Batman: The Telltale Series Preview
If there is one thing about Telltale Game they know how to do E3 right. First off, they take you away from the noisy show floor and into a quieter cozy meeting room. Secondly, the moment you walk into the room you’re handed a cocktail by a fella who looks like Batman’s butler. Finally, the room is always decked out in a theme of the game you’re about the play. In this case, the demo room resembled that of a bat cave. It’s fantastic and put me in the perfect mood for checking out the first 30-minutes of the first episode of Batman: The Telltale Series.
When we walked in, we were told the 30-minute demo was not 100% percent complete but from what I could see it looked pretty damn finished to me. In the Telltale version of Batman, Bruce Wayne is just as important as Batman. We were told you’ll play as Bruce Wayne for the same amount of time you’ll play Batman, this according to a rep from Telltale. So right off the hop I was interested to see where Telltale would take the Dark Knight.
_____________________________
“Batman: The Telltale Series uses the same engine as previous Telltale games but has received updates in terms of improved lighting, new cloth textures and general improvements in terms of smoothness and performance.”
Another interesting tidbit was also revealed while at the meeting room. That is, Batman: The Telltale Series uses the same engine as previous Telltale games but has received updates in terms of improved lighting, new cloth textures and general improvements in terms of smoothness and performance. As far as the length of the game is concerned we were told that each episode would be the standard length as other Telltale games. Now that we have that out of the way, let me briefly recap the demo.
After watching the demo, it is clear the game will be heavily story driven with a ton of sequential button presses. The dialogue in the game involves making choices which influence the outcome of the game. This is nothing new for Telltale games; however, Batman doesn’t speak much so you are left with button presses and flicking the analog sticks in order to progress along. The first half of the demo was action based where Batman was beating up thugs and exchanging blows with Catwoman. It looked enjoyable but there is a small window to nail those button presses. I envision myself having to repeat many of those action sequences over and over until I can get the timing down.
The second half of the demo is Bruce Wayne focused. The pace of the game shifts drastically as the action lessens and the dialogue increases. Bruce Wayne is hosting a gala for Harvey Dent as Harvey is running for mayor of Gotham City. There are numerous dialogue choices made where even simple choices as to whether or not you should shake a shady character’s hand can have a lasting impact. It was interesting and I cannot wait to see where they take the episodes from here.
Batman: The Telltale Series is slated to arrive this summer and will be available across nearly every console, PC and mobile devices. The story takes us back to the earlier Batman comics and will surely wet the appetite of any Batman fan looking for a more story driven narrative and a change of pace from the typical Batman video games we have played.
