BATMAN: A Telltale Series – Episode 4: Guardian of Gotham Review

Let’s welcome our old friends with a grin.

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Form of: BAT:

I’ll be honest, Telltale’s Batman series hasn’t exactly gone from strength to strength. It’s been a bit of a downward spiral since the fantastic debut episode, and I’ve been reticent to carry on with the series.

I’m pleased to say that, whilst Guardian of Gotham share’s much of its predecessors problems, the story is heading in a direction I’m genuinely interested in seeing.

Story:

This is in no small part to a fairly Penguin-free episode. The annoying character is sidelined to a couple of flashbacks and audio-only interactions, and whilst I think one late game choice could have put me face to the face with the turd I happily avoided it.

Cobblepot being an annoying asshole isn’t a success in storytelling – bad guys should be hateable, yes, but for all the right reasons. In a perfect world, they’re empathetic. It’s something that Episode 4 gets right with a couple of other villains early on, though they squander some excellent character building in Harvey Dent, who devolves into somewhat of a pointless, unsaveable maniac. Sure, Harvey Dent has often been potrayed in this way in other mediums, but why make Bruce and Harvey’s relationship absolutely center-stage all season, and the choices involving him the biggest, when it’ll all end up with him betraying you and going crazytown banana pants anyway? This narrative inevitability is part of Batman’s biggest problem, but I’ll address that later.

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After a rough and tumble cliffhanger we open the chapter in Arkham Asylum, a perfect time to parade any villain Telltale have ignored at this point. There’s an immediate surprise introduction that had me grinning – and it really is handled beautifully – but I have to wonder why, if Telltale really are rolling out the all-stars, they’re still keeping a couple of recognizable characters mysteriously absent. During my stay at Arkham Asylum, I was disappointed not to meet the criminal psychiatrist Harleen Quinzel , long before a certain green-haired supervillain got his claws in her.

Gameplay:

As I mentioned before, Telltale’s biggest problem is that of inevitability. I’ve said in past reviews that the best Telltale games feel like a magic trick. Their stories can’t possibly plan for every outcome, so they have to create manageable fallout for every choice you make and have their outcomes spiral back to a main, on-rails plot. During my time with the first season of the Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us and Game of Thrones, for instance, I felt in control – even if that control was an illusion. With Batman, it just feels lazy. The trick is so obvious that you can see the rabbit’s ears poking out of the hat long before the magician pulls it.

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The ‘big choices’ – those ones that slow down and pile on the pressure – are especially inconsequential. During the first section of episode four, you’re asked to intervene in a fight, or use it as a diversion to escape. I knew, even as time slowed to a crawl and the opportunities presented themselves, that no matter what I did Bruce Wayne would be walking free within a minute. I was right. All the choices that follow feel similarly minor and needless. This kind of transparency is crippling for a game that’s trying to convince players that they matter. Once you realize you don’t, what’s the point of playing? You might as well just watch a movie.

Still, the story does get interesting enough to make you care, and in episode 4 I didn’t mind too much just coasting along for the ride. There’s some good fights and a couple of great character moments here, especially when Batman’s not in frame, and the whole package builds up to a finale I’m quite excited to play through – even if that doesn’t involve much actual play.

Presentation:

These great instances are often framed like a comic book themselves, powerful one shots where the camera holds, or simply zooms, on a great ‘moment’. Regardless of any successes or missteps this series has enjoyed or suffered, its aesthetic has always been one of its best points. Fantastic, moody and over dramatic lighting help really capture that DC verve, with certain shots looking like they’ve been ripped from beneath Frank Miller’s fat sharpies. As a piece of art, Telltale’s Batman succeeds on every level.

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Every now and then the production will stutter, but it’s nothing compared to the mess of the previous episode. Thankfully none of the visual magic is lost, and for the most part the episode ran so smoothly I forgot about the issues of episode 3.

 

Conclusion:

Guardian of Gotham‘ starts to rebuild what was quickly becoming a bit of a dud, and sets up the final episode for something I’m actually eager to see through. After a couple of lacklustre episodes, that in itself is a feat I wasn’t sure was possible. With the finale I’m not too worried about control – Telltale have the freedom to mess around when they don’t have have to worry about reigning in future episodes – but it’s been a real bugbear up until now.

More than any other series they’ve created, Batman has felt like Telltale’s most set-in-stone production, which was something I worried about way back in my episode one review. Funnily enough, the problem didn’t rear its head in the way I expected: Telltale have shaken up Batman lore plenty and made themselves an alternate universe to call their own, so it’s especially weird they don’t let you run amuck in it. This look-but-don’t-touch vibe has really hurt the series. I really hope that they can take away some lessons from Batman and apply them liberally to future productions: theirs is a magic show I don’t want to see fail.

 

Good

  • Great character reveals
  • Moody artistry

Bad

  • Inconsequential choices
8.1

Great

Story - 7.5
Graphics - 9
Sound - 8.5
Gameplay - 7.5
Value - 8
Reviewer - GamerKnights

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