Batman Arkham Knight: What you really need to know

A year has passed since the events of Arkham City, and Gotham has begun to show signs of recovery. The death of the Joker ushered in a period of relative stability for Gotham – there were even signs of regeneration, perhaps redemption. In truth the villains haven't disappeared, but without the Joker's culture of chaos it's been more difficult for them to destroy the lives of Gotham's honest citizens.

This isn't the salvation Batman has been fighting towards, though. It's a moment of respite. The Joker's absence created a power vacuum in Gotham, and the Scarecrow – arguably Rocksteady's most original take on a Batman villain – has returned to seize control. He's threatening Gotham with a large-scale chemical attack, forcing the authorities to issue a city-wide evacuation. This is how Arkham Knight begins.

The prologue shows hysterical citizens jostling for spaces on school buses being used to ferry people beyond the city's limits. The roads are gridlocked. Time moves forward, and the streets become empty. Everyone's left – at least the hard-working, decent folk of Gotham have. There are a few cops behind, still fighting the good fight, but we see one shot at close range. His body hits the ground. It's brutal, remorseless, and as the camera pulls back, we see Two-Face and the Penguin standing over the wide-eyed corpse. The narrator tells us that Gotham has been inherited by "scum, criminals, and worse".

The camera glides through the streets, taking in the destruction – burning cars puke out black smoke and packs of wild thugs roam freely. The camera moves higher and higher, until at the very top of a large building we see a familiar sight. Every Nolan film had one of these unforgettable shots, where Batman – Gotham's watchful protector – was caught, in silhouette, silently surveying the city he promised to redeem. But this shot is impressive for different reasons. It shows the immense scale of Arkham Knight, but also how seamless it wants this world and experience to be.

The following hands-off demonstration lasted for approximately 30 minutes. Below are what I think right now are the most interesting or striking elements of Arkham Knight. I also spoke with Rocksteady's brand manager, Dax Ginn, who was able to go into more detail about certain aspects of the game