Spurred on by Batman’s righteousness and Joker’s love for theatrical anarchy, Gotham City has become a battleground. Citizens are choosing sides – the Bats or the Jokerz –donning the garb of either the Dark Knight or the Clown Prince to fight for control of the streets. But don’t worry if you don’t have Batman’s martial arts skills or Joker’s insanity; all you need to join in on the fun is a gun, a makeshift costume, and a little enthusiasm. 

Gotham City Impostors is a new take on the superhero genre. Gone are the crazy combo moves and third-person camera angles, replaced with wacky equipment and fast-paced first-person shooting. Impostors feels a lot like Call of Duty as far as gameplay and the level of customization your character can have. 

"Um, help us, real Batman!...Oh crap, it's daytime! He's sleeping"

For instance, all guns come with a slew of attachments and skins that are unlockable as your profile levels up. You’ll also get a calling card that’s like COD’s nametags. You can even have a taunting catchphrase that is heard after killing an opponent. 

Furthermore, body types are a huge factor (pardon the pun) in how you want to play. You can be fat and slow but take bullets like a champ, or be small and quick but be put down quickly. Or, of course, you can just be somewhere in the middle in all respects. And no matter your choices, cosmetic enhancements abound. Jokerz get to alter their hairstyle, face paint, and flair (what kind of giant flower do you want in your lapel?). Batman supporters can modify their cowl, cape, and bat symbol on their chest. Our favorite was the cardboard cowl with the towel cape. 

What part of Gotham is this?

The best part of Impostors is the gadgets. When building your load-outs, you get a wide range of tools to help keep the opposition down. X-ray goggles let you view enemies through cover and tag them for the rest of the team to track. Channel Assassin’s Creed with smoke bombs or jump higher with beach balls strapped to boots. Roller skates let you move faster, but sacrifice tight steering for speed. By far our favorites, though, were the grapple gun and hang glider. The former takes a little getting used to, but once comfort set in we were zipping all over the level, finding the best spots to pounce on the unsuspecting. When using the glider, meanwhile, you can use the vents scattered throughout the map to launch you into the air. Once airborne you can dive bomb enemies for extra damage. This aerial attack is especially comical when you see one of the fat character models dropping out of the sky on a glider that shouldn’t support them. 

Clearly, Impostors is not your serious military shooter with dark, muted tones. The maps are brightly colored and filled with silly things like trampolines to bounce you onto the rooftops for the perfect vantage points to snipe enemies. Piles of presents are scattered all over to provide healing and ammo replenishment for both teams. Maps are asymmetrical, so at “halftime” teams switch sides, keeping the action fresh and helping to stop one team from controlling the playing field for the whole game.   

Gravity is going to catch up with that airborne Jokerz member really soon.

Gametypes are all pretty standard FPS fare: capture the flag, team deathmatch, and area control. But the one we had the most fun with was psychological warfare. Here, the game starts out with a battery in the center of the map that both teams are trying get to their respective propaganda machines. Once the battery is installed, it starts powering up, and if it gets fully charged it denies the enemy team use of their weapons. To get your guns back you have to slap (yes, really) your way to the propaganda machine and dislodge the battery. The hilarious results reminded us of being in a fourth-grade fight. 

Overall, Gotham City Imposters seems to be a refreshing take not only both the superhero and FPS genres. It’s nice to be able to have the same tight shooting mechanics we love in COD, but without the super intense military atmosphere. As the Clown Prince himself might say to the game’s competitors, “Why so serious?”

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PUBLISHER: Warner Bros.  •  DEVELOPER: Monolith Productions  •  MULTIPLAYER: Yes  • RELEASE DATE: January 2012  •  FOR FANS OF: Batman, guns, Batman + guns