This narrative-packed trailer for Batman: The Telltale Series shows scenes from the first episode, Realm of Shadows, and showcases the enhanced engine, and is in general fantastic.
If you have not yet watched it, do it now. Telltale’s first showcase of their Batman game has everything we wanted – and probably more. It defines a new way of accessing the mind and quandaries of this DC hero, while bringing enhanced graphics and a solid interactive storytelling on top. Telltale mentioned that this game could be the best thing they have accomplished so far. And judging by this trailer, they may be completely right.
We knew already that Batman: The Telltale Series will feature choices and consequences, loyal to the studio’s legacy. They have also said that they want to focus on the Bruce side of the story, without giving up the frantic escapades of the suit-up hero. The trailer also depicts who seems to be one of the biggest villains, Carmine Falcone, and his efforts to take advantage of Harvey Dent’s political campaign. For a couple of seconds, we can also see Catwoman, doing Catwoman things.
There are yet surprises (and villains) to get disclosed. Remember that this is an episodic adventure, and only the first episode.
[blockquote cite=”Batman: The Telltale Series Steam Page”]Enter the fractured psyche of Bruce Wayne and discover the powerful and far-reaching consequences of your choices as the Dark Knight. In this gritty and violent new story from the award-winning creators of The Walking Dead – A Telltale Games Series, you’ll make discoveries that will shatter Bruce Wayne’s world, and the already fragile stability of a corrupt Gotham City.[/blockquote]
Batman Gets a Better Engine
One of the promises that we got back in March was that Batman was using a revamped version of their engine. Telltale works with a software called the Telltale Tool, an in-house engine developed specifically to suit their games. However, this tech has been always trying to catch up with Telltale’s storytelling craftsmanship – until now, hopefully.
According to one of their official blog posts, Batman is “enhancing engine and technology to deliver a more seamless living comic book art direction”. We are glad we can see some of that non-photorealistic style in the trailer already. Telltale CEO Kevin Bruner told Mashable that we’ll play Batman with “a much more evolved, higher end graphical look”. The style we see seems to take The Wolf Among Us’ signiture vibe to the next level. It’s great to finally see the Telltale Tool intensifying the narrative rather than barely being able to support it.
The first chapter of Batman: The Telltale Series will arrive already on August 2 for PC, Android and iOS devices, PlayStation 3 and 4, Xbox 360 and One. A physic copy will be available on September 13 and obtainable via the game’s “season pass”. However, this will be restricted to consoles.
