BATMAN: A Telltale Series – Episode 5: City Of Light Review

Can Batman finish strong after a so-so performance this season?

Share

Fight to the Finish:

I’ve struggled with Telltale’s Batman in its previous episodes, but went into the finale hoping that the story could still land a fulfilling conclusion. I’m pleased to say they did just that.

Story:

As far as Batman’s narrative goes, in City of Light it’s all boiled down to one remaining point: defeat Penguin and Lady Arkham. The medium Telltale have popularized – and arguably perfected in some of their previous endeavours – gives their games a sincere narrative focus. The problem with their Batman series is that there’s been little in terms of complexity to really make the most of this interactive medium – and, as mentioned in previous reviews, it doesn’t allow you to do much that makes a difference when interaction is offered to you.

Still, with Batman’s final hour, Telltale get out of their own way to deliver a punchy episode that focuses on what this series has gotten right so far – its stellar action scenes and excellent presentation. There are enough good moments in between the action, namely provocative conversations that get you riled up and eager to punch a villain in the face, which is arguably all episode 5 needed to provide.

batman-the-telltale-series-ep-5-city-of-light_1

Gameplay:

Indeed, City of Light is an episode all about priorities. Our end goal is to wreck house and reclaim Gotham, and it delivers just that, in increasingly satisfying moments. There’s a badass fight in this episode which is easily Telltale’s best action moment to date, and it made me a little sad that the rest of the series didn’t feature such needlessly awesome scenes throughout.

batman-the-telltale-series-ep-5-city-of-light_2

There’s a questionable crime-scene moment that had me asking why Batman was wasting time trying to piece a scene of violence together. There are important lives hanging in the balance and he spends ten minutes deciding how exactly people got hurt, the result of which gives no clues or leads to follow. Aside from this, however, City of Light is free from the plethora of annoying moments that had soured me on episodes past.

Presentation:

Batman’s had its fair share of missteps, but it’s never faltered at delivering an experience that looks and sounds brilliant. For the final Telltale have really pulled out all the stops to make an experience that looks like it’s jumped straight out of the pages of a graphic novel, and sound like a Hollywood movie.

batman-the-telltale-series-ep-5-city-of-light_4

Visually the piece is brooding, dark and fantastically stylized, as with previous episodes. But the ante is upped at every turn, with the final twenty minutes playing host to scene after scene that look like the flashy front of a comic book cover. Throughout the final fight I was constantly impressed at the mastery of framing, blocking and the dynamism of the games camera, let alone the excellent choreography of the fisticuffs themselves. And the lighting – well, that’s been on point since the game first booted up months ago, and didn’t let me down throughout.

From the audio we get the same great voice acting – with Batman and Alfred both stepping up their game for an impactful ending – along with a much more dynamic score that builds and ebbs at appropriate moments.

 

Conclusion:

Telltale’s Batman has been a somewhat hit and miss affair for me. I’ve been a big fan of certain elements of the production, and this final episode builds on those great foundations to create a rousing end. But the issues I’ve had with its hands-off storytelling are also amplified here, and whilst plenty of narrative threads are tied up, they don’t often feel like anything I had a particular hand in tying.

If there is a season two, there’s loads of great stuff to build off, but also plenty to work on. Here’s hoping that next time we don the cowl, we get a lot more choice.

Good

  • Brilliant final fight
  • Excellent presentation

Bad

  • Uncomplicated plot and choices
8.4

Great

Story - 7.5
Graphics - 9
Sound - 8.5
Gameplay - 8.5
Value - 8.5
Founder - Editor in Chief GamerKnights.com 'founded PlayDevil.com (1999-2015)'

Leave a Reply

Lost Password

%d bloggers like this: