Gotham City Impostors

The streets of Gotham are unsafe. But while people think it’s because of the raging crime and super villains roaming around, there’s actually another reason for the mayhem. A bunch of copycats are trying to imitate their heroic icon and declaring war on the opposite side. Gotham City Impostors is all about shooting, flying and exploding with a twist.

This online multiplayer shooter takes players through a select amount of maps in 3 game modes: Team Deathmatch, Fumigation and Psych Warfare. And while the number of maps is few, at least each terrain is expansive and contains many different tiers and fighting options. From city blocks to docks and abandoned theme parks, each locale has a range of claustrophobic hallways and rooms as well as wide open spaces with multiplestories. Here, characters can use their arsenal to grapple, bounce or fly through the quirky sceneries. However, this sometimes comes at the expense of unwanted camouflage. Each map has a slick, cartoony finish, but the dark tones sometimes hide some character models, simply by blending with the walls. Gotham boasts a few lurking hiding spots as well, but overseeing enemies in plain sight can be a nuisance.

Luckily, the first person shooting element is on point. There is a brief Initiation section that can be done in order to learn some more eccentric traits of the game and a Challenge mode to learn to be proficient with skills. But after that it’s on to straight shooting action. Gameplay is tiered on unlocking specials through playing and leveling up. Basics hold a few different classes, with the standard loadouts of one main weapon, a backup, a support item and a useable item. The quirk here is the support item that lets players glide, become invisible or perhaps grapple hook through the level. All this impetus results in some bouncy gameplay, certainly given that each map offers trampolines, ramps and multiple tiers. Each item also has a given strength, but it does seem like the glider has an advantage of being swift, versatile and also unleashing a devastating stomp attack.

The real game in Gotham City Impostors is customization. Standard loadouts are fine and weapons don’t differ a lot from each other and feel rather generic, but unlocking new possibilities makes gameplay spicier. Through gaining experience, players can unlock new customized equipment slots for their loadouts, alter their body type for health and speed or visually alter their hero with costume points. The visual aspect seems grossly outbalanced with ludicrous points needed, but the clever touches of altering voices and such does offer some pleasure. In reality, it’s customizing a character to its optimum potential that makes this game what it is.

From weapons to special abilities, the sky is the limit as long as enough experience has been unlocked. New weapons can be added with an additional mod to further personalize it. This doesn’t create a large advantage, but that serves a purpose in order to keep beginning players in the game.

Further down the road it will also be possible to unlock special character modifiers and have a Rampage skill, which activates if the conditions for it are met. Maps also systematically scatter prize boxes that wield an equal amount of power to those that unlock it. The downside in customization is that most outlandish weapons and mods are practically useless. For instance, there’s a cool freeze gun that doesn’t damage, but instead freezes opponents in place to shatter them afterwards. The practical use of this however is much less appealing than it sounds. It’s best to stick with the more traditional weaponry when slaying jokers.

Because I can, come at me. And yes, this is Marvel not DC.

The standard team-based slaughter of Team Deathmatch is well-known by now, so let’s pass to the two other modes. Fumigation is sort of like capturing and defending points. By controlling two or more of the three fumigation points, the winning team will start releasing gas. The goal is to fill the team’s bar up to 100% in order to choke out the opposition and win. When teams are well-rounded, this can become a very intense battle. Tides can turn at the drop of a bat.

But the most fun and unique mode is Psych Warfare. Here, the teams need to battle for a battery and place it into the Brainwashing Machine to score a point and demoralize the opposition. When struck down, the opposing team will lose all weaponry and will only be able to slap others while hearing how awful they are. To keep things fair, teams will also switch sides at half time and take on the other side of the camp. This way, everyone gets to play the same map. It’s as simple as it is effective.

Meanwhile, the team captain will bellow commands through the intercom. This is just as rousing as it is annoying. It’s really going to depend on the mood whether it adds to the game, having to hear the Joker shout that batteries need to be collected or control points need to be taken. Sometimes this is exhilarating and sometimes it will sound like a stab wound to the ear. There’s no real right or wrong here.

Some lesser choices are elements like health stations scattered around fixed posts in maps. The developers have cleverly put these at critical intersections to prevent camping, but it can still occur that a blockage will appear due to health point hogging. In addition, matchmaking doesn’t always make the proper choice and teams are often mismatched and that’s when players aren’t waiting endlessly in the lobbies. Games drop out often and for no reason. And given there aren’t a ton of people playing and matches need to fill up before starting, this puts a strain on the game’s longevity.

Gotham City Impostors is not bat bad; it’s actually quite good. But its dire intention of being as balanced as possible only makes it seem shallower in the end. It’s rather ironic that it’s built on customization, when everything ends up feeling like the same thing. It’s therefore that its other flaws, like its dreadful online stability, become more apparent and carry more weight than they should. It could’ve been better, but that doesn’t mean it should be overlooked. There’s still a fun, quirky little shooter in there to pass some time.

Daav Valentaten, NoobFeed. (@Daavpuke)