As the title implies, Batman: The TellTale Series is an adventure game that features a rather unique spin on Batman’s character and mythos. You not only play as Batman in this game, but also Bruce Wayne himself, and you’re frequently tasked with managing Bruce’s dual identities. The game does an excellent job balancing the familiar elements of the world of Batman with interesting and in some cases, dramatic twists on classic characters and their backgrounds. Sadly though, it falls victim to the problem that befalls most of the adventure titles from TellTale Games: despite how much emphasis and importance the game places on the choices that you make throughout it, they ultimately don’t affect the plot nearly as much as the game would have you believe. While I think this greatly hindered the game’s potential, I still really enjoyed the story it had to offer.

One of the biggest and most prominent changes is that Bruce’s father, Thomas Wayne, was actually a corrupt member of Gotham’s elite, and a truly evil man. Almost every single interpretation of Batman has portrayed the Wanye family as virtuous, using their power and wealth to help the people of Gotham as best as they can, but that’s not the case in TellTale’s Gotham. Here, Thomas Wayne had worked hand in hand with mobster Carmine Falcone and the corrupt Mayor Hill to maintain control of Gotham’s elite as well as its underworld. Thomas would commit any potential whistleblowers of the pact the three of them had to Arkham Asylum, and the Wayne family fortune truly ended up being built on blood. The loyal butler to the Wayne family, Alfred, was even prepared to walk out on the Waynes just before their death at the hands of Mayor Hill. 2022’s The Batman film had a similar twist regarding Thomas Wayne, however he was still an upstanding man that made an awful mistake in trusting terrible people for the sake of his political campaign, which is a far safer interpretation compared to TellTale’s take on the character. I love this twist on Thomas Wayne. If you choose to make your Bruce duty-bound and heroic, this change to Thomas Wayne makes how Bruce turns out all the more impressive.

I never thought I would enjoy playing as Bruce Wayne as much as I did. It was actually really suspenseful and I loved having to decide if it was best to tackle certain issues as Bruce or Batman. Trying to manage public relations, support Bruce’s friends and make difficult decisions regarding Wayne Enterprises was surprisingly captivating and I really enjoyed it. Lately, a frequent criticism of the character of Batman and Bruce Wayne I’ve seen is that Bruce should be using his resources to help the poor and that instead he chooses to prey on them and the mentally unwell. This game actually tackles that idea and I think it does so in a pretty decent manner. While the game does leave the decision-making to the player, you are able to be a merciful Batman, avoiding violence unless absolutely necessary, and you also have a say in how Bruce Wayne uses his resources to help people, especially with the final decision you make at the game’s end. The game goes so far as to point this out to you in the results screen at the end of episodes as well.

I also really love what the game does with Vicki Vale, making her into the exclusive new villain Lady Arkham. Vicki has never really had that prominent of a role in Batman’s history aside from a couple of stories where she tries to expose Batman’s secret identity. The twist of making her the main antagonist of the game is fantastic, and definitely not one I saw coming as a long time Batman fan. I’d even go so far as to say that it’s the most interesting thing that’s ever been done with the character.

The “TellTale Problem” is most evident with how the game handles the character of Harvey Dent, aka Two-Face. You are frequently given opportunities to side with him, protect him, and suggest to him that he gets the help that he needs. Yet no matter what you do, no matter how many times you make choices that are in Harvey’s best interest, there is nothing that you can do to keep Harvey from succumbing to his inner demons and developing his split personality. You can even prevent him from getting the facial scarring that traditionally triggers his transformation in the various interpretations of the character, but it still doesn’t matter. Truth be told, I don’t think I’d really mind this if it wasn’t for the fact that the “TellTale Problem” was such a consistent issue throughout games made by the studio. By the time Batman: The TellTale Series came out, I had played through multiple seasons of The Walking Dead as well as The Wolf Among Us so I was aware of and used to the issue by the time I got to playing Batman. There is a strong sense of tragedy in how futile your choices are when it comes to protecting your best friend, but because TellTale games do this so frequently, the impact of Harvey’s fall is greatly lessened and largely lost on most players of this game, based on comments I’ve read from other people.

Despite how little of a difference certain choices make on the overall narrative, I still think that Batman: The TellTale Series is very enjoyable, and a great interpretation of Batman and his world. I was still immersed and heavily invested in the story that was told. I found it to be thrilling and surprising, even during my second playthrough. While the Arkham games do an excellent job at putting the player in the shoes of Batman, The TellTale Series is equally as impressive at putting you in the mind of Bruce Wayne. I don’t think it’s the best title that TellTale Games has put out, but I do consider it a must-play for hardcore Batman fans.