Have you ever wanted to be a vigilante? What about a villain? Say, have you ever wanted to glide through the air spouting cheesy one-liners before swooping down to deliver some sweet justice? If you’ve answered any of those with yes, well you’re in luck! It’s time to suit up and look sharp as Warner Bros’ hilarious and frenzied online first-person shooter, Gotham City Imposters, hits the virtual shelves of Xbox Live Arcade, PSN and PC!
Hats off to the chefs! Monolith Productions have seriously breathed new life into one of gaming’s most splendid genres, and whilst the narrative is non-existent and the structuring really is bare-bones, Gotham City Impostors is an easy-going, ultra-addictive joyride that handles the frenetic pace of an arcade FPS with quirk and consideration.
At its core, Gotham City Impostors is a 6 vs. 6 fully online first person shooter (with a batch of solo challenges thrown in to provide variation, however redundant they may be.) Two fully-customizable tribes are at war, the wannabe Bats and the wannabe Jokerz, and it’s your choice of how you want to modify your character, loadouts and gaming cards in order to be recognised as the toughest hero (or anti-hero) out there on the streets. There are literally hundreds of ways to customize your game; through unlockable items and perks, to taglines and calling-cards that you deliver to opponents post-destruction. It’s this Call of Duty-esque levelling up/unlocking system that kept me hooked, and combined with wonderful gameplay – Gotham City Impostors really is a recipe for a winner.
The game looks like Left 4 Dead, feels like Team Fortress 2 and plays like Call of Duty – a brilliant combo that, despite being done to death in their respective franchises, works incredibly well here. Despite being filled with various customizations, gadgets and weapons – Gotham City Impostors is a true testament to being a “pick up and play” experience and the intuitive control scheme (where left bumper is used to deploy your gadget, such as a glider or a grappling-hook, whist the right bumper throws grenades or boomerangs) is so simplistic I can guarantee your brain will rarely be taxed.
I’m a stickler for charming games, and the wonderful “make-shift” universe that Monolith have created is as goofy as it is satisfying. Regardless of whether you are a self-appointed Caped Crusader or a loyal, lip-stick smudged cohort of crime – the cheap, homemade emulations of DC’s iconic costumes will have you chuckling at their inventiveness and gawking at their buffoonery. The one-liners are (in my opinion) absolutely quality – and with the ability to adjust how slow or fast your character delivers them, they can also be freakin’ hilarious. There’s something extremely forgivable about the whole set-up, and even if you’re unfairly killed by a burly brute with a box on his head, the fact he then proudly announces “let that be a lesson to you!” just makes him too sweet to get mad at.
The game only has three different modes (variations of team deathmatch, capture the flag and hold the spawn zones) and roughly six different maps, so it’s clear to see why it is (for now) just a DLC-only package. Perhaps with a few more solo/offline features and a lot more content the game would have passed for a fully-fledged £30 title, but for now I’m proud to say that Gotham City Imposters has truly grappling-hooked its way into my heart – and I couldn’t recommend it enough.
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