It's All Over Bar The...
User Rating: 9 | Batman: The Telltale Series PC
So, it's all over. The final episode of season one of Telltale's Batman has drawn to a close and it's a doozy. I won't go into details of the story here, part of the charm of Telltale's games are they are nothing more than an interactive TV show with the odd need to press a button or make a decision every now and again. And that is what I would like to talk about here. Whilst not graphically impressive overall (Telltale games rarely are) it does have a charm to the visuals that work well with the subject. Batman, being a comic book character after all, suits the style. It's the writing that really drives this tale. Telltale's writing staff have weaved a mature story with complex characters and complex relationships fuelling the narrative. The option to occasionally solve a problem as either Bruce or Batman is an excellent spin on things. Telltale aren't afraid to bend the established mythos of Batman, with Bruce having to face some terrible truths about his parentage, and I was even more surprised by the eventual revelation in the final episode. The actual driving motive behind Lady Arkham, the series antagonist, is particularly disturbing. This is no megalomaniacal villain out for world domination, there's a very personal and disturbed reasoning behind her motive. Villainy that is understandable and relatable. At no point would you say 'they're just doing this for the sake of being evil' there is a real reason where you could see what would drive someone to do this. On top of this there's the unique take on Penguin, and the new interpretation of Harvey Dent. I'm actually avoiding dropping any spoilers but I will say this, if you're a Batman fan this is an essential Batman story. If you're a Telltale fan then this is a fine game on its own. I would urge you to play it, it's an experience worth partaking in and leaves me begging for season two now.
