Gotham City Impostors

Batman has left town for reasons unbeknownst to anyone in Gotham – probably to visit Superman or Wonder Woman in another Justice League meeting. Coincidently the Joker has also vanished so crime rates have fallen 2,000% in the last week alone. Something has to be done. So picking up the work that the Joker has left behind in Gotham is a vigilante group known as “Jokerz.” Running around causing mayhem. To combat this is the tribute act to the caped crusader, “The Bats.” The sole reason for there existence is to protect Gotham in Batman’s absence.

The only problem with these vigilante groups is that they don’t have the technology, money and know-how to crime fight with the professionalism of Batman, or cause the meticulously planned and complex crime to lure the Bat into near death situations. Instead what the two teams do have are guns, homemade explosives, bear traps and roller skates. Unleashing hell in a tirade of bullets this is where Gotham City Impostors comes in.

The premise of the game is simple – a first person online shooter where they only mission is to kick some ass. Gotham City Impostors has three modes of play, Team deathmatch, Fumigation and Psych Warfare. Deathmatch is as it sounds, Fumigation involves the teams trying to unleash team specific gasses to defeat their opponents by defending and fighting for gas machines. Finally we have Psych Warfare a mode in which players try and steal a battery for a rudimentary brainwashing device.

To go with the three main modes are the initiation section where players are introduced to the items they will be using such as capes to glide with, grapple guns which are just modified fishing rods able to support the weight of a 300 pound man (don’t ask how) and other such gadgets like the boomerang. Challenge mode is also present for gamers who which to earn experience and also get to know the maps.

The maps in Gotham aren’t the biggest seen in any video game by any stretch of the imagination but because they are smaller and since the games are limited to a maximum of 8 on 8, then it makes for a fast paced action game. There are bright, colourful and outrageous landscapes that are easy to navigate. Bright costumes also make it hard to cower in the shadows. The only problem with the maps is that there isn’t enough of them and they can get tedious if they are constantly played.

With this niggle aside, Gotham City Impostors has a mountain of unlockable guns, upgrades and various other extras to earn as the character levels up. The trouble with this is when you start off, no matter how good a player is at first person shooters, if there has been no upgrades to any weapons then the chances of first time success are slim. This could put people off the game but as soon as level 5 is reached then fun can be had by all, the additions that can be opened up means a decent challenge to the older plays can be mounted.

Weapons are used in exactly the same way as Call of Duty games, firing with the right shoulder buttons, and the snap aiming with the left. It feels instantly familiar and easy to use. Unlike Call of Duty, Gotham City Impostors doesn’t feel as tight and the aim isn’t as accurate. Not unlike COD games, there is a lot of smack talking from the characters, wise cracks and a lot of censored swearing adding to the hilarity of shooting someone in the head.

If a fun, hilarious and down right good time is to be had then Gotham City Impostors is the place to be. A lack of a single player campaign could be a problem for some as it literally throws you into the fray with little training. It does feel like a dirty love child between Batman and Call of Duty but it really works. Be warned, any gamer does have to suffer a battering before getting to grips with the game.

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