A few months ago, Telltale Games announced a partnership with Warner Bros. and DC Comics to create an adventure game on Batman.
The first details were revealed over the weekend, with developers like CEO Kevin Bruner, Executive Producer TQ Jefferson, Writer Pierre Shorette and Creative Director Nick Herman on stage during a panel at SXSW Expo.
No video or screenshots were shared, since Telltale has a story first approach. They did show an image of the first episode's draft, though.
Most of the highlights were reported on an official blog post.
- Batman is the perfect character for the studio to explore in a Telltale series, giving the team the opportunity to dive deeper into the mind of the man behind the mask. Each night, Bruce Wayne chooses to change Gotham for the better. 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. Certain key situations will give the player the decision to approach a scene as Bruce or Batman, with consequences for both sides.
- Fresh interpretation of the universe set in current times, not tied to any existing iteration of Batman in games, film, or comics. Story will focus on Bruce and Batman, not an examination of the extended 'Bat-family,' (Robin, Nightwing, etc.) Fans can expect certain series staples such as Alfred Pennyworth, Vicki Vale, James Gordon, and Renee Montoya. Telltale is looking to keep the villains more tightly under wraps until closer to the premiere.
- Certain characters will have a deeply personal relationship with Bruce in his private life, and decisions made as Bruce or Batman will affect their paths towards corruption or redemption.
- The player's actions will help shape the Gotham that Bruce deals with during the day, as well as the criminals that Batman faces at night.
- 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. Taking inspiration from the works of over 75 years of artists such as Jim Lee, Greg Capullo, and Neal Adams.
- Like some other Telltale series, the game will be landing at M (Mature 17+) rating, and the cinematic approach will feel more akin to an R-rated film.
There's more, though. There will be five episodes in total, with the first one scheduled for this summer. Moreover, Telltale promised to debut substantial improvements both to its engine and to the gameplay mechanics with Batman, which is nice to hear since they were both common complaints of previous games released by the developer.
If you want, you can watch the whole archived panel here. Stay tuned for more on Telltale's Batman game.
