Developer: Telltale Games
Publisher: Telltale Games
Release Date: August, 2, 2016
Platforms: Mobile, Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation, Xbox
Telltale have made a living off of decision making, and not just for their players. As a studio, they’ve chosen tons of amazing properties to craft into narrative-driven games, and licensing Batman in is another great one. But with that decision comes a lot of expectations and baggage, both in Batman as a character and in Batman as a cultural phenomenon. There’s a lot to live up to. Thankfully, Telltale’s version of Batman is different enough to feel fresh but faithful enough to its source material to act like any good comic adaptation.
Before getting into Batman, this is the first Telltale game that runs on a new engine and uses a new interface. It still plays like previous games; it just has a new shine to it. The characters still animate a little funny from time to time, but there were absolutely no loading hitches or missed dialog like in some previous Telltale games. Voice acting has never been a problem for any Telltale game, and Batman is no exception. Fantastic performances by Troy Baker (everything) who voices Bruce and Batman–with different voices–Selina Kyle voiced by the sultry Laura Bailey, (Infamous: Second Son) Harvey Dent brought to life by Travis Willingham (also Infamous: Second Son). Those are the main three so far. I’m sure we will learn of more characters as the series goes on. Plus an Easter egg voice for Uncharted fans.
A large chunk of this game is played as Bruce Wayne, and as nerdy as this sounds, I’ve always wanted to do that. Kevin Conroy has talked about Batman being the real person and Bruce Wayne being the mask and having to differentiate the two. Well in this game, I got to participate in that deception. When I’m Batman, I can growl at criminals and tell them to fear me, but when I’m Bruce, I can joke about how expensive the wine is at my party. It’s a fun dichotomy that works well for large portions of the game when you are either investigating a crime scene or throwing a party for a mayoral run.
Mainstay characters are reinterpreted in the Batman game. Oswald Cobblepot has long outlived his portrayal by Burgess Meredith. In this, he is a long-lost friend of Bruce’s come back to wreak havoc on the crime bosses who ruined his family. We get very little of him, but it’s enough to keep me enticed and waiting to see where that plot point leads in the coming episodes. The episodes biggest fallback might be it’s almost constant exposition. Sure I understand the first few moments of explaining who Bruce Wayne is, but I don’t know if we need three explanations about his parent’s death in the span of two and a half hours.
Design choices in this new version of Telltale’s approach shine, like planning out Batman’s attack or linking crime scenes together. It adds a little more to the table instead of regular quick-time events. Episode one gives you a lot of choices, few of them seem to have any impact yet, but it’s always good to have options for future episodes. Telltale is back and with a new and improved engine to go along with it’s caped crusader
Episode One Play Through:
