Until now, the world we've known has been a world divided
We're now two episodes into Batman: The Telltale Series and so far it has exceeded my expectations. The story is moving forward at a great pace with enough twists and turns along the way to keep me on my toes. Can Telltale keep up the momentum with episode three: New World Order or will it stumble?
After the events of Episode Three we find Bruce still dealing with the aftermath of his parents being outed as criminals. Using their money, power and influence to complete shady deals and working alongside the mob for their own gains. The Children of Arkham are no longer hiding in the shadows and they are making sure everyone knows who and what they are. As terrorist groups go their message is often confusing to the populace of Gotham. On one hand they talk of peace and building a better Gotham but on the other they preach hatred and murder. There are troubling times are ahead for Gotham and it's citizens.
Once again Oswald Cobblepot is the main attraction and his superior attitude towards Bruce has really grown on me. When he was first introduced as a businessman I was taken aback but it sits really well within the confines of this narrative and his character comes on in leaps and bounds during New World Order. There are a lot of crucial story points being interwoven into the story in this episode and some might even pass you by because there is so much going on the narrative does tend to drag on quite a bit.
Enter Vikki Vale who has really come into her own since Episode One and it's her meeting with Batman that really gets this episode moving. But it's Selina Kyle relationship with Bruce that really makes this episode. Once again they find themselves caught up in a situation where their best means of escape is to rely on each other. Their relationship always comes across as totally believable and really heartfelt. Selina let's her guard down more than I have ever seen and Bruce is clearly falling in love with her. These are tender moments set between utter chaos and it works fantastically. I've never seen their relationship portrayed so well in any other medium so once again it's hats off to Telltales writing team.
Harvey Dent’s transformation into Two Face continues at a rapid pace in this episode as his stronger more dangerous personality begins to take hold. The last few episodes and one event in particular in this episode have left Harvey in a very dangerous place. There is one scene in particular between Bruce and Harvey that could have been quite brutal but it's handled with sympathy and I can't wait to see what happens between them both in the last two episodes. As I've mentioned before the first hour or so does tend to drag on a bit. You're going to spend a lot of time with Lucius Fox in the R & D Department looking at various gadgets that he's developing and it feels more like an exercise in dragging the story out rather than driving the story forward.
The ending left me speechless and I didn't see it coming. There was no hint of who the main villain is at least if there was it passed me right by. I won't spoil it here but anyone who has an interest in Batman’s mythos won't have seen anything like this before. This character is now revealed as the head of the Children of Arkham and with that one twist they have blown away all of Batmans history as we know it. It took a long time for this episode to get there but when it did it was like a hammer blow to the gut.
Episode Three is the weakest episode so far but it's gut punching ending made up for the slow start. Many of the games heroes and villains find themselves at turning points at the end and episode four should see some serious shit hit the fan.
Developer: Telltale Games
Publisher: Telltale Games
Website: Batman – The Telltale Series
Twitter: @telltalegames
Batman - The Telltale Series - Episode 3: New World is available now for £5.19
Batman - The Telltale Series - The Complete Season is available now for £24.99
Review copy supplied by Telltale Games.