Rocksteady has been working on Batman: Arkham Knight for years. As the final entry in its trilogy of games that includes Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City, Arkham Knight is the culmination of the story it began back in 2009. As the first game in the series to be made specifically for next-generation consoles, it will also show off Rocksteady's definitive version of Gotham City, with all of the depth and fidelity that the developers have wanted since the beginning.
Arkham Asylum earned a "T for Teen" rating from the ESRB, the agency responsible for video game ratings. Arkham City also earned a "T." So why is the upcoming Arkham Knight getting slapped with an "M for Mature" rating?
IGN broke the news, explaining that Rocksteady is just as surprised by the rating as the rest of us. Sefton Hill, director of Arkham Knight and studio founder, said that his company never set out ot make an M-rated game.
"From our point of view, we never wrote it or made it with a rating in mind," said Hill. "We never did that in the previous two games... We just felt that this is the story that we really wanted to tell."
Despite the unexpected rating, Hill made it clear that Rocksteady won't contest the ruling or adjust the game's content to soften the rating. Hill realizes that an M rating means younger players won't be able to purchase the game without an adult, but still he has no interest in "watering down" the game to ensure the widest possible audience. He's clinging to his artistic integrity and staying loyal to the story as they always envisioned it.
So the million-dollar question is: What about Batman: Arkham Knight earned it an M rating instead of a T?
The series' violence has always been centered on melee combat, but Batman never uses lethal force. Of course, the series never had the Batmobile before, and we already know that this Batmobile is as much a tank as it is a car. It's heavily armed and Batman uses it in the game as a very powerful tool in his arsenal. There's more than enough firepower in the Batmobile to take a life, but Batman would never do that intentionally.
The answer must lie in the story — a notion that's backed up by Hill's comments. We know that the story finds Scarecrow and several other major villains seizing control of Gotham City after a mass evacuation of its citizens. As Batman works to end their takeover, a mysterious and deadly new baddie emerges, calling himself the Arkham Knight. His sights are fixed on Batman, and he could be the first villain that's capable of besting the Dark Knight.
Sounds pretty dark to us. But until today, we had no idea just how dark it might get.
Batman: Arkham Knight will be available June 2, 2015.
Be sure to follow T-Lounge on Twitter and visit our Facebook page.
