Batman: The Telltale Series

Batman: The Telltale Series
Developer(s)	Telltale Games
Publisher(s)	Telltale Games
Composer(s)	Jared Emerson-Johnson
Series	Batman
Engine	Telltale Tool
Platform(s)	Android iOS Microsoft Windows OS X PlayStation 3 PlayStation 4 Xbox 360 Xbox One
Release	Episode 1 Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4' & Xbox One'OS X'PlayStation 3 & Xbox 360'Android & iOS Episode 2 Episode 3 Episode 4 Episode 5
Genre(s)	Graphic adventure
Mode(s)	Single-player, Multiplayer via Crowd Play

Batman: The Telltale Series is an episodic point-and-click graphic adventure video game developed and published by Telltale Games and distributed by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment under its DC Entertainment label. The game is based on Bill Finger and Bob Kane's Batman comic book series, though not tied to any previous adaption of the work in film or other media.

Gameplay

The player takes the role of Batman, both as the superhero and as his alter ego Bruce Wayne. Telltale Games CEO Kevin Bruner has stated that playtime will be split evenly between them, though at times the game will offer the player a choice of whether to approach a situation as Wayne or as Batman. The game's narrative offers a "fresh interpretation of the universe set in current times, not tied to any existing iteration of Batman in games, film, or comics", according to Telltale Games. According to Bruner, the game is set a few years after Wayne decides to become Batman, giving them flexibility in their writing and gameplay to give the player some control on how they want to play the character without ties to any established narrative. The game features a branching narrative, similar to past Telltale games, giving the player options in approaching a situation and having that choice affect later events in the game. The game includes action sequences that are resolved similar to Telltale's other games, using quick time events. The series also includes investigation sequences, allowing the player to use Batman's detective skills to progress the story.

The series also introduces a new feature called "crowd play", available on both the PC and console versions of the game. Crowd play allows the game to be watched by an audience who can participate in the decision-making process. When this feature is active, the player provides their audience with a link to Telltale's website with a unique code to participate in that session through any web-enabled device. These additional players are given the option to vote at the game's decision points, with the results presented to the main player to judge which decision to make. Optionally, the main player can have the game automatically take the most-popular decision for them. This mode is intended to be used for an audience at the same physical setting, such as a living room or movie theater; though this mode can be used through streaming services like Twitch.tv, Telltale warned that latency issues may hamper the viewing players' experience. Telltale's head of creative communications Job Stauffer said that they had seen their games, as well as older point-and-click titles, popularized on streaming channels. Further, when they premiered Tales from the Borderlands at the Alamo Drafthouse, they found the audience shouting out which choices the demonstrators should take. This lead to them working to create a more interactive experience for watchers. They premiered this feature at the San Diego Comic Con in July 2016 to 500 attendees.

Plot

NOTE: The following summary is a high-level overview of the game and may not include all variations in the story that can occur based on the player's choices.

At Gotham City Hall, a group of mercenaries attempt to break into the hall's vault only to be intercepted and subdued by Batman (Troy Baker). In the vault, Batman encounters the elusive Catwoman (Laura Bailey), who attempts to steal an encrypted data drive. The two fight on the rooftop until Batman retrieves the drive and Catwoman escapes by using Batman's pick-pocketed Grappling Gun to latch onto a passing monorail. Bruce returns to Wayne Manor for a private fundraiser to support the campaign of his good friend and mayoral candidate, Harvey Dent (Travis Willingham). While mingling with other guests including the reporter, Vicki Vale (Erin Yvette), Bruce is greeted by crime boss Carmine Falcone (Richard McGonagle), who discusses forming a partnership with Bruce. Bruce rebuffs his offer, making himself an enemy of Falcone. Sometime later, Bruce is contacted by his childhood friend, Oswald Cobblepot (Jason Spisak), whom he has not seen in 20 years. The two meet at Cobblepot Park, where Oswald tells Bruce that there will soon be a "revolution" in Gotham.

Bruce attends a press conference for the construction of a hospital dedicated to his parents' memory, where a reporter confronts him about evidence of an offshore account directed to his parents by Falcone. Bruce denies it, and leaves the press conference. He returns to Wayne Manor only to find it being ransacked by GCPD on the order of the current mayor of Gotham City, Hamilton Hill. Bruce confronts Harvey, who denies any knowledge. Bruce also meets Harvey's girlfriend, Selina Kyle, and while Harvey takes a business call, the two deduce each other's identities after seeing injuries they sustained during their fight at Gotham City Hall. Selina reveals that she stole the data drive for a client and that she was supposed to deliver it to a warehouse at the East end of Gotham. Selina reluctantly gives Bruce the address of her contact and Bruce decides to go to the warehouse as Batman.

Batman arrives at the warehouse only to discover that an explosion had killed numerous mercenaries and police officers prior to his arrival. Batman suspects Falcone to be behind the incident after finding a white rose on one of the bodies and, after investigating the crime scene, deduces that a mercenary sniper had shot a chemical barrel during a shootout with GCPD, causing the explosion. Exposure to the chemical caused a police officer to turn vicious and tear apart a mercenary's face with his bare hands. The surviving mercenaries stole hundreds of barrels filled with the same chemical. Batman finds the sniper on the other side of the warehouse and interrogates him about the incident. The sniper reveals that Falcone had ordered the mercenaries to steal the chemicals and the data drive contained the container number of the chemical, but they had to search for it themselves when Catwoman failed to deliver it. Someone had tipped off the GCPD, resulting in the shootout.

Bruce returns to the Batcave and decrypts the data drive. He discovers evidence of Falcone's criminal organization, as well as connections between Hill and Falcone. Faced with an opportunity to finally defeat Falcone, Bruce can either take the evidence to Vale or Lt. James Gordon (Murphy Guyer). Batman assaults Falcone's headquarters and, after fighting though his guards, confronts the crime boss in his office. Batman interrogates Falcone about the chemicals. Falcone admits to having ownership of the chemicals, but denies playing a part in the shootout at the warehouse. Falcone also reveals that everything said about the Wayne family being affiliated with his organization is true, and this is confirmed when Batman notices a fallen photograph of Falcone and his parents. An angered Batman leaves Falcone for the police and returns to the Batcave to confront his butler Alfred Pennyworth (Enn Reitel) about the matter.

Development

Bruner stated that the game will be similar in maturity to their previous titles The Wolf Among Us and The Walking Dead. The game will be rendered using a "non-photorealistic" style inspired by comic artists Jim Lee, Greg Capullo and Neal Adams. To meet this, Telltale is updating its game engine to be able to produce improved rendering results.

Episodes

The game will be separated into five episodes, released in intervals.

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	"Realm of Shadows"	Kent Mudle	Zack Keller & Chris Hockabout	August 2, 2016
Batman battles Catwoman and a group of mercenaries for a hard drive stolen from Mayor Hill. Batman recovers the hard drive and begins the process of decrypting it. Meanwhile, as Bruce Wayne, he hosts a fundraiser for Harvey Dent which is gatecrashed by Carmine Falcone, who attempts to propose an alliance with the Waynes. Later, he encounters an old friend, Oswald "Oz" Cobblepot, who speaks of a revolution coming to Gotham, and warns Bruce that he will have to pick the right side when it comes. Afterwards, an anonymous source leaks evidence to the public that Falcone and the Wayne family have had dealings with each other, though Bruce believes it is just a ploy to hurt Dent's chances to oust Hill. Bruce then meets Selina Kyle, and both of them recognize each other due to the wounds they inflicted on each other earlier. Selina tips off Batman to a rendezvous point where she was supposed to deliver the hard drive to Falcone, and he goes to investigate, only to find the bodies of both mercenaries and policemen who had been killed by a mysterious psychotropic chemical explosion. Batman subdues a surviving mercenary, who admits that he was hired by Falcone to steal the chemical. Once the hard drive is decrypted, Batman discovers that it is all of the blackmail evidence Hill collected against Falcone, and passes the evidence on to either reporter Vicki Vale or police lieutenant James Gordon. Batman then attacks and apprehends Falcone, who claims that they were both set up since the chemicals belonged to him. Falcone then theorizes that the Waynes were behind the theft, since they are the most powerful criminal family in Gotham. To prove it, Falcone shows Batman a picture of him together with Thomas and Martha Wayne. Angered, Batman returns to the Batcave and demands answers from Alfred.
2	"Children of Arkham"	TBA	TBA	TBA
An old friend becomes a new adversary as Bruce learns more about the Wayne family legacy and Batman escalates the fight against crime and corruption throughout Gotham.
3	"New World Order"	TBA	TBA	TBA
With Gotham on the brink and Bruce under fire, a new generation of supervillains rise and threaten to overturn the traditional institutions of power.
4	"Guardian of Gotham"	TBA	TBA	TBA
Bruce and Batman must forge alliances and fight old rivals to protect the innocent and keep Gotham from descending into chaos.
5	"City of Lights"	TBA	TBA	TBA
The battle for control of Gotham reaches a fever pitch as Bruce discovers a renewed sense of purpose and Batman finds himself pushed to the limits in a desperate effort to restore order.

Reception

Aggregate review scores

Game	Metacritic
Episode 1: Realm of Shadows	(PC) 74 (PS4) 73 (XONE) 77

Episode 1: Realm of Shadows

Realm of Shadows received mixed and positive reviews. Aggregating review website Metacritic gave the Microsoft Windows version 74/100 based on 32 reviews, the PlayStation 4 version 73/100 based on 18 reviews, and the Xbox One version 77/100 based on 10 reviews.

External links

• Official website