By Rob Leane

Published: Tuesday, 10 May 2022 at 12:00 am

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The upcoming video game Gotham Knights will give some new superpowers to the Red Hood, and today’s new gameplay trailer has revealed some of the snazzy tricks he’s learned.

The Red Hood is a popular DC Comics character, a sidekick turned dead person turned gun-toting antihero. Real name Jason Todd, he originally came to prominence in the comics as a replacement Robin. Later, Jason was killed by the Joker, but then he came back as a vengeful vigilante who was much more violent than Batman.

You might remember that these events were previously adapted in Rocksteady’s 2015 game Arkham Knight, but it’s worth noting that Arkham Knight takes place in a different continuity to the new game Gotham Knights.

In the comics, the Red Hood is traditionally represented as being a superpower-free superhero, not unlike the Dark Knight himself in that regard. Although the Red Hood uses a lot of weapons and gadgetry, he doesn’t normally have any supernatural powers – until now, that is!

As the Gotham Knights director Geoff Ellenor explains in the new gameplay demonstration, this version of Red Hood “gained new abilities after being resurrected by an assassin cult”. As you do.

We then see Red Hood appearing to bounce through the air as he travels across the city, with ripples of magic-like light appearing to emit from him. As Ellenor describes it, “he uses his mystical leap to move across the rooftops, spring-boarded by his own soul energy”.

The trailer makes it clear that the other heroes in the game – Nightwing, Batgirl and the current Robin – will each have their own ways of traversing the Gotham skyline. Nightwing, for example, has a glider instead of a supernatural power.

Throughout the trailer, we also see red special effects seeming to fizz around Red Hood as he partakes in combat encounters. We’d assume that this crimson energy is another of his new powers, and it presumably helps him take out foes.

However, if you’re a loyalist, don’t worry too much – this version of Red Hood still clearly loves guns (although he’s said to be firing non-lethal rounds) and he uses some explosives in the trailer as well. Contrastingly, Nightwing prefers acrobatic melee attacks.

Ahead of the game’s release this October, we’ll watch with interest as more details are revealed about the other heroes in the game and how they differ from one another. Until then, you can check out the new demo for yourself below.