'Batman: Arkham Knight' Release Date This Fall: New Batwing Revealed

Rocksteady recently revealed new photos of the Batwing from its upcoming “Arkham Knight.” “While the Batmobile was one of the first big new additions to the game, we thought to ourselves, why stick to the ground?” said Rocksteady in a video interview on Monday.

“Going into 'Arkham Knight,' we knew that we had to make the three year wait between sequels actually matter,” Lead Vehicle Designer Phil Kwiecien said on Monday.

Earlier this month, it was revealed players will be able to drive the Batmobile, an experience that will undoubtedly be pretty awesome. In the game, the Batmobile will be nearly invincible -- it will be have the ability to perform burnouts, jumps and boosts -- while simultaneously being bulletproof. “Basically… nothing stops the Batmobile. It’s pretty much an unstoppable force,” said game designer Sefton Hill. “When you think Batman, you do think Batmobile. It’s the one key thing that we’ve really felt that we always wanted to do.” Like the angst-ridden hero, you'll be able to call the Batmobile by pressing a button. You can also eject yourself from the vehicle at high-speed.

“Bruce Wayne has spent billions on his personal war on crime, which has resulted in more than just road vehicles,” said Rocksteady. “And with ‘Arkham Knight’ having such a massive sense of verticality built into the core of the game, we wanted to be able to do more than just grapple and glide.”

The developer discussed recreating Batman’s vehicle from the first two games. “We thought of incorporating that vehicle in a more interactive way into ‘Arkham Knight.’ We wanted to make it more than just a fast travel system. So we set out to redesign the Batwing from its appearances in ‘Arkham Asylum’ and ‘Arkham City.’”

The studio also talked about where it drew its inspiration for the revamped Batwing. “We wanted something that paid tribute to the original 1989 movie as well, and even the fancier jet that appeared in ‘Batman Forever.’ Something that carried a massive legacy with it, but was still relevant to modern day audiences, like the Bat from the ‘Dark Knight Rises.’”

Ultimately, Rocksteady chose to design the game’s Batwing after its comic book appearance. “We designed this new Bat-wing in collaboration with DC Comics. It’s an incredible honour, that we’ve poured a ton of energy into and it really augments everything that Batman can do. I think fans will be pleasantly surprised when they get to take to the skies later this year.”

“Arkham Knight” is set for an Oct. 14, 2014, release date for the Xbox One, PS4 and PC. The single-player title is the fourth installment in the series and is set to be the final chapter in the “Arkham” games.

April Fool's, everyone! But, it's still a cool idea, anyway!