BATMAN - The Telltale Series - Episode 1: Realm of Shadows Reviews
The first entry in Bruce Wayne’s tale is not a bad one. I enjoyed the setup, and hope the rest of the series delivers on that payoff. I just wonder how long between episodes I will have to wait to figure out if this Batman story is worth the price of admission.
A steadfastly solid start to Batman’s Telltale series, but Bruce Wayne isn’t the only one with demons to overcome. Some poor writing and acting, plus the usual slowdown and engine troubles means that this isn’t a peak performance for the developer or the character, even if it does set up the rest of the series nicely.
The production values of the game are excellent with character models and environments rendered in great detail.
Even ignoring the many technical issues, this isn't a particularly inspiring start to Telltale's newest series. There's plenty of time for it to improve, but I'd hold off and see how the next few episodes go before taking the plunge on the series.
There's plenty to look forward to with Batman - The Telltale Series and fans of the studio, and especially fans of the character, can rightfully get excited for the next few months ahead. Under the cowl, and just as often not, "Episode One: Realm of Shadows" is a worthy introduction to comics' greatest hero.
An effective style and a good pacing. Nnot all scenes are built with the same attention, but the main character models are wonderful, and the plot seems to have a dark twitst we are eager to explore.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Batman – The Telltale Series is a fun game and a great take on the Batman IP. I suggest everyone give it a look, casual and hardcore Batman fans alike.
Thanks to a number of issues with the PC port, Batman's adventure is off to one of the roughest starts we've seen from the developer.
Batman: The Telltale Series is off to a strong, if very basic, start. It shows promise of the ability to be more than just another Batman story, though Realm of Shadows did dabble in the ultra accessible exposition more than I (or just about any other Batman fan) would have liked. The intrigue lying in the episode’s cliffhanger regarding a dark Wayne family secret has me itching to find out more, but I don’t feel like the series has really taken off yet. It’s unusual for a season opener by Telltale to land in the mediocre category, but it seems like they are taking their time with such an iconic legend, letting us in to know the heart and hope of Bruce Wayne rather than just the fists and terror of the Batman.
Batman: The Telltale Series may stumble a bit in the opening act, but it quickly hits a comfortable stride with a promising first episode as Bruce Wayne steps out of the shadows.
The prospects of taking on a character with such a varied and diverse range of work like Batman is surely one that is daunt: how do you take a hero like Batman and make him feel new again? For the large part, Telltale Games’ Batman series finds more of a middle-ground (much like the studio’s games) between the old and the new for the Dark Knight. With engine improvements and the episodic gameplay we’ve come to know from Telltale Games, Batman provides a vision of Gotham and the Caped Crusader that’s at once familiar and unexpected (with some big twists I didn’t see coming), and shows that new stories with the Dark Knight of Gotham don’t have to be relegated to the shadows.
Telltale's take on Batman will woo fans, but won't win skeptics.
Batman: The Telltale Series: Episode One was the perfect start for Telltale’s latest franchise quest. The combat was slick, the storytelling was as per usual second-to-none, and the investigation moments helped to keep the gameplay varied.
Batman: The Telltale Series – Episode 1: Realm of Shadows offers a tantalizing taste of the new paths this series might forge for its legendary comic book hero. It's got everything you'd expect from a game about the Caped Crusader... plus plenty of things you wouldn't.
In typical Telltale fashion, you’re delivered a fiendishly teasing twist at the end that already has me speculating about where the series can go in episode two. But the good thing is that this will not be a series where the crook just gets away at the last second. Rather than be a series where Batman always feels a step behind an ever-elusive bad guy, Telltale has instead opted to have new and intriguing foes to take on with each episode. A consistent political undercurrent tied to Bruce’s backstory, and how his parents weren’t all they seemed, adds further intrigue to the plot that I can’t wait to explore in episode two.
Batman - The Telltale Series doesn't reinvent the wheel and it has plenty of confusing design choices, but in giving it the Telltale treatment, the studio have made a fascinating adventure game and a unique portrayal of the Dark Knight that, if the rest of the series can live up to it, might stand the test of time.
A slow but solid start to the series that should please fans of the movies.
It will be a hard wait. The cliffhanger that Realm of Shadows ended on frustrated me for a good few hours, the game’s narrative clearly sinking its hooks into me. For the first time in a Batman game, I feel like I know the person behind the mask, and while I can’t wait to don the cape again, it’s the mortal underneath whose future I’m more intrigued to see.
Telltale really knocked it out of the park on this one. I really hope that the rest of the season provides the same, refreshing look at Gotham that "Realm of Shadows" provided. They have introduced lots of interesting characters, and I am really excited to see where they take them all. Keep an eye out for episode 2, "Children of Arkham" releasing in September!!