Gotham City Impostors Review - Fantastic Value For The Price

rating: 4.5

€œHoly inferiority complex Batman! We may have a winner!€ You have probably heard of Gotham City Impostors - it is a download only game available on XBLA, PSN and PC. It has no campaign to speak of but don€™t let that put you off: you might have even heard a bit of smack talk about this game - don€™t listen to any of it. If you€™ve seen the trailer you could be forgiven for thinking that the game looks a terribly childish one aimed at pre-pubescent teens who are simply attracted to the fact that it has something to do with the world of Batman. What this game is is a fantastically addictive online first person shooter. By placing it in that category Warner Bros have given themselves a huge challenge. By now, almost every person who owns a console or PC has a copy somewhere of a Call of Duty game. Not only that, this is actually a very crowded genre, with plenty of amazing FPS games available wherever you look. The likes of Killzone, Crysis, Halo, and Resistance all provide very compelling FPS experiences online, and they all have meaty campaigns to get stuck into when online isn€™t all you want in life. The thing is though, for those of you who do love the online FPS experience, denying yourself this game would be denying yourself a great experience. This game understands who its competition is, and Warner Bros and the guys at Monolith have created a game that can stand toe to toe with the other FPS giants and actually come out on top. As soon as you start the game you are given an €œinitiation€ that gets you up to speed with all the gadgets and gizmos you€™d expect in a Batman game. There are grapple hooks and fancy guns, not to mention roller skates and Batwings! Once you€™re done with the initiation it€™s time to join the fun in the online modes. And it really is fun. Graphics are impressive in their own right. Monolith didn€™t go for over the top realism like Battlefield 3. But then this isn€™t a game about realism. This is a game where you can roller skate around a factory site in a clown outfit kitted out with dustbin lids for armour, with deadly weapons, as you try to kill as many guys who look like Batman as you can! Its brilliant. Instead the graphics remind me more of Bioshock with flamboyant colours and bulky character designs. It all works perfectly. Gameplay itself is hopelessly addictive with standard FPS controls for the normal instructions (Left Trigger €“ aim, Right Trigger €“ Shoot.) Each round you€™re either on the Batman team or the Joker team, and depending on which mode you€™re playing the rule, as in all FPS€™ is to basically lay waste to anybody who isn€™t on your team. The more you play the more you earn rewards and unlock cool stuff. It€™s this similarity to Call of Duty that makes it so addictive. There€™s always something else you can unlock. And these gadgets are funky and weird. It€™s not like unlocking the lame abilities to hold your breath for longer! You can unlock a microphone for the sole purpose of helping your team€™s morale. You can€™t kill anyone with it. All you do is run around shouting positive stuff about your team until someone with a real weapon kills you. It€™s ridiculous and yet inspired. There is not any one feature about this game that makes it better than the Call of Dutys and Battlefields of the world. It€™s the experience as a whole. The grin on my face whilst playing this game would be better suited to a caricature of me, and not on my actual face. Yes it€™s a Batman game that doesn€™t actually feature a playable Batman. Yes there is no campaign. But what is on offer is worth it. Especially when you consider you€™re paying about the quarter of the price of a full priced retail game. And this game has no end. Provided people are online this game could last years. Herein lays the game€™s one major flaw. It€™s matchmaking. It€™s terrible! Not quite Gears of War 2 terrible. But nevertheless, between rounds I did occasionally find myself leaving parties just so I could re-enter and have a better chance at joining a game. For the price though, this is fantastic value for money. It€™s a good looking, addictive game, that is surprisingly fun if you embrace all its idiosyncrasies. Hopefully with the addition of new maps through DLC this game can achieve a decent enough lifespan to encourage a sequel or something else quirky and addictive from Monolith and Warner Bros. Gotham City Impostors is available to download now!