Batman: The Enemy Within - The Telltale Series Xbox One X Review

Batman: The Enemy Within allows you to become Batman and Bruce Wayne and decide, what should they do?

By Grayshadow, Posted 28 Mar 2018

The first season of Telltale's Batman Series had some highs and lows, with a finale that had high hopes for fans. Now that the second season called  Batman: The Enemy Within has concluded I can say this season was well worth the wait. It sets up and finishes with the same quality that Telltale is known for. Elaborate characters and multiple branching paths, Telltale takes the established lore of the Batman series and makes it their own for a journey worth taking for fans of the Dark Knight or great narratives.

Batman The Enemy Within,Telltale Games,NoobFeed,

The Enemy Within starts off where season 1 left off, with Bruce still trying to find common ground between Batman and Bruce Wayne. After dealing with the Riddler a government organization called The Agency roles into Gotham led by Amanda Waller, and things escalate with each scene. Betrayal, death, and manipulation are constant themes throughout as the player decides who Batman and Bruce should ally with or turn against.

The writers at Telltale remain loyal to the source material. While Batman and Bruce's motives are malleable, allowing for a soft-handed approach or completely ruthless, other characters remain loyal to their original personas. Amanda Waller is headstrong and has an iron will, unwilling to bow to anyone and ready to do whatever it takes. Catwoman is distance and Harley Quinn is just as crazy and you think. However, Telltale shifts enough of these traits that they fit within their own representation of these iconic characters.

Of course, Joker is the constant theme throughout. Going by the name of John Doe his evolution and relationship with Bruce is an enduring theme throughout the entire season. Whether you brush him off or remain friendly John looks to Bruce for emotional support. Eventually, it leads to a breaking point that will turn this adventure into one of two finales that should both be played.

Batman The Enemy Within,Telltale Games,NoobFeed,

Like many of many of Telltale's adventures your input commands to perform specific actions, with many of them focused on quick-time-events. Decisions, which are usually timed, shift the story and change your relationships which are highlighted. This encourages you to be aware of what choices you're making since they can lead to unforeseen consequences. Some choices are more important than others, which are often separated into 2.

Like the dialogue the voice-acting shares the same high quality. Each character is wonderfully voiced, allowing you to hear their voice crackle when something devasting happens. Same goes for facial animations which allow you to easily determine what characters are feeling. Musical scores help complete some of these situations with the intensely emotional moments complemented with fitting slow melody.

Battles are beautifully choreographed with a blend of speed, action, and blood. While you simply put commands in and let the characters do the work seeing Batman leap into the air and throw several batarangs or tether someone to the ground before smashing their face in is just as entertaining to watch. These battles become bigger and much more bloody as the season continues but never serve much of a challenge as the time between commands are ample enough and allow for wrong commands within the time limit.

Batman The Enemy Within,Telltale Games,NoobFeed,

For all its highs Batman: The Enemy Within does have some issues. You cannot replay episodes midway and have to restart from the beginning. You also cannot have multiple saves which means if you want to start from a different episode to see how something plays out you'll have to rewrite your original file.

Puzzles do break up the action but these are simple and usually help propel the story. What does break up the action is when you're forced to perform a minor action that could've been done without a button input. This includes placing a handkerchief into a scanner or moving a body. 

Batman: The Enemy Within reaffirms Telltale's storytelling abilities but also how well they can use established characters with a unique take. The puzzles are dull but the action and story throughout this season of Telltale's Batman full of emotionally exciting moments that had me on edge of which decision to make. Do I remain loyal to Catwoman or betray Gordon's trust, do I maintain friendly relations with John or distance myself knowing what he'll become? These are only a few choices in this adventure, and I can't pick for you. Batman: The Enemy Within allows you to become Batman and Bruce Wayne and decide, what should they do?

Adam Siddiqui, NoobFeed
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General Information

Platform(s): PC, PS4, Xbox One
Publisher(s): Telltale Games
Developer(s): Telltale Games
Genres: Adventure
Themes: Superhero, Narrative
Release Date: 2017-08-08

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