Batman: The Telltale Series Episode 3: New World Order Xbox One Review

The new episode of Telltale's Batman series has Bruce Wayne dealing with new ordeals and Batman attempting to save Gotham from itself. Unlike the previous episode, New World Order does more on propelling the story forward and revealing key aspects for the next episode instead of providing meaningful choices. However, the fantastic fight sequences in this episode easily cloud any of the shortcomings and by the end, you'll beg for the next episode.

New World Order takes place a few hours after the events of the last episode, Children of Arkham. Depending on your choices Harvey will take a drastically new look and your relationship with Selina will be altered. Where the last episode helped establish the main antagonist for this season New World Order helps flesh them out by showcasing the amount of control the Children of Arkham have on Gotham. Friendships and boundaries will be tested, and it's up to you how Bruce Wayne deals with the tragic changes and if Batman can remain the hopeful figure for many.

Most of the choices presented in New World Order have immediate consequences. Whether it's Bruce attempting to deal with a massive shift in his life or Batman choosing which person to help. It's hard to see how the consequences of these actions will pan out in the future but seeing the immediate effects gave me more desire to return and experiment with the answers given. Thanks to strong writing and great voice-acting help sell the situation in Gotham, everyone on edge. Characters continuously mouth their concerns such as Harvey dual persona starting to surface or Selina attempting to get her "fresh start".

What has been impressive since the first episode of this series was the fight scenes, and New World Order doesn't disappoint. Fights with Bruce Wayne and Batman are equally impressive but gone is the choice of how to tackle combat situations. Instead, all fight situations are quick time events, but watching them unfurled it a joy. Returning is the detective mode of linking clues together, this sequence helps serves basic problem-solving exercise: similar to the other 2 episodes. It's a nice break from inputting answers but hasn't gone far from being standard puzzle breaks.

By the end of the episode, I didn't really make a lot of meaning choices. Some specifically regarding Selina were brought up but after my second playthrough most of the episode played out almost the same way as my first time. Harvey still became increasingly unhinged and Bruce Wayne's behavior met with the same outcome. It'll be interesting to see how these decisions play out in the next episode but here it's clear that the focus was pushing the story forward and building up tension by raising the stakes for the next episode. 

As part of Telltale's reputation, you can expect graphical hiccups and frame-rate issues. Here I only experience one frame-rate issue at the beginning of the episode and not during combat situations thankfully. Character models shifting direction or popping up out of nowhere were much frequent here.

Batman: The Telltale Series Episode 3: New World Order is another excellent installment in the  first season. It's devoid of any outstanding consequential choices like in the previous episode but had me on edge until the final moments. By the end, I was shocked about what just happened and vexed knowing I'll have to wait until episode to find out what happens next.

Adam Siddiqui, NoobFeed
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