Gotham City Impostors Beta Impressions
After investing a good chunk of time into the Gotham City Impostors beta, I can safely say that it is a lot of fun and has tons of potential. The beta wasn’t without its issues though, but if they manage to fix the big issue I found, it could end up being the next Team Fortress 2.
In this beta, you are given three modes to choose from. ‘Initiation’ runs you through the basics of the game, letting you experience gliding on roller skates, using the grappling hook, gliding, dive bombing, shooting, etc. It is a very well done tutorial and because of it, I was able to jump right into the main game and do quite well.
The first mode I played was Psych Warfare. In this mode, you try to hook up a battery to a machine that will confuse the other team, stripping them of their weapons. As you are stripped of weapons, you can only slap the enemy to death. This means that you will mostly be killed during this time, but slapping someone to death is awesome!
As for the actual gameplay, the shooting is good, if a little sensitive, and the weapons are both varied and interesting. Also, the health bar is a great idea because every time you shoot someone, the amount of damage you inflict is always shown, meaning you always know how close to death they are. And if you kill someone, your customized calling card will pop up on screen, adding further insult. Other little nuances such as an ever present announcer, the joker yelling commands, each character saying random stuff, trampolines that help you get to higher places, and bear traps all help the game become an enjoyable shooting experience.
So, after playing Psych Warfare, I tried to play Fumigation. Well, I never actually got into a game because every single time I tried to, the match wouldn’t load past the lobby. Even keeping the same screen on for 10 minutes still resulted in nothing. Luckily, this is a beta and they will hopefully have this fixed by launch (or even sooner) because having a certain game type unplayable is inexcusable.
Basically, Gotham City Impostors is a very fun arcadey shooter. The gameplay is fast and rewarding, with a lot to love for fans of less hardcore shooters. Despite having just one playable mode (for me anyways), that shouldn’t hold you back from downloading this and getting a taste of what the final version will offer.
PS3 owners simply need to visit the Playstation Store to download the beta, Xbox 360 gamers have to go here: https://www.gothamcityimpostors.com/beta/.
