Gotham City Impostors Review for PC

System: PC, PS3*, Xbox 360
Dev: Monolith Productions
Pub: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Release: February 7, 2012
Players: 1-12
Screen Resolution: 480p-1080p	Blood, Comic Mischief, Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence

To accommodate this sure-to-be-lengthy process of getting your character the perfect loadout and look, there are 1,000 levels of advancement. No, I'm not kidding. When I first read that, I assumed it was either a typo or just a sneaky way of saying "100 levels of advancement with ten tiers of Prestige." Nope. You actually get to shoot, trap, capture, and giggle your way through 1,000 entire levels of character progression.

Gotham City Impostors Screenshot

So how does it play? Well, truthfully, it feels a lot like a Call of Duty game. In fact, the controls are pretty much identical. However, as I explained during the game's beta period, the look sensitivity feels a bit too loose. Of course, there is a sensitivity slider that should fix this up for you if it bothers you, but it's still a little weird to have the sensitivity turned so high from the get-go. Also, the controls are quite a bit sloppier than, say, Modern Warfare 3. (I would actually put it much closer to Black Ops than Modern Warfare 3 on the "sloppiness" scale.) Then again, the game is about psychopathic wannabes who put on homemade outfits and battle each other. A little sloppiness is actually quite fitting here.

My biggest concern during beta was that the matchmaking tended to cause a lot of unnecessary waiting. I am happy to report that, in my first few days with the game, the issues are far less frequent, and getting into a match is quite a bit easier than it was during beta. It's not perfect by any means, but Monolith promises there are some more improvements coming with the free March DLC that will streamline matchmaking even more.

At the end of the day, Monlith managed to make a Batman-related first-person shooter without putting a gun in the hands of Batman himself—not an easy feat. Additionally, they have provided some incredibly fun gameplay modes and some very well-built maps, all while keeping the price point low. Some may complain about the small amount of maps here, but really, the game costs the same amount as a Black Ops map pack. Did you really expect fifteen maps for fifteen bucks? And when you consider the insane amount of costume customization and level progression here, $15 isn't a bad price at all. If you want an alternative to Team Fortress 2, with a little bit of Batman thrown into the mix, you can't go wrong with Gotham City Impostors.

By
Josh Wirtanen
Editor / News Director

@joshuajwirtanen
Date: February 10, 2012

RATING OUT OF 5

RATING DESCRIPTION

3.6

Graphics
The cartoony look is definitely a good fit, though there could have been a tad bit more detail to make this one compete with the big boys in the FPS market.

3.8

Control
The controls could be viewed as "Call of Duty, only a bit sloppier." This isn't necessarily a bad thing, though.

4.2

Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
Appropriate background music, with a talented—yet psychotic—voiceover cast.

4.1

Play Value
If you don't get sick of the five maps, you will play this one for quite some time as you climb through all 1,000 levels of advancement.

3.9

Overall Rating - Good
Not an average. See Rating legend below for a final score breakdown.

Review Rating Legend
0.1 - 1.9 = Avoid	2.5 - 2.9 = Average	3.5 - 3.9 = Good	4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
2.0 - 2.4 = Poor	3.0 - 3.4 = Fair	4.0 - 4.4 = Great	5.0 = The Best

Game Features:

Hatched from the twisted minds at Monolith Productions, Gotham City Impostors is a download-only multiplayer FPS that pits violent vigilantes dressed up like Batman against craven criminals dressed up like the Joker in open warfare on the streets of Gotham City.

Gotham City has gone insane! Batman is up to his pointy ears in unwanted "helpers" determined to dish out their own bloodthirsty brand of vigilante justice in his name (and image). Meanwhile, a small army of self-appointed junior Jokerz has turned the streets of Gotham into a barmy battlefield of bullets, bodies, and bear traps.

Packing more customization than you can shake a shotgun at, you get to choose the guns, gadgets and even the hairdos that fit your personality and play style. It doesn't matter if you want to be a mighty muscleman on roller skates with a hunting bow or a lithe lassie packing a homebrew rocket launcher and glider wings, Gotham City Impostors does not have rigid character classes and lets you play the way you want.

A robust level up system lets you unlock all the items required to make your impostor as crazy as you desire. Whether you prefer to develop your impostor by proving your prowess in solo challenges designed to test your skills and reflexes or by battling your way to the top of the scoreboard in several delightfully over-the-top multiplayer modes, there's a surefire way for you to realize your preposterous potential!