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You might see a new game starring a man dressed like a bat at this year's E3.
Nope, not that game.
Gotham City Imposters is a multiplayer first-person shooter from Monolith, the creators of the F.E.A.R. and Condemned series. And no, you don't really play as Batman. (He, of course, would never use a gun.) Nor is the action anything like the upcoming Batman: Arkham City. Instead, the game pits teams of Bat-wannabes against Joker lookalikes in frantic, fast-paced games that feel like Counter-Strike with a Dark Knight flavor.
We only got to try Imposters for a few matches, but we saw enough to pique our interest in the game as a quick FPS fix. The mode we played featured the two sides warring over possession of a battery, which we would bring back to our base to power a "brainwashing" machine. When activated, this machine makes the opposing team drop their guns and flail wildly for a brief time, making them sitting ducks (to borrow a Penguin-esque turn of phrase). It's an interesting twist on the old capture-the-flag trope.
This isn't a game for campers or slowbies. You'll need to run fast and shoot faster to survive…and we definitely hit the respawn button often. But the quick action made us all the more eager to get back into the carnage.
The real draw here, Warner Bros. tells us, is customization — you can tweak costumes, weapons, color schemes, and calling cards (shown to your prey when you earn a kill) to your liking at a moment's notice. Loadouts include primary and secondary weapons, support items like grenades, and a special utility item from Batman's arsenal, like a grapple gun or a glider. Our hands-on time was too brief to play with these options much, but they sound like they could be a good reason to keep leveling up (a la Call of Duty) and firing away.
At the least, Gotham City Imposters is a completely different take on the Batman universe, standing in stark contrast to the more austere Arkham City. We're not sure if that's a good thing yet, but it's a game to keep an eye on when it hits Xbox Live, PSN, and PC.