Telltale Batman Shadows Edition with Base Game and New DLC Released!

LONDON, UK —  December 17, 2019 —Today, Telltale and Athlon Games launched The Telltale Batman Shadows Edition. Shadows Edition brings a sinister new look to the Telltale Batman Series adding a noir-style visual makeover and graphical upgrade to the critically acclaimed and much-loved games.

The Telltale Batman Shadows Edition, which includes the Batman: The Telltale Series base game and new noir style DLC, is available for players to purchase now on Xbox One and Steam, Epic Game Store, PlayStation 4 in Europe and Nintendo SwitchTM in the near future, from £23.96. Players who already own the base game can add Shadows Mode as stand-alone DLC from £3.99.

Earlier this year, Telltale and Athlon Games struck a publishing agreement for five popular Telltale Games back catalog titles, including Batman 1 & 2 and The Wolf Among Us, which are currently available for fans to purchase. A leading creator of interactive storytelling, Telltale Games titles represent a collection of unique and powerful story driven narratives that invoke fond memories for fans worldwide.

“We’re excited to be able to build and continue the legacy of this iconic Telltale Games franchise by launching The NEW Telltale Batman Shadows Edition today,” said Brian Waddle, Chief Revenue Officer at Telltale. “For the holiday season, we wanted to offer fans old and new a fun twist on the series with the first of many planned initiatives. All of us at Telltale are working hard to build a great studio, delivering great content. We hope everyone will stay tuned for more announcements in the coming months and, for now, enjoy playing in the Shadows.”

Batman: The Telltale Series cast players into the fractured psyche of Bruce Wayne in a dark and violent original story and challenges players with discovering the powerful and far-reaching consequences of choice as the Dark Knight. As Batman, players will encounter classic allies and adversaries, and will learn the true meaning of what it means to be the man behind the cowl as Bruce Wayne.

For further information on upcoming announcements related to Telltale Games, please follow Telltale Games on Twitter.

About Athlon Games

Athlon Games, a subsidiary of Leyou Technologies Holdings Limited, is a global publisher of free-to-play console and PC games headquartered in Los Angeles. Athlon Games combines its expertise in free-to-play console and PC games with Western development to create AAA cooperative console and PC experiences that gamers will want to play for many years.

About Leyou

Leyou Technologies Holdings Limited is a fast-growing developer and publisher of interactive entertainment for gamers worldwide. The company is a leader in the free-to-play multiplayer market, developing and operating games through its subsidiaries including Digital Extremes (Canada), Splash Damage (UK), King Maker (Beijing) and Radiance (Guangzhou China) and invested associates Certain Affinity (US) etc. Leyou, a publicly traded company on Hong Kong Exchange (1089.HK), also owns a global publishing platform branded as Athlon Games headquartered in Los Angeles. Leyou mainly focuses on high-quality multiplayer online games on PC and consoles, and adopts a “Games as a Service (GaaS)” operating model. The company owns the flagship game Warframe, an award-winning free-to-play game, and is developing multiple other AAA free-to-play games at the same time.  For more corporate information please visit http://www.leyoutech.com.hk.

About LCG Entertainment/Telltale Games

LCG Entertainment is a privately held company, headquartered in Malibu with a satellite studio in Corte Madera, California. LCG Entertainment owns the brand, assets and various IP from the original Telltale Games company. Formerly an award-winning independent developer and publisher of both original and licensed IP games for every major interactive platform, Telltale Games pioneered the episodic delivery of digital gaming content. Initially founded in 2004, Telltale won numerous accolades for its best-selling game series, including The Walking Dead, Batman: The Telltale Series, The Wolf Among Us, Tales from the Borderlands, and more. LCG Entertainment will be operating and marketing games under the Telltale brand going forward. Telltale Games and Telltale are registered trademarks of LCG Entertainment, Inc. For more information on the new Telltale Games, please visit www.telltale.com.

BATMAN and all related characters, their distinctive likenesses, and all related elements are the property of DC Comics. TM & © 2016

BATMAN and all related characters, their distinctive likenesses, and all related elements are the property of DC Comics. TM & © 2017

The Wolf Among Us © Bill Willingham and DC ComicsTM TM Bill Willingham (2013). All Rights Reserved.


Article by Susan N.

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Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu - Retro Reflections

Batman Rise of Sin Tzu is a beat'em up game, like the ancient Double Dragon (1987) or Final Fight (1989). However, this time the hero is not some generic muscular dude who tries to save his girlfriend from thugs; it is the Caped Crusader himself. The story involves a master martial artist and strategist from the Far East who sets out to conquer Gotham by weakening and finally defeating its renowned defender. To accomplish this ambitious goal, he sends three super villains against the Dark Knight, accompanied by waves of criminals who flood the city streets. Should Batman fail to stand up to the challenge, he will lose not only his beloved city but his life too.

Rise of Sin Tzu did not receive much appraise in the past but it's easily one of my favorite PS2 games. To begin with, it offers pure beat 'em up action: no enemies with huge life bars (Urban Reign), no silly activities like buying clothes (Beat Down), no complicated control systems (Death by Degrees); just run forward and beat mercilessly anyone who dares to cross your path. Batman is powerful but not invulnerable. Your moves are strong, however, you need skill and speed to survive. Whenever I disposed of thugs, rescued a civilian or performed a spectacular move I felt a sense of satisfaction that kept me playing till the end.

As in most respectable melee combat games, two attack buttons are available, one for punches and one for kicks, allowing you to make combinations instead of just mashing the same button continuously. The strongest attacks are those with the "delay" mechanic, meaning that you need to wait a fraction of a second before inputting the next command (for example, "punch, punch, delay, punch, delay, punch"). Initially, I thought they might be hard to pull off but if you observe Batman's animation carefully you won't have a problem. Combos with the delay mechanic are spectacular and are necessary for the last chapter and the last boss, Sin Tzu. Moreover, as Batman performs successful attacks or collects red orbs left by defeated adversaries, a meter is filled. Once it is full super moves can be activated. After you perform a super attack the meter is slowly depleted, however you can still activate supers as long as it has some juice left.

Besides punching and kicking, Batman can jump, grab enemies, block, dodge, taunt and use gadgets. I had forgotten blocking was even an option until I had to deal with Sin Tzu's energy field, which cannot be avoided. Dodges are handy for escaping a narrow situation and even knock down foes. Concerning gadgets, there are three kinds of them: batarangs do not deal damage but they stun foes and their upgraded version hits up to four targets; in addition, they are infinite. Gas bombs incapacitate bad guys around you for a few seconds but are limited in numbers. Lastly, the famous batgrapple disappoints since it is not used to access higher levels or traverse chasms; it just lets Batman jump away and kick enemies in a row.

The level design is linear and your goal simple: beat everyone in the vicinity and a flashing arrow will show you the direction to follow. If you fail to clear the area within the time limit you lose a life and get 15 more seconds, so sightseeing is not recommended! Often you find barrels that can be blown up from a distance with a batarang, catching criminals in the explosion, and you can also lift heavy objects, such as crates, to smash some thick heads. At the end of a stage you earn points based on your performance (more points are awarded for stylish combat) and buy new moves, upgraded gadgets or tokens; those unlock extras at the menu screen, e.g. character models.

Technically, the game is not a masterpiece, nevertheless, it is visually and acoustically pleasant. Batman's animation is impressive, including rising uppercuts and mid-air kicks. The scenery is nice, reminding of the animated series with dimly lit alleys, chambers with marble floors, docks, a factory and Arkham Asylum, drawn with appropriate colors and style. The music is different from what I expected, nevertheless it works fine, setting up the right mood. The sound effects emphasize the action and the voice acting is good too. I especially enjoyed Batman declaring "I am vengeance", a reference to Ubi Soft's other game, "Batman Vengeance".

The difficulty is raised gradually: you may punch and kick to all directions to complete the first two chapters but enemies get tougher afterwards and learning new combos is vital. Chapter four is even more challenging, as you face thugs with claw weapons, like Vega in Street Fighter, and rely on gadgets and special moves to win. Sin Tzu, in particular, is a very worthy opponent, even on the easy difficulty; without special tactics you will never defeat him. The other bosses, Scarecrow, Clayface and Bane, are not nearly as hard but they involve different attack patterns. I found it interesting that Bane appears in the batcave and if he grabs Batman he breaks his back (thankfully you only lose a portion of health when this happens instead of being crippled)! Chapters are divided in short stages and health bonuses help you stay alive. Sometimes you may even find an extra life. The game has replay value too, since multiple difficulty levels and characters are selectable. Besides Batman, Nightwing, Batgirl and Robin wait eagerly to prove their mettle. Personally I have completed the game on "easy" and intend to try the "normal" difficulty soon.

Though I have no complaints, a possible sequel could benefit from a couple of improvements. First, the Batman universe has fascinating characters, so it would be intriguing to learn something about them as the story unfolds. Also, a little exploration and climbing could add to the gameplay, as long as its core is unharmed and you don't end up dying repeatedly by falling in chasms (once again, "Batman Vengeance" comes to mind).

To conclude, Batman Rise of Sin Tzu was really enjoyable. Its fast pacing, cartoonish graphics and old school beat 'em up action won me over. If you expect intelligent gameplay and intricate level design you will be disappointed; on the other hand, people thirsty for traditional arcade action will find a purpose here.

Game Information

Platform:
Sony PlayStation 2
Developer(s):
Ubisoft
Publisher(s):
Ubisoft
Genre(s):
Action
Mode(s):
Single Player
Coop
Other Platform(s):
Microsoft Xbox
Nintendo GBA / GameCube

Source:
Purchased

Article by Dimitris

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DC Universe Online - PlayStation 3 Review

A friend of mine recently sent me a weekend invite to try Guild Wars 2 for free.  I am hoping to get a chance to do just that, but we will see if time permits.  It reminded me of this review I have been meaning to put up for at least two months now, and just had not found time to squirt it into the schedule.  I've talked about World of Warcraft at length in the past - and with good reason considering the absolutely ridiculous amount of time I sunk into it.  MMO's in general just really appeal to me (hence the reason I run one of the original ones, a MUD).

I posted several months ago about how I was going to give DC Universe Online a go since it was free to play on the Sony PlayStation Network.  I am not a huge MMO player.  I fiddled with Dark Ages of Camelot and I have played (and now own) my share of MUDs and I did log about four years on and off on World of Warcraft.  I have briefly tried a couple of the other free MMO's in the past, and they just never 'stuck' with me the way WoW did. 

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Farewell, Nintendo Power

I was going to hit you all with a roughly two week stream of straight up Street Fighter, but then I saw the Nintendo Power announcement and felt the need to write something up sooner rather than later.

I have been playing video games for a long time.  A loooong time, it seems.  Still, when I got my first NES, it was as though a whole new world of video gaming adventures was being put in front of me.  The kinds of games that came out had a depth to them that was missing in my games played before that.  With my NES I got a subscription to Nintendo Power, which I kept active for a few years.  The earliest issues were certainly my most memorable though.

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Nintendo's E3 conference

I was really hoping Nintendo would come out swinging this year.  Last year I thought the Big N had the weakest showing at E3 of the three consoles.  They only showed one title from their current gen console, and while Skyward Sword was amazing, it still left a lot of Wii owners feel like they were left out in the cold because so much attention was given to the Wii-U, which was still a long ways off.

For me personally at the time, the 3DS portion of the conference last year did not resonate all that well as I did not have a 3DS.  This year I have one, and the with the Wii U coming out soon, I had much higher expectations from this conference - it felt like it would be much more relevant to fans.

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