Batman: Arkham Knight Announced

Rocksteady are back to reclaim their throne from pretenders WB Montreal...
Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment and Rocksteady Studios have today announced the development of Batman: Arkham Knight for release later this year. The third and final instalment in the latter developer's franchise of action-adventure games, Knight will take place after the events of 2011's critically acclaimed Arkham City and retail exclusively on next-generation consoles.

So, what's new, we hear you ask? Well, the detail that's doing the rounds most prominently on the interwebs right now is that the Batmobile will play a physical role in Arkham Knight's main campaign, with players now able to commandeer the iconic DC vehicle and take it into battle against classic foes including Scarecrow (the narrative's central antagonist), Harley Quinn, Two-Face and the Penguin.

There are a couple of tidbits in Rocksteady's earth-shattering press release that have been largely neglected by the gaming community in the hours since the announcement: firstly, an free-roamable Gotham City will feature as the game's setting, and what with the development team's past repertoire, don't expect it to be a mere facsimile of Arkham City as WB Montreal's rendition was in Arkham Origins last year. On top of that, the narrative itself will serve as the final chapter in Rocksteady's Arkham story arc. Warner Brothers have made clear their intent to annualise the beloved saga, so WB Montreal will probably produce yearly instalments in the Origins timeline a la Activision with COD from now on, but at present, we're simply more excited than anything else to get our hands on this 3-years-in-development product and revel in the high-octane Caped Crusading that is to come. Check out the stunning first CGI trailer, titled Father and Son, below...

Batman: Arkham Knight glides onto PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC this Autumn.