Batman: The Telltale Series - Episode 5: City of Light | Xbox One

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The battle for Gotham reaches its climax as Bruce and Batman fight to their very limits in an engaging and affecting finale; though we came in with a healthy dose of scepticism, suffice to say, Telltale largely delivered the goods.

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by Sam
​Sant

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@SlamShotSam

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Developer: Telltale 
Games
Publisher: Telltale
Games
Platforms: Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, PS3, PC, Mac, iOS, Android
Players: 1 - 12

City of Light opens in one of two places, depending on your past decisions, though both scenes unfold in much the same fashion. They share key events and structure, only swapping out the setting and villain, making the goal of quickly converging to restore a more linear timeline transparent. Though this ensures players don’t miss out on anything substantial, it doesn’t meet the promise extended when loudly proclaiming to possess a story tailored by how you play.

Unfortunately, those opening segments also suffer abysmal frame rates that reduce them to little more than slideshows. The pairing makes for a deflating start - one that might even make us think twice before requesting more divergence in future, should this be the cost - but things soon recover (and then some).

When Lady Arkham, leader of the Children of Arkham, kidnaps a close personal friend of Bruce Wayne’s, the episode adopts a deeply personal tone. With the series’ events already eroding his faith in humanity, Wayne can’t afford to lose one of his few remaining confidants. This kickstarts a significant investigation that, whilst still overly simplistic, gifts a nostalgic hit of classic Telltale adventure gameplay.

During the course of his detective work, Batman uncovers a dark secret that leaves him shaken. It continues the theme of evoking empathy for an antagonist - in this instance one with an abused past and a resulting thirst for revenge - rather than portraying an entirely one-dimensional caricature as can often be the case with supervillains. That said, the development feels somewhat forced as it comes so late in the day. Though it’s understandable Telltale would want to use as many characters from a library of pre-existing icons as possible, a more focused approach would have ensured even deeper engagement with the supporting cast.

City of Light has a decidedly game-y feel.

One final encounter with the frustratingly flakey Selina Kyle and a tease from the maniacal John Doe at least hint we could see an established suite of characters return for a potential second season, which should help combat the issue by both allowing the time to further flourish and (in theory) any newcomers more screentime to grow.

When the World’s Greatest Detective inevitably cracks the case, he uncovers both the whereabouts of Lady Arkham’s captive and her plan to free the inmates of Arkham Asylum. Chances are a good portion of people will begin to roll their eyes at the thought of retreading this ground, perhaps even see it as an attempt to piggyback on the success of Rocksteady’s Arkham series, but Telltale seek to pay homage with a few sly references. It also feels like a declaration of intent, an indication that they can stand alongside the industry’s biggest and best.

You’ll carve a path through deranged inmates by utilising the returning attack planning phase, but while it illustrates Batman’s unparalleled powers of deduction, the fact it’s impossible to botch (and Bats manages to handle a vast majority of fights without you providing this input) makes the segment ultimately unfulfilling.

It leads, however, to perhaps the most satisfying QTE combat sequence ever conceived. The breakneck-paced showdown is beautifully choreographed, smoothly animated, and, importantly, runs without a hitch - it’s about as close as you’ll get to a boss battle in a Telltale game.

The encounter melds with the classic adventure game vibe, as well as a more prominent ability to move through scenes manually, dodging booby traps all the while, to give City of Light a decidedly game-y feel. It’s to the episode’s benefit, leaning on the medium’s strengths to maintain engaging and varied pacing throughout without any detriment to the central narrative.

With a few lazily executed episodes in the mix, Telltale went all out on ending their first Batman foray. City of Light certainly still has some shortcomings, but by providing a satisfying conclusion to one of the more unique Batman stories out there, while simultaneously improving gameplay to nail the pacing, there isn’t much more we could have asked for.

Pros

• Manages to satisfyingly wrap-up the busy story
• Engaging, more traditional game-y structure
• Stunning fight scene with Lady Arkham
• Ends the series on a high, when it could so easily have gone the other way
• Offers a tantalising tease of what might be to come

Cons

• Severe technical issues early on
• Attack planning phases are still pointless fluff

Score 8/10

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