Video Game / Gotham City Impostors

"Why fight crime when you can kill it?"

Gotham City Impostors is a downloadable First-Person Shooter for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC, developed by Monolith Productions.

Gotham City has gone insane, and Batman is up to his pointy ears in unwanted "helpers" determined to dish out their own bloodthirsty brand of vigilante justice in his name (and image). Meanwhile, a small army of self-appointed junior Jokerz has turned the streets of Gotham into a barmy battlefield of bullets, bodies and bear traps.

It went Free-to-Play on Steam, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. Unfortunately, as of 2022, it's been slowly and silently delisted from most platforms and is now impossible to acquire by normal means.

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This video game contains examples of:

• Abnormal Ammo: The game's rocket launchers fire liters of pressurized soda attached to bottle rockets with explosive results, and that's just the start!
• Absurdly High Level Cap: The level cap is one thousand, broken into ten sets of 100 levels through the promotion system.
• Acrofatic : Any Burly or Mighty with a Jetpack, Glider, or Spring Boots.
• Anti-Air: A special you get is a lawn gnome with a tazer taped to it. It will attack any enemy character using a gadget (glider, hookshot) over it and disable the gadget.
• Anti-Hero: The Bats are Unscrupulous: while they have every reason to want the Jokerz gone, they are not above turf wars, dabbling in the black market for firearms and explosives, and gladly getting anyone who looks like a clown killed just to get back at the Jokerz. It's no wonder Batman hates them.
• Back Stab: using the knife while facing your targets back will score an instant kill as opposed to a set amount of damage based on your weight class.
• Bilingual Bonus: The game features multiple languages for each of the multiple voice sets.
• Black Comedy: The default joker voice known as "Kooky", as well as the other ones, will make some dark references. The most common one you'll hear, being the default voice unlocked that says it, is made after they kill somebody.
  You dropped like a sack of puppies; Cute!
• Black-and-Grey Morality: Played for laughs. It's quite evident that the Bat Helpers are vigilantes who cause Batman unnecessary trouble in their attempts to fight crime and just want to harass clowns in general, but the Jokerz gang are clearly psychopaths with malevolent intentions. Between the two, its safe to say the Bat Helpers are in the right, but there's no questioning that they go to unnecessary extremes in Fumigation to the point they risk people's lives, especially clowns...though it's usually portrayed in a comedic manner.
• Bling-Bling-BANG!: Completing a higher enough challenge on a weapon will get you silver and gold skins for your weapons.
• Bribing Your Way to Victory: Subverted. You can buy weapons and upgrades. However, if you level up enough, you can easily unlock a weapon that works for you, and since Competitive Balance is in play, none are stronger than the other and if you find what one you like, you don't need to spend too many unlocks.
• Bullet Sparks: A visual identifier that you've just hit somebody with armor, otherwise averted.
• Cluster F-Bomb: The comically-bleeped "Crass" voice set, which includes such gems as "I'm gonna *BLEEP* in the hole I just put you in!"
• Combat Medic: Using the megaphone "weapon" and/or the restock special, you can heal others mid-field. There is nothing stopping you from equiping a shotgun in the free weapon slot and blowing people away between healing
• Comeback Mechanic: In an interesting twist, two of the games Rampages are triggered when you do poorly, generally dying five times without a kill.
• Comically Missing the Point: Team Bats uses firearms... something Batman is absolutely against using due to his parents being murdered by one. Though it could be subverted if one takes into account the original pulp comics of Batman.
• Danger Deadpan: The "Deadpan" voice, obviously. It's almost impossible to understand what he's saying due to how quiet he is about his snarks.
• Difficult, but Awesome: All 3 "charge" type weapons count as this, the bow basically being a rifle you have to charge, the bombardier launches explosives not likely to get a one hit kill, and the freezeray is large weapon that has to be charged. The bow has high attack and can bodyshot the lighter bodytypes at half charge, the bombardier has a very fast reload rate compared to the other launcher weapons allowing for spamming of explosives as well as a useable arc that allows you to hit anything not in a straight line of sight if you know where they are, and the freezeray will render immobile and reduce the target's HP to One.
  • The Buccaneer is also this, having to reload after each shot, having a line pointing to you after each shot, and not capable of bodyshooting unless the target is damaged, but a headshot will kill somebody without a perk that nullifies headshots in general.
• Double Jump: Inflatosoles special item allow this, as well as giving the normal jump more height. This tends to be one of the more restrictive movement options in the game, but it's better for Confusion Fu.
• Emo Teen: "Emo" is an option for a Jokerz voiceset, and it's about as melancholy as one could expect. It pairs particularly well with the Nimble's "Icy" face type.
• Every Bullet is a Tracer: if you're using the buccaneer it is. This makes sense competitively, because it's the only hitscan "One-Hit Kill" weapon and if you can see where the shots are fired from then anybody using it won't be able to simply fire wildly without fear of retribution, which in turn requires more skill to use it as an efficient killer.
• Fanservice: The Nimble bouncing around in her lingerie (to say nothing of the Jokerz' 'Russian Dominatrix' "Sensual" voiceset), Walking Shirtless Scene Toughs and Speedies.
• Fan Disservice: The massive, immensely fat Mighty and supremely paunchy Burly bouncing around in nothing but entirely-too-tiny briefs... or any nimble with the "hot lips" face type.
• For the Evulz: Anything the Jokerz do, basically...but especially in Fumigation mode.
• Fragile Speedster: The Speedy body type can border on a One-Hit-Point Wonder at times.
• Freeze Ray: The Deep Freezer, when charged up enough, will freeze it's target and reduce their health to just above zero. While they are frozen, another hit will shatter them.
• Freudian Excuse: One of the "Crass" voiceset's opening lines is- "Hey Bats! You can thank my scotch guzzling, belt swinging stepdad for the misdirected beat-down you are about to receive."
• Goomba Stomp: It is possible to kill opponents by crushing them from above.
• Greater-Scope Paragon: While the Bats are Antiheroes at best, and psychotic at worst, they were still inspired by Batman, much to his dismay, to channel their psychopathy and murderous tendencies to fight crime.
• Greater-Scope Villain: As elaborated by Batman: Impostors, Winslow Heath is the ultimate cause of the turf war between the Bats and Jokerz. Likewise, by extension, The Joker for torturing Heath into evil.
• Heroic Wannabe: The Bats, obviously.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Enemy-deployed Trap-in-the-Box + Enemy Team + Thunder Dragon rocket = Comedy!
• I Am the Noun: The "Delusional" voice constantly refers to himself as the Batman, and often speaks in third-person. Whether or not the character actually thinks they're Batman is left to the player's imagination... though their speeches through the motivator suggest they don't and they're merely just roleplaying.
  You're no match for Batman!
• Improvised Armor: The game's idea of body armor is a manhole strapped to your chest.
• Interface Screw: Get nailed by a stunning effect and you will move slowly as well as having your aim go completely wild for the duration. The witch doctor's shots also creates one, albit it's downplayed in that you move slower and your screen flashes light blue.
• Jack of All Stats: The Tough has no real strengths or weaknesses.
• Level Drain: The promotion mechanic, which resets your level to one and gives you a mark on your calling card.
  • Upon choosing to Accept Promotion and confirming, the game pretends to glitch out and fail, much like Batman: Arkham Asylum's faux system crash, before asking the player twice more if they're really REALLY sure they want to continue.

• Limit Break: Activated when either kicking copious amounts of arse or getting your own kicked hard.
• Katanas Are Just Better: They can be used both defensively & offensively, they're very powerful, and, as TotalBiscuit learned, VERY deadly when used right.
• Legendary Impostor: Everyone.
• MacGyvering: A lot of weapons and gadgets in this game are made from homemade stuff like the bottle rocket launching Thunder Dragon or the ball bearing-firing Shredder.
• Never Bring A Knife To A Gunfight: Somewhat. For the actual phrasing, the knife is not something you want to focus on. It doesn't get instant kills in this game, and if it does, the person you're trying to shank is generally going to be faster than you are. The katana fixes his problem slightly by having the ability to block bullets, which makes getting closer much more viable.
• Ninja: Well, you have dark metal, 4 edged shruiken, a katana, and the ability to go almost completely invisible. Yup, that's a ninja. There is also a, for real money, obtainable ninja outfit for both jokerz and bats.
• No Scope: Possible with the sniper rifles, as standing still will focus the aiming to perfectly center, but you need the scope up to deal the most possible damage. It's generally averted to the "using sniper weapons as close combat weapons" level because standing still then is generally a good way to get shot.
• Pacifist Run: As befitting how surreal and insane a game GCI is, this can actually work — there is even a "Psych Profile" that rewards it, giving bonus Experience for performing only "team-based" actions — none of which involve killing enemies yourself, and the game includes many useful 'Support' items and weapons to encourage this!
  • For those curious, the set that has the most pacifist potential is: Motivator (healing and minor defense bonus), any gun can be used for destroying traps, gadget is the x-ray goggles (marked targets that are killed give you a score bonus as well as being seen through walls), and equipment is the resupply box (allows you to resupply allies).
• Regenerating Health: Health regenerates in this game. However, regeneration is very slow so other methods have to be used.
• Sound-Effect Bleep: The "Crass" voice set is censored in this manner.
• Shoot the Dog: When the Bats win Fumigation mode, the gas they release will cause bats to swarm and kill anyone even remotely resembling a clown just to get back at the Jokerz.
• Small Girl, Big Gun: Can be done, as the only female bodytype is small. This is often averted, as choosing a large gun would negate some of the reasoning behind picking the female, however you will often see "Nimble" bodytypes with rifles, which are at least large if not big, because they don't slow them down and that body is best for getting into sniping position.
• The Smurfette Principle: The Nimble body type is the only female model in the game, but sees a good deal of use due to being respectably fast and possessing the best jumping ability in the game, while not being as supremely vulnerable as the Speedy.
• Springs, Springs Everywhere: Trampolines. Roller-skate ramps. Air-vents to lift Glider Rig wearers airborne. Even spring-loaded boots and double-jump enabling 'inflatable insoles'. Yep, this is all over the place...
• Standard FPS Guns: Despite how weird-ass the game is as a whole, most of its weapons can be classified under this trope rather neatly. Sit tight.
  • Knife: A button/key press will make your character swipe with a small knife, which does good damage and insta-kills certain characters often. Good luck closing in with it though.
    • Chainsaw: The Falcon Blade. Excellent damage (especially if you have the Cutthroat perk), and can also be used to block enemy bullets to surprisingly good effect.
  • Pistol: The Kingmaker. Comparably weak to most other weapons you could be using, but has the fastest switch time of any gun, making it the perfect back-up weapon.
  • Shotgun: The Persuader and Chaperone. The former is a standard pump-action with high damage and fairly good accuracy, while the latter is a full-auto with faster reload and better close-range proficiency.
  • Automatic Weapons:
    • Assault Rifle: The Dawn Patrol. Uninteresting, but still as competent as any other gun.
    • Submachine Gun: The Gatekeeper and Desperado. The former is an all-around, while the latter is a close-range variation with a faster rate of fire.
    • Machine Gun: The Shredder and Jackhammer. The former has an insane rate of fire, and the latter is more damaging but less fast-firing and accurate; a heavier-hitting version of the Dawn Patrol, if you will. Using these guns with the Speedy or Nimble body type makes you move slower.
  • Grenades: Cookable Pipe Bombs or Impact Grenades.
    • Mines: Trap-in-the-boxes (basically a jack-in-the-box with dynamite in it) Bear Traps are vaguely this, because you set them on the ground for enemies to trigger.
  • Marksman Gun: The Partisan and Marksman. The former is an accurate burst-fire gun, and the latter is a semi-automatic rifle.
    • Longbow: The Bear Hunter. While it's classified under sniper rifles in-game, it doesn't really have the range to be a proper one. This weapon has rather paltry damage and is bad for close range because you have to ready arrows all the time, but it has the highest headshot damage in the game.
  • Sniper Rifle: The Marshal and Buccaneer. The former is a semi-automatic sniper with great headshot damage but modest bodyshot damage, and the latter is an immensely powerful flintlock rifle which must reload after every shot.
  • Rocket Launcher: The Thunder Dragon.
  • Grenade Launcher: The Bombardier.
  • Energy Gun: The Deep Freezer, which also has shades of Marksman Gun. However, it doesn't recharge ammo.
• Statuesque Stunner: Zig-zagged. There's no questioning the Nimble is a stunner, but whether or not she's statuesque varies due to varying heights; she is a few inches taller than the burly and foot taller than the speedy type. The Mighty type however is always a foot taller than her, and the Tough is roughly the same height as her.
• Steampunk: There is an outfit based around the aesthetic (top hat and goggles, pocket watch, and so forth), but no weapons fit the genre.
• Super Heroes Packing Heat: If one has a very relaxed standard of hero...
  "Sir": His is the path of blunt force trauma and painful but nonlethal contusion, whereas ours is the more... efficacious path of cordite and home brewed explosives.
• Valley Girl: The "Sassy" voice, often associated with the nimble type, can qualify for this trope given her snapbacks with those who she kills.
  All broken up over me, huh?
• Vent Physics: Using a glider, a vent will give you a significant boost in height mid-glide.
• Unwitting Pawn: Ultimately the Bats are this to Heath given that he instigated their existence right after creating the Jokerz, and they only serve as apart of his plan to create a gang war.
• Vocal Dissonance: Exaggerated, possibly. You can give characters any voice you want, as well as change the pitch to high or deep. Using a custom female character will often have them sporting a male voice until you unlock another voice. But this can be invoked as well, picking, say, the most masculine voice, using the nimble female bodytype, and setting the voice to as deep as possible.
  • On the other hand you can have a 5 ton pack of male muscle running around talking in a high pitch, feminine, and seductive manner.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Downplayed. Most of the Bats honestly just want the Jokerz gone and stop crime in their own screwed-up way, but then there are some members that just come off as... Eccentric.
• William Telling: In the help guide for the Bear Stalker, which is a bow, it shows the "office batman" doing this, but hitting the joker target in the head rather than apple, and splitting the tree.