Batman: The Telltale Series (2016)

The sequel is definitely better than this one, but it's an alright lead-up to it. I'm not much of a fan of the graphics change Telltale went with here - the models look kind of plastic-y and Lego-like to me, oddly shiny and artificial in comparison to their natural cell-shading in games like The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us - but I get used to it after a while of playing every time.

Love that you can play Batman as a bit of an immoral asshole, love that you can lean into the Bruce as an elitist playboy thing. Troy Baker is, as per usual, pretty good in his role as the protagonist.

I wasn't sure how to feel about the treatment of the Joker when I first played this, and I think if it had been this game alone it would've felt hamfisted and out of place, but it's a build up to his bigger role in the second game where he turned out to be a fantastic character with a fantastic dynamic with Bruce, so with that in mind it's more than forgivable.

The major issue I have with this game is just that... I don't want to fuck Catwoman. And the game really, really wants me to fuck Catwoman. A lot of Telltale games have this kind of canon romance that you're nudged towards with varying degrees of force - Lee and Carley in The Walking Dead, Bigby and Snow in The Wolf Among Us, Rhys and Sasha in Tales from the Borderlands - but this is up there with the worst ones in terms of making me feel like I was required to put active, constant effort into not tripping and falling into a relationship with the character they wanted me to.

Still, fun enough game overall. Play it for the sequel, if nothing else.

(Sidenote I include with all Telltale reviews: Telltale's games often get a bad rap for having your choices not influence the story, but to me this misses the point of what they do. Variant endings are a nice bonus in games, and I enjoy them when they do pop up in Telltale's stories, but for the most part your choices aren't here to change where you go. They're there to change how you get there, who you are when you get there, and often who you get there with. They influence and change your relationships with the characters around you. The joy of replaying these games is to experience the different dialogue, the different reactions to you, the different routes you can take on the way, the different bonds you can evolve with people - not to have a wildly different ending. I think this aspect is overhated and sadly misunderstood by a lot of players, so if huge, game-changing differences are what you're looking for, I'd temper your expectations.)

Merging the Telltale franchise with Batman was something that, from the start, I didn't really believe would be very original or entertaining. But as I kept playing, I must admit it got me hooked! What was really bad were the crashes, commands not getting through a lot of times (which ended in a lot of unnecessary deaths), and overall weird blurry effects on the characters that made them look like they were constantly unfocused (which hurt my eyeballs!). Another problem that I came across was that Episode 4 was missing from the store. I had a physical copy, and when I wanted to download it, the only option was to buy it. I did end up solving the problem, but it's something that's apparently very common (and, if I'm being honest, very annoying too).

The story is actually pretty decent, as are the decisions that you have to make, but the game being so broken and buggy, as well as looking kind of funky, kinda takes away the charm that the other Telltale games have when it comes to artistic style. But still, a more or less pleasant experience!

It's Another Telltale game with a decent story, good characters but a lot of technical issues.

Let's address the elephant in the room from the start

Technical issues : Played on PS5 6 years after the release

It's an interactive movie, it's not really that hard, all you need to pay attention to is your image and it has a lot of issues : Cigar smoke that blocks half the screen, invisible characters, character face glitches and game crashes and they are still there 6 years after release

Story : Not an origin story

We play as a Batman that's been around for some time, people know about him, he has his batcave, his car and tools but he's still an early batman, his iconic enemies are not around yet and Batman hasn't really decides what kind of hero he wants to be.

It will be up to us to decide how he will get to be seen by the people but it's not only about him but about Bruce Wayne as well , which was a very pleasant surprise.

Characters : The strongest point of the game

The game really takes the time to shape a lot of characters in game, more than other media about bats managed to do. We will see the making of some iconic characters in the Batman universe in a way that's not black and white, everyone has a damn good motivation to do what they do and that makes them very similar to Batman.

Gameplay : Not the thing we play telltale games for The usual Telltale, make dialogue choices that don't really affect anything, make choices that may change some aspects of the game and QTE your way through combat sequences.

A somewhat new activity is playing detective by using Bat's tools in order to reconstruct the chain of events and find clues, good but not very impressive.

Overall a good game for Batman fans that want to immerse themselves in the Batman universe, if you're not really a Batman fan, this game is probably not worth your money

Before this one I've finished two Telltale's game (two seasons of TWD), so I knew what to expect here. Indeed, it was more or less the same game, but about Batman.

Story is the most important part of games like this and it's pretty good here. It tells about terrorist group "Children of Arkham" and some dark past of Wayne's family. I read only a few comic books about Batman, but I think game's plot holds fine in comparison to it.

The technical part of Batman is a disaster. It looks like an average PS3 game, but it freezes and has FPS drops on a PS4 Pro. Apart from that I stumbled upon a game crashes, missing characters, missing audio or subtitles and constant defocusing in the cutscenes. Finally, look at the Gordon's cigarette here:

It is not the first release of Telltale and they do more or less the same game every time. How did they possibly broke it in so many ways? I was irritated by these bugs for the whole game, and it's a shame to left it in such condition. Good thing I didn't pay for it, but took on a PS+ giveaway.

One more good thing: it has the easiest platinum trophy, you just need to beat the game to the end.

This Batman series was, if I remember correctly, Telltale’s last games before they went belly up, and I couldn’t remember if people considered this game them going out with a bang or a whisper. After playing through Season 1, I got my answer.

The first thing I’ll start with is the art style. It has that typical Telltale look of cell shaded characters that we’ve seen in their Walking Dead & Borderlands entries. I also played the Shadows version, which adds a Sin City filter to the game world, most of the world is black’n’white with a few select pops of color. I’m a sucker for anything noir, and this color scheme made the game feel perhaps artsy, deeper, and classier than what it was. It also makes the world feel older. Even with all the crazy gadgets it had a very 1950s feel to it. On a side note, Telltale’s Bruce Wayne looks like Sterling Archer and I couldn’t unsee that for most the game. I sometimes picked dialogue options based on what Archer might say over Bruce.

The music in this game is typical dark superhero fare, a mix of big orchestral pieces with little techno beats sprinkled in there. It wasn’t bad, but definitely not the star of the show. I did have at least one bug where the music, and sound, glitched out during a fight. I just heard Batman’s punches, not ambient noise, music, or pained sounds from the goons.

The gameplay is the same as every other Telltale game. QTEs for fighting, walking around clicking on objects, and choosing your dialogue in conversations. For the most part it’s all fine, that’s the standard controls for an adventure game. The QTE combat does get a little stale if the fight goes on for real long. There’s a basic detective system that I enjoyed, even if it is simplistic.

You can see influences of other Batman media in Telltale’s Gotham. Batman is still new on the scene & the GCPD aren’t his stalwart allies yet. The more colorful super-villains haven’t really popped up yet either. It reminded me of the cartoon I grew up watching “The Batman”. There’s also hints of the Nolan films, the Arkham games, and the Gotham TV show. It’s a healthy mix of all of them, that this game doesn’t feel entirely derivative of one versions Gotham.

Characters are what Telltale games can live or die on, and Batman has a long mythos & fans with certain expectations. I think Telltale did a pretty good job shaking up the Batman world a bit. Sure, their Catwoman, Alfred, & Two-Face are pretty by the book. Though Two-Face, my favorite Batman baddie, does have a bit more character development behind him as you spend a lot of time with him as Harvey Dent. He also doesn’t go criminal in the normal sense, he more goes “authoritarian”. The coin also just shows up after he becomes Two-Face, we don’t really get any good character reason for why he uses it now. It’s still one of my favorite renditions of Two-Face, even if he never dons the famous black’n’white suit which would’ve looked sweet in Sin City vision. Penguin shows up as well, and they definitely took his character another direction. Admittedly Penguin can be a hard villain to write in because he’s more of a “mob boss” villain who uses money and influence over gadgets and brute force. He started off feeling a bit too Jokery to me, going on about chaos and revolution. Once he gets in a position of power he starts being his own character, but also gets relegated to the sidelines behind Dent and Lady Arkham, the new villain created for this game. The power Penguin gets is becoming WayneTech CEO, and he discovers Lucious' secret BatResearch room, but the game never implies that he put two and two together to figure out Batman's identity. Vikki Vale shows up and she’s part of a plot twist that completely got me off guard, and I love it. Telltale really took her character new places, which is easier to do with a C-list Batman character.

And of course the Joker shows up, because God forbid we have a Batman story without the Joker. I’m not a huge Joker fan, and I feel he’s become a crutch to Batman stories. To Telltale’s credit, he plays a very minor role and isn’t really “evil” yet. He’s a patient you met in Arkham Asylum who doesn’t seem to have a grudge against Batman and his level of chaotic evil hasn’t quite escalated beyond playing people’s devil on their shoulder. It’s a new take that I was kinda intrigued and put off by, in a good way. The VA for Joker does an okay job too, he’s going for a little mix of all the previous incarnations. The rest the voice actor casting was bland. It was just all the staples; Troy Baker, Laura Bailey, Travis Willingham, and David Fennoy. I know they’ve got to work and make that money, and they put in a fine performance, but we all know their voices, and having them be your main cast felt, I dunno, boring. We were a Nolan North short of having a full set of “VAs in everything”. I was pleasantly surprised to hear Richard McGonagle as Carmine Falcone. I just loved him as Sully and really think he needs more work in prominent roles.

Another character Telltale made a big change to was Thomas Wayne, and this is what spurs most of the game’s story. From here till “All in all” there be spoilers. One of the big things this let’s you do over other Batmedia is expereince the life of Bruce Wayne. This would probably be better named “Bruce Wayne: the Telltale Series”. I enjoy getting to play as the man behind the mask as it opens up new stories and possible issues Batman could suffer from. This game tries to set the world of Batman in a much more realistic setting, somewhat. You learn your father was not the greatest dude. He would falsely commit people to Arkham in order to steal their land and he was in bed with Falcone. The Waynes are usually depicted as paragons of virtue, rich people with a heart of gold that never did nothing wrong, but the reality of our world is, you don’t get that rich without breaking a few eggs & ruining a few lives. When this bombshell drops Bruce has to play damage control while coming to grips with the father he thought he knew. All of this happens while he’s single handedly helping Harvey get elected mayor, which means possibly getting into bed with Falcone as well. I love the first few episodes, because you could forget it’s a Batman game, it’s such an engaging political thriller. Bruce is trying to do good, but he has to take a step back and realize he’s using blood money and his wealthy privilege to get away with a lot of his shenanigans. And he wants to see Gotham healed under Dent’s care, but getting him into office isn’t about just getting the votes, it’s about playing the game. Of course, it’s Telltale, so you’re choices won’t have that great an effect.

The last few episodes take a shift, as the realism starts to shift to more graphic novel fantasy. Dent/Two-Face becomes mayor and creates an authoritarian police state and Lady Arkham is trying to gas the whole city with some type of Joker=esque gas. We also spend more time learning about Lady Arkham’s past and the game feels less political thriller and more Batman chasing a serial killer. This game is actually kinda gory, which took some getting used to after playing the T-rated Arkham games. It was odd to see the Caped Crusader in an LA Noire crime scene.

All in all, Telltale knocked it out of the park. This was an engaging, mature story that really let you explore Bruce Wayne as much as Batman, something you couldn’t do in an Arkham game. While there are some story beats we’ve seen before and characters can turn a bit one-dimensional in some scenes, there’s a lot of intrigue and excitement here. I’d be willing to call this Telltale’s best work.

Nice experience in general but some things I did not like:

1. It is almost impossible to die, even if you press the wrong buttons they give you a looooong time to do it correctly.
2. Some bugs.
3. The control while walking or selecting clues...awful!
4. What do you say about the smoke coming out Gordon's sigarette? I did not know if laugh or cry.

Apart of this, I had a good time with the videogame and will continue with the second one right away.

[This is partly a review just for Episode 1, which you can play for free.]

I've always thought Telltale was one of the dumbest companies around. I absolutely loved The Walking Dead (Season 1), but their insistance on gamifying it hurt it badly and probably contributed to their downfall.

Picture for a moment, a world in which Telltale is led by someone competent. This person would make sure that a computer that can run Destiny 2 in 4K wouldn't stutter while running their game in 1080p. They would allow you to pick dialogue options with the arrow keys or even simply assign fucking numbers to the options, instead of making you fumble around with a cursor that's hidden most of the time. Most importantly, they would un-gamify it.

The worst part about The Walking Dead was the Quicktime Events. The second worst part was the timers. You play the game for the story. You don't play the game to smash certain buttons at random intervals. And you want to read all possible replies and let your conversation partner finish talking before you pick what to say next.

That imaginary competent Telltale boss would have removed these things, or at the very least made them optional. And by doing so they would have vastly expanded their potential audience. I would totally recommend Dear Esther or Gone Home to non-gamers. I would never recommend a Telltale game, because they would have to suffer through the fake gameplay elements their games are infected with.

Telltale: Batman starts out terrible. QTE after QTE after QTE. The worst ones even have you press key combinations. I almost quit right away. And then you're Bruce Wayne and you get to have fun conversations. You get to stick it to Falcone and engage in wordplay with Selena. And then you're Batman and you have to press E a bunch of times and link things together in the most boring faux gameplay ever.

It's a Batman game in which being Batman sucks. Sad really.

This was my second Telltale game. The first was the Walking Dead, that I really enjoyed. And well. What I loved in the Walking Dead was the story (it should be in this kind of games, obviously), but the story here was... okay. And it was kind of a disappointment to me because!! Batman!! The first episode didn't get me hooked, and it took me like two months to go back to the game and start episode two.

The gameplay was different from the Walking Dead (but I played twd on computer and batman on PS4, so that may be the reason?), with good stuff and bad stuff. I really enjoyed the battle system, it is simple but right for this kind of game: touch the right button when asked. Minor spoiler ahead: the bar fight scene with Selina in episode three was so fun. I enjoyed way less the "investigation" moments, during which you have to link stuff together until you understand the story.

Also important to note for some people, I played the game in French. It went well in the first three episodes, but in episodes four and five, half the texts weren't translated. Any French person who doesn't understand English wouldn't have been able to finish the story, or at least understand what they were playing.

Finally, I hesitated between two or three stars, but I still had a nice time.

With the constant barrage of titles that Telltale cranks out, you'd assume there'd be some dip in quality at some point. Graphics might be a little too detailed for the old engine, performance might not be up to snuff, story or looks are a little less stylish or creatively engaging via game mechanics, etc. Batman, however, manages to be a great game despite that.

Though let's get the elephant in the room out of the way; the frame rate drops are very noticeable in Batman; those expecting a smooth ride will be disappointed. There are also some points in releases (to this point) that still crash, but not nearly as much to cause any frustration.

As for the story, the game doesn't inspire crazy humor or emotional heartbreak a-la Tales from the Borderlands or The Walking Dead, but makes some very interesting twists on very tired topics in the Batman universe, weaving together a tale that puts the player in a very flexible superhero persona where they get to show sides of Batman we wouldn't see even in the Arkham games.

The mechanics are a little less creative and a little more action/mystery focused, as you link clues together that you find during scenes and press the right buttons during action scenes in gameplay to lead up to a final combo. It's still simple but it's consistent and can definitely keep the player's attention.

All in all, Batman is still a great example in Telltale's library, but a misstep compared to their magnum opuses of yesteryear. Nevertheless, I've got my eyes peeled on what they plan for a sequel.

I've had this on my wishlist for a while, so when it showed up in this weekend's Essentials Sale I picked up a season pass. I happened to come down with a cold shortly thereafter, which I took as a sign that the universe wanted me to binge on all five episodes within a few days.

First, up-front: I'm not going to review this as if it were the next third-person action-adventure Arkham game. Telltale games tend more toward "interactive fiction" than most games, and I went into the experience with that expectation.

Given that, I really love what they did. The visual style of the game really appealed to me, with organic inky lines defining characters in a manner similar to their comic book origins. It doesn't look exactly like any video game or animated Batman before it, and it really works for the story.

The characters are handled in very brave and intriguing ways. I won't spoil the surprise, but there are some twists on old favorites here that won my inner fanboy skeptic over once they revealed a different aspect of the character than I was used to seeing. The game also does a better job than most media has of making Bruce Wayne relatable... he is fallible, he is unsure, but he is determined. It also helps that he's actually a tad shorter and leaner than some of the other characters, which improves how intimidating some enemies are by comparison.

If you're not into Batman, this series likely won't win you over. But if you're like me and enjoy seeing how the basic tenets of this modern myth seem endlessly remixable in new and exciting ways, Telltale's entry adds a whole new "universe" of possibilities. I hope there's a Season Two!

(As I came to this series once all the episodes had been released, this review covers the game as a whole and does not break episodes down individually)

Telltale's first trip to Gotham is a successful one in this display of good writing, likeable characters and exciting set pieces.

Over the last few years I have adored Telltale's episodic adventures. In a time where every other game is attempting to build immersive open worlds, Telltale has stuck to what they know and have told strong narratives with the licences they've acquired. After already finding success with two comic book giants: 'The Walking Dead' and 'The Wolf Among Us,' it was only a matter of time before Telltale was given the opportunity to tell a story with the one of the most famous comic book characters of all time: Batman. Although the result isn't as rewarding as the aforementioned games, this depiction of the caped crusader is a worthy addition to Telltale's impressive catalogue.

This is not an origin story, nor do we feel like we need one by this point, as Bruce Wayne has been fighting for justice as Batman for a long time. Instead the central focus of this plot, at least from the onset, is Wayne's relationship with Gotham's district attorney Harvey Dent who is running for mayor against the sleazy Hamilton. With Wayne's financial backing, Dent remains confident he can win the election and emerge as the new mayor. However, when crime lord Falcone (played brilliantly by Richard McGonagle) takes a particular interest with the Wayne legacy a series of surprising twists begin to unravel that makes Bruce question his suitability as Gotham's protector.

As was the case in Telltale's Tales from the Borderlands, Troy Baker (Bruce Wayne/Batman) and Laura Bailey (Selina Kyle/Catwoman) are great in their roles. However, Enn Reital's portrayal of Alfred Pennyworth is the stand out performance and my favourite portrayal of the character for some time. For five episodes worth, the cast is pretty substantial and the writing justifies each characters inclusion, for the most part. However, without spoiling too much the only character I feel suffered from a bloated cast was Harvey Dent. Although Batman fans won't be surprised by Dent's arc, I thought the motivations for his endeavours were comical at times and his arc is concluded abruptly and not entirely in a satisfying way. Furthermore, the plot does contain some questionable holes upon where I feel some characters would have naturally acted differently than the script tells them to.

Gameplay wise, Telltale have not reinvented the wheel. It's the Telltale's formula we all know and love, for better and for worse. When the action unfolds as Batman the player is engaged in quick time events. One would expect to find tedium in this structure quickly, however, the fights are so well choreographed kicking ass as Batman never got old. This time round your decisions don't really shape the story in any meaningful way, however, you do at times get the opportunity to choose Batman's strategy before engaging in combat. By surveying a room of goons you can carefully plot how you're going to have Batman take down his enemies. I only wish the choices were more varied, there only seemed to be two or three options for each new goon you faced. Regardless, it's satisfying when you see your plan come together on screen.

If you're hoping that this series is free from Telltale's technical problems then you will be disappointed. Many scenes still chug on PS4 and the game crashed for me on three separate occasions (twice on episode two and once on episode three). Unfortunately, these difficulties can cause frustration and interrupt the flow of the story.

If anything, this is more of a story about Bruce Wayne than Batman, but in a refreshing way, therefore, players looking for more of a direct approach to the caped crusader may want to look towards Rocksteady's Arkham trilogy. You shouldn't underestimate this entry though as it quite easily deserves not to be overlooked.