A few days ago, Rocksteady launched the trailer for “Batman Arkham Knight.” As expected, the trailer rocked! The game itself is important for a variety of reasons but most importantly, it is the last game in the Arkham series. As the trailer revealed, this last game has a more emotional tinge that was touched upon in Arkham City but never really explored in detail throughout the other games. The new game will feature familiar villains, new technology and perhaps some interesting plot twists.

The Trailer & Plot

The Arkham Knight is set a mere one year after the events of Arkham City. The trailer begins with the main villain, Scarecrow, delivering his only warning to the citizens of Gotham to abandon Gotham. The Scarecrow has united an array of villains including Harley Quinn, Two-Face and the Penguin. The goal, as always, is to destroy the Dark Knight. Based on the trailer, it seems that Gotham really is facing mass panic in a way that was not featured in the previous installments of the series, which isolated the conflict zone from the city itself. The scenes of Gotham’s citizens fleeing the city is oddly reminiscent of the “Dark Knight Rises”, where they desperately seek a way out to escape Bane.

Father to Son

A more subtle theme is the narration of Thomas Wayne’s (father of Bruce Wayne) his last testament and will, where he asks Bruce to honor the family legacy of protecting and improving Gotham City. This moment of reflection might be hugely important and perhaps provide a clue to the final twist in the plot. The narration is interesting because it betrays a sort of tension between the Batman and Bruce Wayne. As Thomas Wayne implores his son to avoid spending money on “fast cars or outrageous clothes” the camera focuses on the awesome Batmobile and the batman adjusting his batsuit. The letter also asks Bruce to avoid a “destructive lifestyle” but the Batman’s chosen line of work, hardly gives him that luxury.

Perhaps the fact that the game begins with Scarecrow’s warning may indicate that the Batman in this game is more reluctant and conscious of the future and his legacy on Gotham. If this game does allow Bruce to shed the Batman persona, hopefully it will do so in a way that does justice to the Bruce and Batman.  Broadly speaking, the story throughout the Arkham series has remained remarkably consistent and well planned; avoiding the pitfalls of such games as Assassin’s Creed. Apart from the subtle theme of Bruce’s relationship with his father, the more visible change involves the villains themselves.

Villains

To begin with we get to see our familiar villains raging havoc as usual. Interestingly, Harley Quinn seems to be on her own (the Joker died in his final battle in Arkham City) and she seems to be doing just fine. The character seems to have gone through a bit of remodeling (i.e., Harley looks more attractive) and the combat seems more fluid and powerful as she easily dodges bullets at point-blank range and takes out two cops. Her role isn’t exactly clear but she is seen helping the Penguin steal weapons. That brings us to the Penguin, who is clearly living up to his reputation as an arms smuggler. As the trailer shows, it seems he’s taking the lead in supplying weaponry to Two-Face and the other villains, who then goes on a shooting spree with his henchman.

Interestingly, there is no evidence of any animosity that existed in their relationship in Arkham City, where the supervillains fought amongst each other to carve-out parts of Arkham City; instead, comradery seems to be the order of the day. A new villain, will make his debut in the game. Rockstead is apparently working with Jeff Jones from DC Comics to create the new character. While we know the character is male (most probably) nothing else is know at this moment. Expect an awesome reveal trailer for this one. DC launching a new character from a video game is quite interesting in itself.

No mention of the Cat Woman, but I wouldn’t be surprised if makes an appearance, given the romantic tension she shares with Batman. However, that might also tip the game in the direction of the “Dark Knight Rises.” This has the advantage of consistency but may also be faulted for repetition. While the villains maybe the same, it is clear that Batman will be fighting them with some new and improved tech.

Tech

While not exactly “new” one of the coolest features of the game is the new Batmobile, which looks raw and powerful (something like a mix between the Batmobile from the “Dark Knight Rises” and the classical Batmobile of the 1980s. The car definitely features auto-pilot, turbo-boost, and is clearly impervious to small-arms fire. The car will not only be used for transport but also as a means of completing Riddler’s Challenges. Players will need to master the batmobile and a host of other technology (perhaps the Batwing, which made its appearance in Arkham Origins) because the game will take place in three separate islands in Gotham and is reportedly five times larger than Arkham City. The size and scale of the game is clearly larger than anything before, and this is certainly a good thing, given the sheer frustration of being stuck in Arkham City or Arkham Asylum, while the rest of Gotham was within bayview.

The Batsuit has a very “Iron Man” (interestingly Marvel’s Iron Man is based on DC’s Batman) feel and looks very futuristic. Its easy to trace the evolution of the Batsuit from Arkham Origins to Arkham Knight. The Batsuit also seems more fluid than its previous incarnations as Batman makes an almost effortless combo to take down his enemies. The fighting scenes in the trailer also betray a more experienced and confident Batman, taking down his enemies methodically and with precision.