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It’s one of the most anticipated games of 2015, and the latest instalment of the Arkham series of Batman games from Rocksteady studios – Batman: Arkham Knight, has a new trailer.
Once your excitement has died down a little bit, here are the nine most important things we spotted in the new teaser.
1. All the bad guys
Harley Quinn, Penguin, The Riddler, Two-Face, Scarecrow… they’re all back. And from what the narration tells us they’re teaming up to finish off the Dark Knight and his beloved Gotham once and for all.
2. Scarecrow’s accomplice
One of the first shots we see of Scarecrow – who appears to be the central villain this time around – sees him with a fairly kitted out accomplice. Who could that be? Azrael – the mysterious figure from Arkham City who told Batman they would meet again? In Gotham lore Azrael transforms from villain to hero, so could this be a major story arc in Arkham Knight?
3. Jetpacks
Arkham Knight looks like it may pose Batman some new threats, and one of those is the always awkward bad-guy-with-jetpack-carrying-machine-gun threat. Good luck, Bruce.
4. Poison Ivy is our narrator
In one of those inexplicable moments of exposition, we discover that the narrator for the early part of the trailer was Poison Ivy, who seems to be filling in Batman on what Scarecrow and co are up to.
5. Scarecrow is tech-ed up
We also get a flash of what appears to be some sort of exo-skeleton Scarecrow is wearing. It looks to be a way of quickly administering his Fear Toxin. Either that or he wants a part in the next Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.
6. Gotham looks stunning – but abandoned by most
The Gotham City in Arkham Knight is one ravaged by fear. Scarecrow and his cronies appear to have taken control of it, with only the Gotham Police Department and Batman sticking around, with the rest of the city’s residents having wisely chosen to evacuate. It still looks gorgeous though.
7. Jim Gordon
Of course the fearless police commissioner is still on the scene, leading Gotham’s beleaguered police force against the criminal underworld.
8. Big takedowns are still central to gameplay
The bulk of the in-game action we see revolves around the trademark takedowns and combat moves that have made this franchise so playable in the past. That is most definitely still the case here, with plenty of combo attacks on show.
9. The Batmobile
We already knew that Arkham Knight marked the debut of the Batmobile as a playable part of the game, and we see another flash of a chase here. But more strikingly, we see the Batmobile providing ‘assists’ to Batman during combat scenes – stunning enemies in mid-air to finish them off. Now that is some combination.
