Batman The Telltale Series review: interactive DC story flips the script

Mixing the graphic storytelling style of a comic book with the engagement of an adventure game — and adding a healthy dose of branching-path interaction via morality-testing choices — Telltale Games has developed award-winning adaptations of The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones and more. Now, it's the Dark Knight's turn.

It's unlikely anyone would embark on a five-part, interactive Batman graphic adventure apropos of nothing, but if you're a fan of either Telltale's stable of narrative choice-based games, or of DC's brooding master detective, this series is going to be right up your alley. For both groups, the game — which was rolled out piecemeal last year but is now available in a single package — offers a lot of familiar material and retreading of old ground, but also some legitimate and exciting twists.

On the story side, I was pleasantly surprised to find this version of the mythos differs significantly from what bat-fans may be used to. Though the opening hour lulled me into a false sense of security by appearing to be yet another look at Bruce Wayne early on in his crime-fighting career, twists that I never could have anticipated soon hit hard and grabbed my attention.

Familiar characters serve totally different roles than they might ordinarily in this version of events, while some are recognisable in name only. The most shocking change turns a fundamental aspect of Batman's character — his feelings about his dead parents — completely on its head in a way which will be almost sacrilegious to some fans, but makes this very much feel like a world apart from the established DC canon.

These breaks from tradition mean that even devout comic fans will be in the dark as to how the narrative will progress, which is perfect when the game asks you to make tough moral decisions based on how you see everything panning out. The game plays with this consciously, recasting villains as Bruce Wayne's oldest friends and casting aspersions on his traditional allies. While the narrative itself is interesting but not remarkable — a shady group of villains plan retribution against Gotham's rich and powerful — the interplay of the characters was gripping all the way through.

In addition to action and problem-solving, guiding Bruce Wayne's interactions with other characters makes up a large part of the play, with your decisions in conversation and action determining your options in the future. Specific to this series is the fact that you can have different impacts on certain characters as both Wayne and Batman, which is such a cool idea I wish it had been used more to greater effect.

On the technical side, Telltale's usual formula is in place and is largely unchanged. During action sequences, you'll have to react quickly to on-screen button prompts to land punches or avoid attacks, filling up a meter with each successful motion until you can eventually end the encounter with a special move. Much more interesting is the addition of some in-depth detective systems, which let Batman connect the dots at a crime scene or plan out every action of his assault before the bag guys even know he's there.

Telltale's continued reliance on its 'Telltale Tool' means that its games are, impressively, flexible enough to work on any just about any device, but they still don't run smoothly all the time, even on the most powerful machines. In Batman lip movements almost never sync properly with the voice acting (which is superb, by the way), and it's not uncommon for the whole thing to judder or freeze when moving between camera angles. Yet, while I think there's no excuse for this after so many years of these series, it rarely has a significant impact on the drama of this surprising, fascinating game.