Scarecrow Dominates In New 'Batman: Arkham Knight' Trailer, As Game Gets An Unexpected 'M' Rating

A 41-year-old man going by the name of Chibatman adjusts his mask before going on the road on his "Chibatpod" in Chiba, east of Tokyo, August 31, 2014. The man, who dresses up as the comic book superhero Batman, came up with his moniker after adding a prefix of the first three letters of the city name, of which he roams on his three-wheeled motorcycle. However, unlike the hero from the Batman series, he rides around in his machine, designed from inspiration of the "Batpod" from the movies The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, delivering smiles instead of fighting crime. REUTERS/Yuya Shino Reuters/Yuya Shino

Rocksteady's grand finale to the "Arkham" series, "Batman: Arkham Knight" descends on gamers in just a few months and as the marketing wheels begin to turn, new information indicates that it will be a darker entry than game's previous. The announcement that "Batman: Arkham Knight" has been rated "M for Mature" by the ESRB comes right on the heels of a gritty new trailer.

In a newly issued press release, publisher Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment released a gorgeous new trailer that sets the stage for Batman's ultimate showdown. The video, posted on the Batman Arkham YouTube channel begins with Poison Ivy explaining to the Dark Knight that many of his longtime nemeses are now united in opposition of him. There are glimpses of Harley Quinn, Two-Face, the Penguin, the Riddler, Firefly and the eponymous Arkham Knight. Their goal? Only total domination of Gotham City, led by the fiendish mastermind, Scarecrow.

Over the radio, the sinister voice of Scarecrow, played by "Fringe" alum John Noble is heard addressing the remnants of Gotham's beleaguered police force. After warning the cops that they will not be shown mercy, he instructs his thuggish followers to pick Gotham clean and spread terror in the streets.

While the Scarecrow issues a direct challenge to Batman, the Caped Crusader swoops onto an abandoned taxi, before leaping into crime-fighting action. Sequences of brutal hand-to-hand combat are intercut with high-octane Batmobile-based driving sections. The vehicle streaks through the abandoned streets of Gotham, firing missiles and anti-tank rounds at unmanned drones. The trailer comes to a close with even more glimpses of the assembled villains of "Batman: Arkham Knight." Finally, the Scarecrow promises that once Gotham falls the world will be next.

The grim tone of the trailer points to a much grittier outing than previous games in the "Arkham" franchise. This is reinforced by the fact that "Batman: Arkham Knight" is the first game in the series to receive an "M for Mature" rating from the ESRB. No rating summary has been made available, but the ESRB highlights the presence of blood, language, suggestive themes and violence as reasons for the rating.

The content descriptors are a close match for previous games in the "Arkham" franchise, with the notable exception that "Batman: Arkham Knight" is tagged with a "language" warning, while previous games were marked with a simple "mild language" descriptor. In an interview with IGN, game director Sefton Hill stated that the team didn't go out of its way to make "Arkham Knight" an "M" rated game, stating that the rating comes as a consequence of a darker tale being told.

"We're not including gratuitous blood or swearing. We want to deliver a true end with no compromises, and it takes us to some dark places," he said.

Hill sympathised with the fact that the "M for Mature" rating means that gamers under 17 would be unable to purchase the game, however, he explained that watering down the game's content would only result in an inferior product. He states that despite the unexpected rating, the team at Rocksteady has the full backing of Warner Bros. "Batman: Arkham Knight" launches on PC, PS4 and Xbox One on June 2.