When it comes to games with strong storytelling that involves tough moral choices that affect the plot, no developer does it better than Telltale Games.
That's why fans got really excited when the company made an announcement earlier this year about its latest title: Batman: The Telltale Series. Immediately, Batman fans started imagining putting themselves not just in the shoes of Batman, but also in his head, and being forced to make moral choices that will affect the fate of Gotham City.
Now, that game has an official release date, and the good news is that it comes out soon. Players can download the first episode of Batman: The Telltale Series in August on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
For gamers wanting a physical copy, though, the wait is longer, as the game arrives on shelves on Sept. 13. The wait, though, is worth it: the physical version will not just feature the first episode, but also a season pass that gets players access to the next four episodes as they become available.
In a blog post, Telltale explained that Batman was the perfect character for their brand of storytelling and that it hopes to go "behind the mask" to explore the mind of Bruce Wayne.
"The team wants to explore what the consequences are of the player's actions when decisions made as Bruce have a critical impact on his nightly crusade as Batman, and vice versa," Telltale wrote. "Certain key situations will give the player the decision to approach a scene as Bruce or Batman, with consequences for both sides."
Telltale also promises a fresh take on Gotham City in the M-rated game (Mature 17-plus), one fans haven't seen yet. Although players will see some of Bruce's personal relationships with other characters, the main focus of the game remains with him and how he influences those people around him for better or worse. Choices made in-game by the player will also help shape Gotham and the criminals that Batman must battle.
"Team is committing to a non-photorealistic interpretation of the universe, enhancing engine and technology to deliver a more seamless living comic book art direction," Telltale wrote. "Taking inspiration from the works of over 75 years of artists such as Jim Lee, Greg Capullo and Neal Adams."
Batman: The Telltale Series will differ drastically from the current generation of Batman games, the Arkham franchise from Rocksteady. Those games focus more on action and adventure, whereas The Telltale Series will focus exclusively on Bruce's story, morality and psyche, something often explored in comic books but not in video games.
