With the reveal of the new Batman: Arkham Knight gameplay trailer came with a glimpse into both the game’s engine and what gameplay features we have to look forward to. The first thing we see in the trailer is Bruce taking on his brand new suit. It appears to be a combination of the original design from the first two games, with the additional to the now-popular armored theme that Batman has been sporting in most recent movies and films. This suit appears to be fully mechanical, hinting that it’s features may extend beyond simply being cosmetic.
We are also introduced to a few notable tweaks and additions to the Arkhamverse gameplay. For one, with the help of the game’s brand new engine, Gotham City is more explorable than ever, and the environment is substantially bigger, both vertically and horizontally, and more detailed than every other iteration of Gotham before it in Rocksteady’s previous installments. Batman can now glide further and faster than ever before, needing to be a lot more maneuverable navigating such a large and cluttered environment.
This same maneuverability can also be seen in the Batmobile, which makes its debut in Arkham Knight. Batman can seamlesly transition from the ground into his vehicle, and than eject out of it into the air - all in real time. And the Batmobile itself is highly agile, making sharp turns and jumps as well as ramming through any objects it comes into contact with like a tank. Another tank-like feature comes in the Batmobile’s combat mode, where it can fire machine gun rounds and projectile missiles to take out non-human combatants. From the looks of it, the Batmobile adds a whole other gameplay experience new to the franchise, as well as providing a means to quickly travel around the massively expanded city. Elsewhere, it will be used to overcome a number of racetracks set up by the Riddler underground, though the latest trailer doesn’t demonstrate these.
The video also showcased fear takedowns for the first time: a faster alternative for swiftly taking down tight groups of enemies, reminiscent of the Mark and Execute system from the Splinter Cell series.
The game itself looks gorgeous, with a brand new engine having been developed from the ground up to take advantage of the additional power granted by the new wave of consoles. The way light reflects off Batman’s cape down to the dust being kicked up by the Batmobile’s wheels, everything we’ve seen so far suggests that the finished game will be a real visual treat - though we’re preparing to wince when the PC system requirements are revealed. Being next-gen only, Arkham Knight is anticipated to push the new consoles to their limit with the amount of attention to detail RockSteady is packing into ever corner of Gotham.
Finally, we got our first glimpse of Scarecrow’s face - and boy does he look horrendous. Just ugly enough to make for a ferocious main villain, as we are all convinced he has a bone to pick with Batman. This trailer had a lot of content to show us, and despite a minor reference, excluded the titular villain, the Arkham Knight, whose identity remains a mystery. With plenty of content yet to be shown, we look forward to seeing more in the coming months.
