Batman: The Telltale Series Episode 1 Realm of Shadows PC Review

Bruce Wayne The Game

Telltale Games has had a lot of success with their point and click adventures in recent years, revitalizing the near dead genre. After the very well made Borderlands series, it was announced that they would be taking on The Batman property, and this was met with mixed emotions. Telltale had done well with other properties, but Batman has a dear place in many people’s hearts and has been dominating media in all forms for many years. The result however is a fairly different take on an extremely well known character from angles you wouldn’t expect.

Because this character has been imagined in so many ways over so many mediums, it’s nice to see that there still is some perspectives that haven’t been covered to death. While it is a Batman title, most of Episode 1 takes you through the life and times of Bruce Wayne. Movies have always sort of glanced over the Batman alter-ego, but with Telltale, you get to walk a mile in his shoes. You have to deal with the police, mafia bosses, political scandals, and even family issues.

It’s a different take on an old classic, that makes you realize how tough it is to be Bruce every day, and why he must take pleasure in fixing so many wrongs during the night. Being the powerless Bruce makes taking out thugs so much more enjoyable, and solidifies your idea of justice. I had always wondered how Telltale was going to make Batman into a point and click adventure, but doing it from Bruce’s point of view is a good way to maintain a connection with the player while letting them play superhero at night.

The only true glaring problem is the system requirements and graphical issues. I was able to play all the way through Borderlands:Telltale with no issues whatsoever, but here with their “new and improved engine” my rig was nowhere being able to play this, even on lowest specs possible. I realize that they state what the minimum requirements are, but to have such an enormous gap in playability from different systems is a complete slap in the face to most fans, who play adventure games precisely because they desire story and critical thinking over high specs and perfect details. There is just no justification for a game of this style to ask so much for so little, and it disenfranchises so many from playing what is actually a decent game.

Because Episode 1 is just the beginning, and is mostly an introductory chapter, it is hard to really see what the endgame is, or what to expect even in the next episode. The story, characters, setting, were so good though, that really the only thing to expect to improve is the terrible PC optimization. Overall, it’s a solid game trapped in a bad port, but if you have the rig that can handle it, then definitely check out this new series.