Batman can get pretty dark sometimes, as any long-time reader of the comics will know. Hell, back in the day Batman actually killed folk and didn’t think anything of carrying a gun into a combat until his character was changed, bringing in the no killing vow.

While the last two Arkham games from Rocksteady have had T for Teen rating the ESRB have given the upcoming Batman: Arkham Knight an M for Mature rating, which is to say that US residents must be 17+ years of age to play.

However, Rocksteady have stated that it’s just a few scenes which have resulted in the game’s mature rating. Speaking to IGN he said:
“As the end of the trilogy, we have every villain in Gotham working together to destroy Batman,” Hill added. “It’s unavoidable that some bad stuff is going to happen. But that doesn’t mean we changed our approach. 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.”

Warner Bros. previously sent Hill an Email regarding a few key scenes that they felt were likely to affect the rating, asking if Rocksteady wanted to do anything about them. The developers held fast, saying, “They were key scenes! We couldn’t lose them!”

According to the ESRB, Batman: Arkham Knight contains: “blood, language, suggestive themes [and] violence.”

Rocksteady mentioned that they were aware that the M rating could potentially stop younger fans getting to play the game. However, let’s be brutally honest here: the Call of Duty games are rated M and they are just a tad popular, especially with the younger crowd. It seems unlikely that the higher rating will stop too many youths getting to step into the armored boots of Batman this time around.

Personally I’m happy to see that Rocksteady held true to the story they wanted to tell. With so many villains coming after the Dark Knight things were always going to get a little bad.

Meanwhile a new trailer has arrived and it’s pretty bloody awesome.