Batman: Arkham Knight – chicks (and everyone else) love the car

Crowd-pleasing. That’s what Rocksteady are doing right now with Batman: Arkham Knight, and it’s fantastic.

Sometimes announcements are so light on detail they’re in danger of floating away, but the new release is seemingly going down a tick-list of everything fans have been after since the series exploded onto the scene back in 2009.

The Batmobile is finally here in driveable form, a snarling goliath to match the Dark Knight’s new, armoured costume. Better still, we can explore Gotham at large in all its majesty thanks to a world that’s around five times bigger than Arkham City’s. Finally, it’s coming exclusively to next-gen platforms and PC this year. Excuse me while I do a happy little jig.



It’s a relief to hear that Rocksteady are sticking the course when it comes to their last game’s surprise ending. As they themselves say in GameInformer’s latest video, it leaves Gotham and Batman in a very interesting place we’ve rarely seen explored in the comics.


What happens when the traditional status-quo is irreversibly broken? Things never end in the world of superheroes – they’re stuck in a permanent form of amber – so it’ll be fascinating to see how the consequences of this event play out during the follow-up. It’s an inevitability of Batman’s fiction that’s rarely broached beyond alternate-reality stories; things can’t stay like they are forever, so I’m interested to see how Batman copes with such unfamiliar territory.

It’s also good news that the arch-villain has been created specifically for this game.

Not that we know much about them; next to nothing has been unveiled concerning the titular Arkham Knight other than the fact that they look strangely like Batman with their futuristic get-up.

Still, the team mentioned in the same video that this would be a very personal story for Bruce Wayne. As such, I’m hoping this antagonist will hit him hard emotionally as well as physically.

We’ve been itching to take the wheel of the Batmobile for years

As Heath Ledger’s Joker proved in The Dark Knight film, personal loss and betrayal add a personal edge to the action which elevates it beyond a simple battle of spectacle.

MORE: Batman: Arkham Knight is five times bigger than Arkham City

Things are certainly looking bad for the hero of the piece; his use of heavy armour alone indicates that it’s serious, and Rocksteady mention in the aforementioned footage that the new game signals all-out war.

It’s lucky players will have a vehicle up to the job, then. We’ve been itching to take the wheel of the Batmobile for years, and considering the impressive technology of the tank-like vehicle it’ll probably have enough toys to do the fantasy justice.

That said, I’m more excited about what Rocksteady could do with this in terms of combat. We already know that Batman can seamlessly leap out of the driver’s seat, giving players a chance to jump into action before their ride has even come to a screeching halt (I sincerely hope this leads to the Batmobile bowling over foes like skittles).



However, could they take inspiration from the Nolan movies and allow you to control it remotely? Perhaps you could tell the Batmobile to distract a large group of thugs while you move into a better position?

This is just conjecture, of course; there’s still a great deal we don’t know about the game, and we haven’t seen it in action yet beyond a CG trailer. The wait will be excruciating. As the reveal has indicated, though, Rocksteady knows exactly how to press the right buttons.