Anyone coming from the Arkham series to Gotham Knights will probably have a lot of questions about the many gameplay differences between the two titles. However, “How do I glide in this game?” will probably be somewhere near the top of that list.
After all, gliding around Gotham City was a bit part of the Arkham games, while Gotham Knights seemingly asks you to rely on the Batcycle and your grappling hook as your only modes of transportation. Well, that’s not exactly the case, but you will need to work to unlock your “glide” ability in this game.
To unlock gliding in Gotham Knights, you’ll need to first complete your current character’s Knighthood challenges. These challenges are essentially mini-missions available via the training area of the Belfry and the open-world patrol missions. Specifically, here are the challenges you’ll need to complete to unlock gliding:
- Timed Strike Training
- One Step Ahead (Stop 10 Premeditated Crimes)
- Against all Odds (Defeat 3 Enforcers)
For the most part, those challenges are pretty simple. The first, Timed Strike Training, can be completed entirely within the Belfry’s training module and should only take you a few minutes. Timed Strikes are an especially valuable skill to know in this game, so be sure to pay attention to the tutorial so you don’t miss out on anything.
One Step Ahead is slightly trickier. Basically, you’ll need to head out on patrol and find the locations of 10 Premeditated Crimes. To locate Premeditated Crimes, scan any regular enemies before you fight them. Look for the “question mark” that appears over some of their heads. That question mark lets you know that you’re able to interrogate that enemy for additional information. After interrogating them, you’ll be able to stop a new Premeditated Crime during your next patrol. Unfortunately, that means it will take you several nights to complete this challenge. You may unlock several Premeditated Crimes in a single patrol if you’re really lucky, but that depends on how many of the right thugs you’re able to find in one night.
Against all Odds is actually the most annoying of the three challenges. While it’s easy to take down the game’s Enforcer enemies, you never know when or where they’re going to appear. You can usually find them during Premeditated Crimes and certain campaign missions mixed in with the other enemies. Basically, keep working your way through the rest of the game, and you’ll eventually find the Enforcers needed to complete this challenge.
When you’ve completed your current character’s final Knighthood challenge, go back to the Belfry and interact with Batman’s mask. That will allow you to unlock your character’s glide ability.
Actually, a word of warning about that “glide” ability. Batgirl is the only character in the game who can glide in Gotham Knights as Batman glided in the Arkham games. Each character in the game actually has their own method of quick traversal:
Batgirl – Cape Glide
Nightwing – Mechanical Glider
Robin – Teleportation
Red Hood – Mystical Leap
Batgirl’s method of transportation will feel instantly familiar to every Arkham fan, but the others will take some serious getting used to. Red Hood’s transportation method, in particular, is a little awkward to get the hang of at first.
As you may have already guessed, the design of the game’s Knighthood challenges means that you will need to complete these challenges with every character in order to unlock their special transportation abilities. That may take you quite some time, so it’s best to find the character you think you’ll prefer to play as for most of the game and focus on unlocking their transportation ability first. Otherwise…well, I hope you like the grind, because there is quite a lot of it in this game.