Telltale Games have released the first trailer for their upcoming Batman: A Telltale Series, bringing with it further hope that this game might just be the second coming of Batman: The Animated Series that so many Batman fans have been waiting for. The Animated Series set itself apart through brilliant writing—it was dark and heavy, but without falling prey to the bleakness and “edginess” of stuff like The Killing Joke, the recent Arkham video game series, and Batman v Superman. That is certainly a difficult tightrope to walk, but The Animated Series did it admirably, and from this trailer, it looks like Batman: A Telltale Series will do the same.
There’s been a lot of talk from Telltale about their game’s focus on Bruce Wayne as much as Batman. They’ve said from the outset that this won’t be a game about beating down bad guys as the dark knight so much as an exploration of the psyche of a man caught between two worlds, and this theme is at the heart of the trailer. Sure, there are a couple of action scenes, but the clip shows a much more dramatic, introspective Batman story—just like The Animated Series. If there’s anyone we can trust to carry that torch, it’s the team at Telltale Games.
The trailer also offers up a first look at the new engine that Kevin Bruner was raving about during that SXSW panel earlier this year. As little weight as I put in technical weaknesses unless a game is actually broken, it’s great to see footage that’s looking much smoother and more intricately animated than some of Telltale’s past work.
Whichever way you slice it, Batman: A Telltale Series looks excellent. The best part? The first episode, Realm of Shadows, is dropping on 2 August—just two weeks away. Not long until we find out if it’s up to the hype, or if I’ll have to eat my cowl.
P.S. Richard McGonagle as Carmine Falcone? Hell goddamn yes!