The year is almost over. The decade is almost over. It’s wild to think about, maybe a little depressing, a little exciting, who the hell really knows at this point. But one thing that continues on is the free games from various services, including Xbox Live and its Games With Gold. Next month has quite the selection, with a certain superhero headlining it.

The most notable game given away in January is The Telltale Batman Series, a narrative adventure following the Dark Knight as he grapples with an unexpected revelation from his past. It will be available on Xbox One systems from January 16th to February 15th. Sticking to the shadows there’s also Styx: Shards of Darkness, a stealth based game that will be available on Xbox One systems the entire month of January.

On the 360 side of things you can fight things out with Tekken 6, and chill out with some Legos with Lego Star Wars 2: The Original Trilogy. Those games will be available on both all 360 systems as well as the Xbox One.

The free games will go live starting at the beginning of next month to kick off the next year.

Telltale Games’ Batman: The Telltale Series and Batman: The Enemy Within is now available in one definitive package. The Telltale Batman Shadows Edition is out now for Xbox One and PC. It will arrive for PS4, Nintendo Switch and for the Epic Games Store in the near future. In the meantime, check out the trailer below to see Shadows Mode in action.

Batman: The Telltale Series offers a new five episode story focused on Batman, especially as he manages his dual life as Bruce Wayne. It’s good set-up for The Enemy Within which sees the Joker introduced. Though not quite Telltale’s best work, both seasons offer some great storytelling and gameplay moments.

As for Shadows Mode, it serves up a new visual style with recolored gameplay and enhanced textures. The mode is included with this bundle but can also be purchased separately for $4.99. You need to own at least one episode from either season to do so.

One of the big potential announcements that people are waiting on the edge of their seats for on the upcoming Game Awards is the reveal of the next installment in the Arkham series. If it doesn’t get revealed, I’m just going to assume the damn thing never existed and no one can stop me. But it also may not be the only Batman on the show as a rather humorous leak points to the revival of another Batman series.

Earlier the listing for The Telltale Batman Shadows Edition popped up via an Australian ratings board. To remove any doubt, it seems publisher Athlon Game let a press release go just a tad early. While they were lightening quick in taking it down, the internet never forgets. The press release revealed that, as expected, it will be a re-release of the two Telltale Batman seasons. What is a little unexpected is that it will include new DLC as well as new visual updates and new voice actors. The latter is especially odd for a re-release.

There is no details or date for the game as of now, just that it will be launching for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch and PC (both Steam and Epic Games Store). With The Game Awards just a few hours away, it’s not outside the realm of possibility we’ll see the official reveal there.

While we’re all waiting for the next Arkham game (maybe it’ll actually get revealed soon, but who knows), there seems to be some news on another Batman series that is a little different. A new rating from the land down under seems to point at the return of the Telltale series based on the caped crusader.

The Telltale Batman Shadows Edition rating popped up on the Australian rating board site, which you can see through here. The rating is the same as the previous two season releases of the Telltale Batman series, meaning it is most likely for a collection of the two seasons similar to the recent The Walking Dead: The Telltale Definitive Collection.

The closure of Telltale was one of the most sudden and surprising events in recent memory, and it came not too long after the second season of their Batman take released. The series was acclaimed, especially the second season, for its unique take on Batman and the mythos, especially the relationship between he and the Joker.

NOTE: Obviously, there are spoilers in this feature for every game mentioned. If you see us beginning to discuss a game you don’t want spoiled skip ahead to the next entry.

HEAVY RAIN

Heavy Rain was a legitimately great game, and a great showcase for choice and consequence mechanics and narrative-driven gameplay in Quantic Dream titles- but it wasn’t perfect, of course. The entire game revolved around the mystery of who the Origami Killer who, but it was eventually revealed that it had been Scott Shelby all along. Except that doesn’t make any sense, because we’d been playing as Scott Shelby for a huge chunk of the game, and were privy to his thoughts and inner monologues and what have you. It just came across as a poorly executed reveal.

First revealed and reported on by Gamingbolt just over a week ago, PlayStation Plus players can now enjoy a new suite of PlayStation Plus titles for the low, low price of free*.

For a quick reminder of what you can now check out as a subscriber, the service has now put up Batman: The Telltale Series, and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided on PlayStation 4, The Book of Unwritten Tales 2 and Sacred 3 on PlayStation 3, and Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness and Uncanny Valley for the PlayStation Vita. In addition, PlayStation VR owners can check out Starblood Arena.

These titles will remain up for the run of January and likely be replaced on February 6, 2018 with a new selection, as is usually the case. Xbox One owners through Games with Gold can expect to enjoy The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing III, Tomb Raider Underworld, Back to the Future: The Game, Zombi, and Army of Two through the month.

Which selection wins January? Sound off in the comments.

While we all work off that glorious food coma from the holidays (not to mention the New Years hangover), PlayStation Plus is going to have you covered wth several great new titles to check out in January.

Don the cape and cowl as Batman in the first season of Batman: The Telltale Series, which sees the aging Telltale engine give one last hurrah before they switch things up in a surprisingly gripping story that challenges not only Batman’s abilities as he tracks a dangerous criminal, but also challenges the very core of who Batman is (Our review here). Then rise above in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and see Adam Jenson fight against the impossible control of the Illuminati (Review here).

Both titles are available on the service as of January 2nd, giving you just enough time to recover from New Years festivities. Should you somehow still be spending significant time on the PlayStation 3 in 2018, they get access to The Book of Unwritten Tales 2, and get inflicted with Sacred 3 (Review). You three Vita owners can enjoy Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness and Uncanny Valley. VR owners can download Starblood Arena as well.

Batman: The Telltale Series, the first season of the exciting animated adventure from Telltale Games, finally has a release date for Nintendo Switch. It will arrive on November 14th for North America while Europe will receive it on November 17th.

Keep in mind that this is only the first season and will include all the episodes that have been released thus far. The second season, The Enemy Within, doesn’t currently have a release date and Telltale hasn’t revealed whether it will be porting it over to the Switch. Currently, The Enemy Within has two episodes out with Harley Quinn recently joining the cast.

For those interested in the first season but on other platforms, Batman: The Telltale Series is also available on PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PC, Android and iOS. It’s received share of decent critical praise though many lambasted it for graphical bugs and the traditional gameplay of Telltale that hasn’t changed.

Telltale can’t run a tight ship, it sounds like. Earlier today, we reported on how a follow up to the beloved fan favorite The Wolf Among Us may be in the works… and now, it sounds like a second season of their take on Batman may be incoming, too.

A rating appearing on New Zealand’s Film & Video Labeling Body (via NeoGAF), New Zealand’s rating board for video games (as well as other media) seems to have outed the existence of a second season of Batman: The Telltale Series. The listing refers to a game directed by Kent Mudle, who was also the director of the first game.

Given the success of that game, as well as Telltale’s tease from earlier today, the possibility of a Batman: The Telltale Series Season 2 being announced at Comic Con seems to be reasonably high. In which case… why not catch up on the first season? It’s available now on all current gen consoles, PC, and mobiles.

The flow of a Telltale game is well established by this point, and you are either down for what ultimately amounts to Quick Time Event the game, or you find the idea appalling. Calling back to the point and click adventure games of old, these kinds of titles need to lean on their storytelling more heavily than most.

Events are largely guided, with the player making inputs to keep the action flowing or making split second decisions that can guide the story in different ways, and influence how characters react to Bruce or Batman in small or large ways. How you toe the line and present yourself to the various characters you interact with can alter the story in subtle ways, and guide your decisions as you progress.

"They were allowed to play with the Batman mythos in a very interesting way, breaking down the very core of the character and what he fights for."

Of course, it’s kind of known at this point that the deviations are small, and sometimes don’t have all the impact they should because they still have a single story they’re trying to tell. One moment at the conclusion of Episode 2 stood out as a decision that should have had consequences more severe than presented, if not completely changing the direction of the story as opposed to simply destroying trust with certain characters.

I don’t want to give the impression that the story they’ve got is poorly done, in fact they were allowed to play with the Batman mythos in a very interesting way, breaking down the very core of the character and what he fights for. They also give plenty of screen time to Bruce Wayne, which is something that hasn’t been explored much in video games. Focusing on Bruce more also allows some great interplay between characters who don’t usually share screen time in other media, and brings up some interesting choices where you might be forced to make decisions, such as a deal with the devil for the greater good.

"Batman is very much a character about his duality. There is no dark without light, and the struggles of one have their effect on the actions of the other."

Batman is very much a character about his duality. There is no dark without light, and the struggles of one have their effect on the actions of the other. Some intersections even offer the choice to act as one persona over the other, perhaps offering a harder path to spare the reputation of the alter ego. Sometimes the relationships between characters will dictate that Bruce gets his hands dirty as well, something not often seen.

With the focus on the interplay between the two, there comes a natural segue into focusing on the brains of the world’s greatest detective. The best sections of the game involve putting together crime scenes through logically linking together bits of evidence to deduce the chain of events. These sections play on classic adventure game tropes without getting to the obscure level they would rely on.

"Played as a cohesive whole, some of the weaknesses of individual episodes melt away."

Played as a cohesive whole, some of the weaknesses of individual episodes melt away such as lack of screen time for either Bruce or Batman, or the lack of a detective section from one episode. Each arc lasts just as long as it needs to, and certain decisions, inconsequential as they may be are called back to and tie each arc into each other well. There are legitimately good twists from episode to episode that will have you questioning who you’ve chosen to trust and how to react to changing characters around you. The villains are all quite fun, including the new (and I thankfully don’t mean Arkham Knight new) villain for the series. It’s also quite refreshing for a Batman game to not lean on the Joker.

While the story is there, the presentation of it all is where the Telltale engine begins to show some serious age. With a kinetic kind of hero like Batman, the stiff animations and muddy textures take a lot of the impact away from the fight scenes, and though I have nothing to complain about regarding the voice acting, we’ve seen games where facial expression can take a lot of the work away from the writing.

"Perhaps it’s not fair to ask Telltale to get up to the production values of Uncharted, but with frequent frame rate stutters and full out crashes that both figuratively and literally pull you out of the game, the engine clearly isn’t pulling its weight anymore."

Perhaps it’s not fair to ask Telltale to get up to the production values of Uncharted, but with frequent frame rate stutters and full out crashes that both figuratively and literally pull you out of the game, the engine clearly isn’t pulling its weight anymore. I wouldn’t put so fine of a point on it in any other game, but with a catalog that lives and dies on the stories they tell, the fact that those stories are being hamstrung by limitations loses a couple points.

Even with the technical difficulties brought on by the aging engine, Batman: The Telltale Series takes a deep dive into the world of Bruce Wayne and his crusade, dissecting them both in a compelling way and telling a great story in the meantime. Taken as a series, the smaller weaknesses of each episode disappear within the larger story and the minor dissonance of some decisions not carrying the impact they should is quickly forgotten.

Not a perfect knight, but this is a damn fine one.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 4.