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. 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
Cons
Score 8/10 Interested in trying the series for yourself? Then you might want to enter our latest giveaway, for your chance to win one of two Season Pass codes enabling access to all five episodes on Steam.
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