by: Michael Barnes

One of the best parts of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Returns is when the Tom Waits-voiced Batman harangues some shmuck masquerading as the Caped Crusader with the line “at least I’m not wearin’ hockey pads.” Gotham City Imposters, the new alternative shooter from Warner Brothers Interactive and Monolith, takes the idea that the presence of costumed crime fighters with hang-ups and their psychopathic adversaries would beget even more off-kilter copycats or would-be superheroes and runs with it.

It’s an odd, sometimes awkward concept—a game that has a license but that almost always avoids it, offering a team-based first-person shooter experience that absolutely in no way fits into the Batman universe or character concept despite its constant assertion that it’s a Batman-themed title. This is obviously not a canonical game and Arkham City is miles away.

Batman may never use a gun or kill anyone willfully, but vigilante gangs in this game that looks up to him for fashion if not moral inspiration have no compunction dispensing justice via a bootleg TEC-9 or a rocket launcher made from a PVC pipe that fires soda pop bottles filled with gasoline. They’ve got gadgets too, like a hand-cranked grapple gun that works just about as great as it sounds, body odor sniffers instead of heartbeat sensors, and manhole covers in lieu of heavy armor. The bad guys are the Jokerz, who might easily be mistaken for Juggalos if not for their association with the Clown Prince of Crime.

In the beta, which is currently running on XBLA and PSN, players get to don the cheapjack, hobo-class costuming of one of these two sides to fight across two very small maps in two objective based game modes. Fumigation finds your team trying to capture three gas blasters scattered around the map to unleash a swarm of clown-hating bats or the Joker’s patented laughing gas/nerve agent. Psychological Warfare tasks you with finding a battery to power a propaganda machine that sends out negative messages and turns the other side into disoriented, imbeciles capable of little else but stumbling and slapping for a few seconds.

The gameplay is good. It’s a solid, Team Fortress 2-influenced shooter with a couple of unique twists and a colorful, silly tone. It’s refreshing to do some run-and-gunning with a smile when shooter after shooter comes down the pike populated by endlessly scowling, grim-faced dog soldiers and nary a smile or a Pantone color out of the brown range among them. The gadgets and unorthodox weapons feel fresh and fun, and there are some neat mobility options such as gliding and grappling that open up the smallish maps considerably. I love the prize drops (as opposed to care packages) and their bonuses remind me of the kind of pickups that you might find in a Quake game. It’s fast, furious, and even though the funny wears out its welcome too soon the ridiculous concept and goofy tone remain endearingly different.

Unlockables and leveling incentives abound, with everything from weapon mods to skills (charmingly dubbed “Fun Facts”) to four different body types rated for speed, damage, and carrying capacity. Customizable costumes, loadouts, different voices, and more provide both cosmetic and more significant upgrade options. And since paying your way into progress is the done thing these days, you can always buy upgrades with MS points or a PSN card. That’s a frowny face toward the game, as is the game’s nagging insistence in trying to get you signed up for a “WBID”, as if anybody needs another online ID floating around.