Rocksteady Studios’ Batman: Arkham Knight received an “M for Mature” rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), the first in the series to do so (the other games in the series received a “T for Teen” rating) – and this is only the first of many firsts for the game. Sefton Hill, the founder of Rocksteady, says that the team “never wrote it or made it with a rating in mind.” Its rating may have to do with the game being darker in context and Hill says that “it’s unavoidable that some bad stuff is going to happen” in Batman: Arkham Knight. The ESRB’s reasons for this rating are given on its official website. Should you feel like checking it out, know that its detailed description of the game’s content contains mild spoilers, but it’s also testimony of its satisfyingly blunt action.
Perhaps the most awaited and thrilling feature of the game is Rocksteady’s intricately and uniquely designed batmobile, drivable for the first time in the franchise. Combined with the acclaimed gameplay of the series and (for the first time) a fully open-world Gotham city (no more walls to keep you from entering the other districts), the fabled vehicle offers gamers the ultimate and complete Batman experience as they tear through the city streets and soar across the skyline. With a full range of on-board high-tech gadgetry, it also serves to augment Batman’s abilities in navigation, forensics, freeflow combat (the ability to transform from high speed pursuit mode to military grade battle mode) and puzzle solving. The game demonstrates the ideal partnership between man and machine.
Batman’s suit and armor also appear to be redesigned. And from what we’ve seen in the adrenaline-fueled trailers that have been released so far, he’s definitely going to need it.
Here are the fascinating analyses of the Gotham is Mine trailer and the gameplay demo, showing us the improvements and changes, and the extreme detail and precision that went into the game:
Warner Brothers also recently announced that Arkham Knight will be the first in the series to be dubbed in Japanese with original voice actors – the same actors used for the dubbing of the latest Dark Knight films and some from earlier DC animated films. However, this version of the game is exclusive to the PS4 in Japan, which probably makes sense considering the other two platforms aren’t really popular there. You can hear Batman, Scarecrow and Poison Ivy in Japanese by watching the dubbed Gotham is Mine trailer below. Together with the dark and bizarre elements of the game, it’s absolutely epic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sjZB6o3_2AQ
From the ashes of Arkham, the fires will rage, and Gotham will burn. And you, you will burn too.
– Azrael’s Prophecy, Arkham City
This high-octane finale is marked by the Scarecrow’s return, which instigates Gotham city’s most notorious super villains, including Penguin, Two-Face, Harley Quinn, the Riddler (all returning from Arkham City) and an all-new character, the mysterious Arkham Knight, to band together and end the Dark Knight once and for all. It remains to be seen whether our favourite caped crusader will indeed succeed: in saving Gotham, and himself.
There’s just so much happening with this game (both internally and externally) that, no doubt, this conclusion will be worth the experience, something remarkable and unforgettable.
Batman: Arkham Knight will be released worldwide exclusively for next-gen platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC on June 2, 2015.