Batman: The Telltale Series

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. Furthermore, when they premiered Tales from the Borderlands at the Alamo Drafthouse, they found the audience shouting out which choices the demonstrators should take. This led 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.

Realm of Shadows

In Gotham City, a group of professional mercenaries attempt to break into Mayor Hamilton Hill's vault at City Hall but they are intercepted by the Batman (Troy Baker), the protector of the city. Batman encounters the elusive burglar Catwoman (Laura Bailey), who manages to break into the vault and steal an encrypted data drive. Batman pursues her to the rooftop and the two of them engage each other in hand-to-hand combat, during which Batman retrieves the drive. However, Lt. James Gordon (Murphy Guyer) and Sgt. Renee Montoya (Krizia Bajos) lead a team of GCPD officers onto the rooftop and witness the struggle, during which a trigger happy cop shoots Batman, allowing Catwoman enough time to escape with Batman's Grappling Gun and latch onto a passing monorail.

Batman returns to Wayne Manor and in his civilian identity, Bruce Wayne, hosts a private fundraiser to support the campaign of his good friend and mayoral candidate Harvey Dent (Travis Willingham), who is running against Hill for Mayor of Gotham City. Bruce and Harvey mingle with the guests at the fundraiser and come across Vicki Vale (Erin Yvette), who works as a freelance reporter for the Gotham Gazette. However, crime boss Carmine Falcone (Richard McGonagle) gatecrashes the fundraiser and offers a partnership with Bruce. Bruce rebuffs him and forms a rivalry between the two.

After the fundraiser, Bruce investigates the encrypted drive in the Batcave and gets the Batcomputer to decrypt it. Conversing with the family butler Alfred Pennyworth (Enn Reitel), Bruce uses the first few files that have been decrypted to identify a map of the Eastside Shoreline, though Bruce is unsure as the area has been used to store money, weapons and drugs, which is not really a good explanation for them. Alfred expresses his worry about Falcone though Bruce assures him that he will not have anything to do with him. Bruce looks up Catwoman's profile on the Batcomputer Codex and learns of the few burglaries and break-ins that she committed beforehand. Alfred hands Bruce a card from his childhood friend, Oswald "Oz" Cobblepot (Jason Spisak), whom he has not seen in 20 years. Both men reunite with one another at Cobblepot Park, where Oswald tells Bruce that there will be a "revolution" in Gotham and warns Bruce to choose the right side when the day finally comes to light. Bruce attends a press conference for the construction of a hospital dedicated to his parents' memory, intending to tear down Arkham Asylum and replace it with a modernized hospital for the special needs. A reporter confronts him about evidence of an offshore account directed to his parents by Falcone, though Bruce denies it and leaves the press conference.

Returning to Wayne Manor, Bruce finds it being ransacked by the GCPD and the entire thing is overseen by Lieutenant Gordon, who claims to be under the authority of Mayor Hill and has been ordered to seize any documents revolving around Wayne Enterprises. Bruce is met by Vicki and if he provides a quote he will either state that his family is innocent, the story is fiction or that justice will be served. Bruce confronts Dent but he denies any knowledge. Bruce also meets Selina Kyle, Dent's girlfriend, and they each deduce each other's identities from the injuries they each sustained from their scuffle. Both of them talk with one another regarding the drive while Dent is taking a business call, ending with Selina reluctantly giving Bruce the address and timing of the meeting she was supposed to attend with her client, whom she intended to deliver the data drive to.

Bruce heads to the warehouse as Batman 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. After investigating the crime scene, Batman 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. Batman can either break the shooter's arm or tie him up for the cops.

Returning to the Batcave, Bruce finally finishes decrypting the drive and discovers evidence of Falcone's criminal organization, as well as connections between Hill and Falcone. With an opportunity to finally bring down Falcone, Bruce can either take the evidence to Vale or Gordon.

Batman assaults Falcone's headquarters. After fighting though his guards, Batman 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. As Batman returns to the Batcave to confront his butler Alfred Pennyworth about the matter, a news broadcast by Jack Ryder (Robert Clotworthy) talks about the allegations that Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne had worked with Carmine Falcone.

Children of Arkham

Alfred admits to Bruce that the Waynes collaborated with Falcone and Hill to control Gotham, claims they did it to secure his future. Bruce then re-investigates the death of his parents at the hands of Joe Chill and discovers that it was not a mugging, but an assassination. He confronts Falcone, now in police custody, and he claims that he had nothing to do with the Waynes' deaths before he is shot and killed by a drugged Renee Montoya. Based on Renee's testimony upon recovering from the drugs, Batman deduces that Cobblepot (now calling himself the "Penguin") was behind the killing and tracks him down. Thanks to Penguin's bodyguard Blockbuster (Steven Blum) the Penguin is able to easily evade Batman after being confronted by him but not before Batman finds out that Penguin plans to track down and kill Catwoman. Bruce arranges a meeting with her where they fight off thugs sent by Cobblepot.

Bruce and Alfred then decrypt the phone of one of the thugs and uncover a voicemail proving that Hill and Cobblepot are working together. Bruce confronts Mayor Hill (Robert Pescovitz) as either himself or as Batman.

Knowing that Cobblepot will betray Hill, Batman teams up with Catwoman and heads to a planned public debate between Mayor Hill and Dent. It is too late to stop Penguin from assaulting the debate and holding Mayor Hill and Dent hostage. Penguin then proclaims he is part of a group called the Children of Arkham who are dedicated to exposing and eradicating the corruption in Gotham City and shows a video of Thomas Wayne forcibly committing his mother Esther Cobblepot (Lorri Holt) to Arkham Asylum and using drugs to drive her insane, much to Batman's shock. Batman is then attacked by Blockbuster. As they fight, Mayor Hill admits that he was the one who arranged the assassination of the Waynes before he is killed by Penguin. After defeating Blockbuster, Batman then has the choice of either trying to rescue Dent or Catwoman.

In the aftermath, the Children of Arkham release a full list of all of the innocent people Thomas Wayne had forcibly committed to Arkham Asylum, further tarnishing the Wayne name.

New World Order

With Mayor Hill dead, Dent becomes the new Mayor of Gotham City. Meanwhile, Batman is summoned by Gordon, who informs him that Mayor Dent has gone missing and Montoya has gotten in trouble trying to follow the Children of Arkham, but he does not have enough officers to send to both incidents. Batman must then choose to either assist Mayor Dent or Montoya. Dent is either rescued by Batman or forced to kill one of his attackers with his bare hands while the chemical shipment Montoya is tracking is either destroyed or escapes depending on the choice. Batman then realizes the Children of Arkham have managed to compromise the GCPD's communications. He consults with Lucius Fox (Dave Fennoy), who concludes that the Children of Arkham have hacked Wayne Tech's communication network.

Bruce then meets with Regina Zellerbach (Lorri Holt), the chairwoman of Wayne Enterprises, who informs him that the board of directors have decided to force Bruce to step down from his position as CEO due to the fallout of his father's crimes being made public. The board of directors also decides that Bruce's replacement as interim CEO will be Cobblepot. Bruce then speaks with Lucius Fox about the situation and offers him to either work for him or be his inside man. Regardless on the offer Bruce makes to him, Lucius will help Bruce out. Bruce then meets with Mayor Dent to warn him that Wayne Tech is compromised. Regardless of whether Dent's face is scarred or not, he begins to show signs of a more aggressive split personality. While in Mayor Dent's office, Bruce notices a newspaper where Vicki has managed to get an exclusive interview with the leader of the Children of Arkham (Steven Blum). As Batman, he confronts Vicki and convinces her to tell him that she met with the leader at a Sky Train depot.

Batman heads over to investigate Vicki's lead and discovers that the Children of Arkham are planning to use the trains as a delivery system to spray the chemical at another rail station, potentially exposing thousands of people to it. After getting into a battle with the leader, Batman is able to destroy the train, but is wounded in the process. Catwoman rescues him and takes him back to her apartment to recover. Batman then has the option of further romancing Catwoman or not. However, if Batman had chosen not to help Catwoman in the previous episode, she does not fully reciprocate his feelings. The next morning, Mayor Dent arrives at the apartment and finds Bruce. Believing correctly or not that Bruce and Selina have been having an affair, Dent attacks them in a rage. Bruce manages to subdue Dent, who briefly regains his senses and flees in shame.

Bruce then heads to a press conference to officially announce that he is stepping down as CEO of Wayne Enterprises. He can choose to stick to script in order to not make any more trouble for himself, or he can take the opportunity to try and warn the public about the threat the Children of Arkham pose and that Cobblepot is working with them. Afterwards, Bruce takes his place in the crowd and is encountered by Vicki. She injects him with the chemical and reveals that she is Lady Arkham, the leader of the Children of Arkham. Vicki then goads the drugged Bruce into attacking Cobblepot, clearly succeeding.

Guardian of Gotham

After Lady Arkham's drug causes Bruce to beat Cobblepot almost to death, Mayor Dent signs the order to have him hospitalized in Arkham Asylum, still seeking retribution for his apparent affair with Selina. On his second day of imprisonment, Bruce struggles with the side-effects of the drug while he is being attacked by some of the inmates in the asylum wanting revenge for Thomas Wayne's actions. However, a mysterious psychopathic patient with green hair (Anthony Ingruber), whom the others call "John Doe", rescues Bruce from the inmates. Bruce's behavior is assessed by Joan Leland (Donnetta Lavinia Grays), the head of psychiatry. When taken to Arkham's recreation room with the other inmates like Victor Zsasz (Kiff VandenHeuvel), Arnold Wesker (Larry Brisbowitz), and Blockbuster, Bruce learns that Mayor Dent was the one who put him there and feels betrayed. "John Doe" informs Bruce more about Vicki Vale's motivation for her actions as Lady Arkham. She was the daughter of the Arkhams, who were apparently killed by the Waynes after they disapproved of Thomas' methods. When "John Doe" teases with a key that he found, Bruce asks Victor Zsasz and Arnold Wesker about the identity of "John Doe", where they have no idea. "John Doe" offers Bruce some help in getting him out of the asylum in return for a favor and he can either refuse or accept. "John Doe" causes a prison riot to help Bruce get a phone call by giving Zsasz a cut before he kills someone, prompting Zsasz to lash out.

Despite the choice he makes, Bruce is shortly bailed out by Alfred after the attack, though Dr. Leland insists that Bruce be given extensive evaluation believing that he may have psychotic tendencies and violent episodes. While driving home, Bruce is called by Mayor Dent, who is angered at his release and reveals that since the Children of Arkham have gone underground (as evidenced by Vicki disappearing in the news), he directed the people's anger towards the Waynes as revenge for Bruce's potential affair with Selina. Dent also increases security around the city, and Bruce and Alfred end up in an altercation with a guard and several angry citizens, during which Bruce can either pay off the enforcer or have Alfred ram the barricade.

Selina decides to leave town to avoid the war between Batman and the Children of Arkham. Once Bruce and Alfred get to the Batcave, Bruce uses the Batcomputer to synthesize an antidote for the drug and decides to investigate the Vale household as Batman. At the Vale residence, Batman discovers that Vicki brutally murdered her adoptive parents to use her father's company to store the drugs. The only survivor was the adoptive son of the Vales (Cole Sand), who had been hiding in a secret room. Penguin sends a drone to kill Batman and his gadgets prove useless against it, but the foster son assists Batman in distracting it long enough for him to destroy it. Lt. Gordon and Montoya arrive to take the boy into protective custody, but Commissioner Peter Grogan (Robert Clotworthy) takes over due to his distrust of Batman. At the Batcave, Batman, Alfred, and Lucius (who will either be in the Batcave or at Wayne Enterprises, depending on the choice in the last game) discover that the Penguin's used his new resources to compromise Batman's technology. However, Mayor Dent publicly announces that he is seizing the Wayne Estate to finance his security system, giving Bruce 24 hours to evacuate his property. Bruce can either go as himself or Batman to talk to Mayor Dent on a rooftop, during which Mayor Dent orders a city block that has the building containing the Children of Arkham's drugs in it blown up, which kills several innocent people in the process.

While in the Batmobile, Batman is informed by Lucius that Penguin has a Black Box that's allowing him to hack into all of Batman's technology. However, Batman is called by Alfred, who informs him that Dent has already arrived with his men at Wayne Manor. Batman is then given the choice to go to Wayne Enterprises to stop Penguin or to Wayne Manor to stop Two-Face.

City of Light

Depending on who Batman didn't stop, the Gotham Police Department will be under attack by Penguin's drones or Mayor Dent's enforcers. Commissioner Peter Grogan dies in the process at the hands of either one. Bruce is then forced to take action on one of his former friends as himself.

Whichever villain that Bruce stops is arrested by the GCPD. Bruce's actions start improving public opinion towards him and his position as CEO of Wayne Enterprises is restored following Cobblepot's arrest. Bruce uses the opportunity to look back on Cobblepot's time as CEO to find out what the Children of Arkham are planning to do next. During their research, they discover that Selina Kyle stole a Wayne Tech electronic skeleton key that would allow her to bypass any Wayne Enterprises technology. Bruce confronts Selina on the outskirts of Gotham where she claims that she used both him and Mayor Dent to get to the key. She leaves regardless of what Bruce feels towards her after the truth. After she leaves, Bruce gets a call from Alfred, who's under attack at Wayne Manor from the Children of Arkham.

At Wayne Manor, Bruce finds that Alfred is missing after he fought in the billiard room. Bruce and Lucius go to the Batcave and receive a video message from Lady Arkham who has Alfred hostage. Using the reflections of his glasses, Alfred manages to inform the two of their location: the basement of the Vale residence. Lucius gives Bruce a new Batsuit (an advanced model if the player stopped Penguin first and an old prototype if Two-Face was stopped first) to use before he heads out. At the Vale residence, Batman investigates the basement and finds the Children of Arkham and Alfred gone. He finds a secret compartment which leads to a hidden torture chamber discovering that the Vales tortured Vicki when she was a child, which strengthened her desire for revenge against the Waynes. After examining more clues left by Alfred, Batman discovers that Lady Arkham is planning to release the inmates at Arkham Asylum. Batman tells Lucius to contact the GCPD and heads to Arkham Asylum.

At Arkham, Batman confronts Lady Arkham and tries to convince her to stop, but she's dedicated to her revenge on the Waynes and Gotham and frees the prisoners. Thanks to the staff and Gotham City Police Department handling the inmates, Batman is able to pursue Vicki after punching her mask off. Vicki knocks him down to an underground portion of Arkham filled with ruins. Batman finds Alfred in the back of the ruins, but is pushed back by Vicki who threatens Alfred with her concussive staff if Batman doesn't unmask himself.

Batman and Vicki have one final showdown in the underground ruins, resulting in the area falling apart. Batman and Alfred manage to escape while Vicki is seemingly killed by the falling debris.

A week later, Jack Ryder reports on the incident while Bruce and Alfred recover from their injuries, with either Bruce sporting a small injury on his right ear or Alfred wearing an eyepatch. Depending on how the player treated Selina earlier in the episode, Bruce will receive a post card from her still implying strong feelings or he won't hear from her. Gordon becomes the acting police commissioner and plans to give a public speech on the incident later in the day. Alfred reminds Bruce that both Bruce Wayne and Batman will play a large part in reshaping Gotham City's future, so it's important that he decides who chooses to show up at Gordon's speech.

The final scene takes place at a random bar where it's revealed that "John Doe" has escaped Arkham Asylum. He responds to the news of the assassination attempt. Depending on who is nearly assassinated, "John Doe" will either make plans to see Bruce Wayne again or take a shot at topping what nearly happened outside of the Gotham City Police Department.

Development

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

Episodes

The game was separated into five episodes, released in approximately monthly intervals.

Reception

Batman: The Telltale Series received generally positive reviews from critics. Praise was aimed towards Telltale's updated engine, the action sequences, atmosphere, and the portrayal of the titular character. However, the presence of technical issues was criticized.

Episode 1: Realm of Shadows

Aggregating review website Metacritic gave the Microsoft Windows version 74/100 based on 39 reviews, the PlayStation 4 version 70/100 based on 22 reviews and the Xbox One version 65/100 based on 15 reviews.

Episode 2: Children of Arkham

Aggregating review website Metacritic gave the Microsoft Windows version 73/100 based on 20 reviews, the PlayStation 4 version 66/100 based on 13 reviews and the Xbox One version 83/100 based on 8 reviews.

Episode 3: New World Order

Aggregating review website Metacritic gave the Microsoft Windows version 73/100 based on 16 reviews, the PlayStation 4 version 74/100 based on 11 reviews and the Xbox One version 73/100 based on 7 reviews.

Episode 4: Guardian of Gotham

Aggregating review website Metacritic gave the Microsoft Windows version 74/100 based on 10 reviews, the PlayStation 4 version 73/100 based on 12 reviews and the Xbox One version 75/100 based on 7 reviews.

Episode 5: City of Light

Aggregating review website Metacritic gave the Microsoft Windows version 75/100 based on 10 reviews, the PlayStation 4 version 67/100 based on 11 reviews and the Xbox One version 76/100 based on 7 reviews.