fastest way to move around the map due to how big it is.
Aside from the sheer breadth of the map, WB Montreal also mentioned how Gotham was designed with "a lot of layers." So while the game map is wide, it is also billed as a deep one with a good amount of verticality. But these are the developers' words, so take them with a grain of salt until you finally get your hands on the game later this year.
Related: Gotham Knights' Crafting, Upgrade Mechanics Get A Deeper Look
