Developer: Telltale Games
Publisher: Telltale Games
Release Date: August 8th, 2017
Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One, Mobile
I have billions of eyes, yet I live in darkness. I have millions of ears, yet only four lobes. I have no muscle, yet I rule two hemispheres. What am I?
Batman: The Enemy Within starts off its second season with “The Enigma”. Months after having put an end to the Children of Arkham’s wave of terror that washed over the city, Gotham seems to be transforming into a more peaceful and crime free city. The Enigma opens up as Bruce is staking out a corrupt casino owner but tragedy strikes as a hooded figure with an odd cane and considered to be the oldest villain in Gotham attacks the casino. It’s up to Batman to step in and save the day.
What I absolutely love about Telltale’s Batman is the amount of liberties they take with their universe and how they handle Batman. They seem free to craft their own story which is a breath of fresh air when it comes to the character and his villainous cast of criminals. It didn’t take much for The Riddler to worm his way into my heart right next to Telltale’s Oswald Cobblepot. When comparing Batman to say, Guardians of the Galaxy, it truly does feel like a unique story to tell, wheres the Guardians feel a little too much like a game based on the MCU. While I certainly love both games, Guardians doesn’t have that unique approach to story telling that Telltale Games is clearly taking Batman in.
The Riddler’s wonderful introduction.
In Season One, there were many instances where Batman would scope out a scene and plan out his approach. That’s gone this time around. Batman dives right into the action, which will slow down and give players a moment to select how Batman will act. Will he smash a guy over the head with a roulette wheel? Will he Roundhouse kick the Riddler into next week? That’s entirely for you to decide. In itself, it really feels like Batman has grown since the time of the first season and doesn’t really need to rely on such methods.
Something else that’s new in Batman: The Enemy Within is that the choices you make will not only shape how Bruce Wayne and Batman evolve, but also those around him. Throughout the course of the first episode, many things happen to Batman and how each character reacts to them will be shown once you’ve finished the episode. Bruce’s actions can mold the personalities of the rest of the cast going forward.
WHAT’S IN THE BOX! Hint: It isn’t a head this time.
Another thing I love is that Episode 1 doesn’t spend a whole lot of time focusing on John Doe, aka The Joker. Instead, we’re introduced to a new a villain who is the primary target all throughout the first episode. Joker does make an appearance, but his role is minor compared to the Riddler’s and it pays off immensely. It builds up to a great final act of the first episode while also developing a new version of the Joker, who is also shaped by your actions.
There aren’t a whole lot of slow moments in The Enigma. Once it gets going, you spend most of your time trying to solve the Riddler’s mysterious puzzle, interacting with various elements of Gotham and its inhabitants, and getting to the bottom of what Riddler’s planning in Gotham. If you have any questions about the villains from Season One, the Batcomputer has been organized for Season Two and offers you a chance to catch up on what’s happening. Bruce has also kept a few trophies to adorn the Batcave. Its much more effective if you have a save file to bring into the new season like I did, though you are able to select what happened in the first season before beginning the game.
One Eyed Alfred is just one of the consequences from Season 1.
My biggest issue with the new Telltale engine is that they’ve removed the rewind feature. Its a good and a bad thing in my opinion. The bad exists in that I at first thought I made a horrible decision at the end of the episode and wasn’t really in the mood to do everything over. Thankfully though, the good part is, I talked to a friend who had done it differently than me and decided what I had done turned out to be the better path, though it came at a cost. It is a feature that I still wish was around as I used to using it to fine tune my playthroughs since I’m scared of committing!
The Enigma really comes out swinging. I was at first skeptical of getting a second season so quickly but I have never been more happy to be wrong. Its obvious to see that Telltale’s Batman team has been hard at work crafting a unique universe and they do it without fail. I am very excited to see where the next episode will be going and just who will be making their appearances.
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