Rocksteady Games' Batman: Arkham Knight will not be with us this October after all, the developer has revealed, but instead will make its debut on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2015.

That's obviously a disappointment, but the developer is hoping to soothe our frustrations by telling us more about the Batmobile.

Eurogamer's sister site USgamer went hands-on with Batman: Arkham Knight ahead of E3 and reports that the Batmobile comes across as a "heavily armoured and heavily armed war wagon that players can take into a huge number of exterior spaces in the game's massive, free-roaming rendition of Gotham City".

"Convert the machine into battle mode and it reveals a massive gatling gun that, once fully charged, can fire devastating explosive blasts capable of shredding the armour on enemy machines," USG editor-in-chief Jeremy Parish explains.

This content is hosted on an external platform, which will only display it if you accept targeting cookies. Please enable cookies to view. Manage cookie settings This new pre-E3 trailer shows the Batmobile going into 'Battle mode' and profiles its various armaments.

"Rocksteady hasn't lost sight of Batman's essence, though. While the Batmobile could theoretically pulp the hired muscle working for the reinvigorated Scarecrow and his deadly ally the Arkham Knight, the developers have taken special care to ensure that won't happen.

"The bad guys appear to have segregated themselves neatly into groups of weak, fleshy types on foot and heavily armoured drones, and when Batman enters into combat he arms himself appropriately: high-impact armaments for mechanical foes, stun rounds for humans.

"And should you contemplate resorting to mundane vehicular manslaughter, be aware that Rocksteady is a step ahead of you there, too. When enemies approach the Batmobile on foot, they'll be flung away by the ring of tasers that line the vehicle's perimeter. All the bases are covered. Batman may be driving around with a minigun on the roof, but he's still a peacenik at heart."

As previously reported, the Batmobile can be summoned at the press of a button, or Batman can head back to it to take control or he can operate it via remote. "In short, the Batmobile is meant to function as an extension of Batman himself, and generally speaking it works."

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USG also caught sight of the eponymous Arkham Knight himself, the game's chief bad guy, and reports that he resembles "a lithe, tactically armoured mirror image of Batman himself" but is "more like the commander of a private militia". Good news, though - he's not above "spouting hoary dialogue about revenge and wanting to be the one to personally humble Batman".

It's a bigger game, then, with new priorities, but "Rocksteady hasn't lost sight of the spirit of Batman, which the first two games captured so effectively... You're still the Dark Knight and the World's Greatest Detective." That means more fluid third-person combat - with new elements, of course - and environmental puzzles to solve.

For more on how Arkham Knight is shaping up, read USgamer's full Batman: Arkham Knight hands-on preview.