Collaborations, team-ups, synergy—call it whatever you like, it’s a lot like a marriage really and not to sound like a Debbie Downer but 42% of it usually ends up in a divorce. But when Telltale Games announced that they would be developing a game based on Batman we immediately knew that it had all the ingredients to be a title worthy of the 'Caped Crusader'. Since the announcement very little had been revealed about the game, that is until last night when Telltale posted four teaser images in the run-up to their E3 Showcase. And we're hyped.
Telltale have already carved themselves out a worthy reputation as modern day pioneers in the video games industry. Taking on major franchises such as Borderlands, The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones they’ve ushered in a new age where interactive narrative is the primary gameplay mechanic. While not revolutionary from a technical—or originality—point-of-view Telltale have purposely developed games where story and character development is the selling point. And that is why the story of the Dark Knight fits so perfectly.
By now everyone knows the story of how billionaire orphan Bruce Wayne became 'The Bat of Gotham City'. And while Marvel currently towers over their rivals when it comes to comics, movies and just general shameless merchandising, Batman is arguably the greatest superhero of all time. He's completely adaptable to any kind of story, and infinitely iconic. The character has such a rich history just begging to be adapted into the medium of interactive storytelling, with having to squeeze it into the traditional videogame cliches of say, the Arkham games (as great as they were).
The Batman brand is the starting point, the heart, soul and spine of the frequently changing DC Universe. Batman’s story and popularity is one so universally acknowledged that his mere presence, via the medium of Ben Affleck, outshone Superman in this year’s underwhelming Batman v Superman movie. Now that's combining with Telltale, who’s stellar writing staff kept us so deeply engaged with the story Clementine in their Walking Dead games, gave us a deeper appreciation for the Borderlands series that went beyond it’s console origins as an RPG-Shooter hybrid, and filled our needs between seasons six and seven of Game Of Thrones. Telltale’s adaptation is certain to bring a new concept of how we perceive the Dark Knight franchise, if they stick to what they know—which is fleshing out characters and plot.
There’s so many reasons to be hopeful for this game and this could make or break Telltale’s foray into the superhero genre. They're also signed up to do a mysterious so far-untitled Marvel Comics game, so if they get things right here, they could be the go-to guys for super-heroics in the future, regardless of the medium.
