It must be hard to be an independent studio. Without lots of money to fund big, grandiose titles, a smaller studio like Telltale Games would struggle to get ambitious titles out to market. Clearly, the studio is doing something right as they continue to champion episodic gaming, as not only ave they secured some of the biggest franchises in gaming history, they have secured some of the biggest franchises in comics and television as well.
Last night, in a swanky club, Telltale made some major announcements. A couple, like the next episode of Back to the Future and the news that more Monkey Island would be coming to iOS devices, are nice secondary bits of news. Others, like games based upon The Walking Dead and a reboot of King’s Quest made audience members gasp. It’s not hard to see that Telltale is on the up and up, and it’s exciting to see where they go next.
Puzzle Agent 2 – Fans of Professor Layton-esque puzzle games got a nice surprise last year with the unexpected Puzzle Agent. With darkly charming art style of Graham Annabel and the plot out of a Coen Brothers film, Puzzle Agent made solving puzzles equivocal to wandering out in the frozen wilderness while creepy little gnomes cause problems. In addition to announcing that Puzzle Agent will be coming to PSN, Telltale also announced that Puzzle Agent 2 is well in development. Players will be returning to Scroggins on the PC, Mac, iOS devices, and PSN sometime soon.
Jurassic Park – Well under development, this game franchise inspired by the Steven Speilberg classic has been announced to come out this April. Players can preorder the game right now, and in addition to the good feeling of buying a game early, players who preorder will also be able to save five bucks on the title. Make sure to see our preview later today.
Hector: Badge of Carnage – A minor surprise, Hector Badge of Carnage represents a new direction for Telltale. First of all, it’s a game already completed by Northern Ireland based Straandlooper. While Telltale will assit with porting the game over to new devices, Hector: Badge of Courage is largely complete, making this game more of a publishing opportunity for Telltale than anything else. Badge of Carnage is a crude, crass, and vulgar point-and-click adventure game starring Inspector Hector, a callow and ill-reputed anti-hero. The game seems to fit in pretty well with the Telltale line-up, and the fact they are basically publishing speaks good things for the company.
King’s Quest – Probably the biggest announcement of the night, when Telltale’s representatives announced King’s Quest will be making an official reboot from the company, audible gasped issued from the crowd. Sierra’s long fabled franchise, as well as their other beloved IPs like Police Quest and Space Quest, for example, have laid dormant for years. Owner Activision has become friendlier to the fans of the series, allowing for unofficial fan games, and now it seems that Telltale will be picking up the official mantel for the franchise. There’s little to no information on the game, other than that Telltale will be announcing more at E3. Additionally, there’s no word if any of the other Sierra IPs could be remade, but fingers are indeed crossed.
The Walking Dead – A surprise to few, the long-rumored videogame adaptation of The Walking Dead is now in the hands-of Telltale. In an agreement with DC/WB, the parent company of The Walking Dead’s print label, Telltale will be working to bring the comic classic to gamers later this year. Robert Kirkman’s beloved franchise will now be a dynamic adventure game, with apparent focus placed upon the comics, not the show. Little is known how the games will play, but more will be announced at ComiCon this year.
Fables – A franchise near and dear to this writer’s heart, Telltale announced that, in the agreement with DC and WB, they will also be making a game based upon Bill Willingham’s mature comic series about fairy tales living in New York and dealing with contemporary problems. Fables is a delightful and dynamic series with a lot of potential opportunities, and between Fables, The Walking Dead, and Hector: Badge of Carnage, Telltale is finally stepping away from the family-friendly identity. More on this franchise and game will be announced at ComiCon, and expect a 2012 release.
