Episode 4 of Telltale’s Batman picks up immediately from the events at the end of Episode 3, seeing Bruce Wayne committed to Arkham Asylum.
The episode takes a bit of a detour from the previous episodes in the series at this point, as the first act of the new episode takes place in an environment detached from the rest of the game, mentioned only briefly so far.
Episode 4 also introduces us to Telltale’s version of The Joker, Batman’s iconic nemesis. This version is an interesting take on Bruce’s first experiences with the character, meeting him inside of Arkham Asylum as a fellow patient, and while The Joker comes across unevenly. One stand out moment with the character sees him offering you a way out of the asylum in exchange for a “small” favor down the line, but the rest of his involvement seems a bit flat, uninspired, and could have easily been accomplished through the use of any old patient.
Outside of the first act, we get to experience Gotham City under the increasingly militant and paranoid leadership of Harvey Dent and his time as Mayor. We go back to the familiar and established conflicts from previous episodes. Oswald Cobblepot is settling in to his new position as CEO of Wayne Enterprises, Harvey Dent is becoming an escalating danger to himself and those around him, and the Children of Arkham remain the ever-present danger casting a shadow over the city. All of these are credible threats to both Bruce Wayne and Batman, and because of that they remain the most compelling parts of this story.
Mechanically, I’ve experienced far fewer frame rate issues and sound bugs than in the previous episodes. Detective sections also make a return with a crime scene investigation and reconstruction, as seen in previous episodes, and a less effect join-the-dots style DNA puzzle.
With pacing issues aside, the episode does conclude with one of the heaviest choices in the series so far. I’ve completed a play through the whole series so far using two distinctly different styles, and can’t wait to see how this choice in particular plays out in the series finale.
Overall, episode 4 of Telltale’s Batman is perhaps its weakest yet, with the exception of the final act. Bugs and glitches have been addressed, and the overall story remains interesting, but this episode suffers from pacing issues and an underwhelming Joker introduction. If you’ve been playing the series up to this point, then there’s still plenty to enjoy about the episode, and it does very much feel like a build up before the events of the finale. Whether we’ll see The Joker in episode 5 however, remains unclear.
I give Batman: A Telltale Series’ episode 4: Guardian of Gotham 3/5 atoms.
If you’ve played the episode yourself and want to share some of your thoughts on it, then please do in the comments below, or with us directly on Twitter @NerdReactor – I can be found @raykimaru. But please, keep it spoiler free!
from Nerd Reactor
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