Let’s for one moment forget about gameplay, lets take out of the equation graphics… In fact lets just forget about everything that has come before this episode of Telltales Batman: The Enemy Within and talk about the season finale story. We’ll cover the rest later!
For me personally this installment of Batman: The Enemy Within is one of the most intensely written and dramatic portrayed episodes of not only a Telltale game but pretty much any game ever. It’s up there with the best issues in Batman comic book history and actually feels like it could live and breathe on the big screen. There is a bit of everything from chaos, danger, romance, betrayal, fear and friendship.
Am I over-egging this review? Possibly, but when I say this episode of the game had me hooked from title card to end credits, well trust me I am not lying. The performances from Anthony Ingruber as John Doe making his final transition to Joker is captivating. Now Mark Hamill will always be the the voice of my Joker but this guy nails the theatricality in every sense. Anthony’s Joker is hugely complimented by Laura Post in the role of Harley Quinn (my personal favourite DC character, yes she always has been way before the Margot Robbie bandwagon came to town). Their chemistry in their roles is insane… and for the first time in this season arc I loved Troy Baker’s turn as Bruce Wayne – though I feel that’s more to do with the way I have been playing the role because his performance throughout has been good. The plot of this episode is also fantastic, the carnage, the chaos, the plot twists… My god it is beautifully written and expertly told. I am hugely impressed with this episode!
The first 4 episodes of The Enemy Within have been on a bit of a slow burn, with Bruce Wayne under cover with the baddies, getting to know Harley’s nefarious plans and befriending the man who would be Joker, so now its time to kick it into high gear. It’s safe to say the game wanted you to feel like you had helped tip John Doe over the edge and in effect you have. This episode sees Harley and Joker have the gas to destroy Gotham and they want to play a game with Bruce/Bats but Joker may be hiding his true motives from his bae (ugggggh I just wrote bae in a review, if you see me on the street feel free to punch me). There are plenty of twists and turns with the return of an old friend and the recruitment of a new team mate. One things for sure, nothing in Gotham is ever hearts and flowers and that’s the way I like my Batman stories.
While the game looks gorgeous we still suffer from the usual frame rate issues when we hit high action mode, this is something Telltale have been good at fixing in the past though so bear with it. Also I am playing the game on Steam with not exactly the most powerful PC, so I won’t hold a grudge (I do have a Switch now so may chance my arm on that platform to see the difference). There are only really two big action battles to speak of in this episode but both are epic and operatic in styling that really throws another layer on top of this game. I loved the decision making in this episode, it actually made me pause a few times because I didn’t know what to do for the best, my playing Bruce as a goodie and Batman as a bit of an ass was out the window.
I massively recommend this episode and infact the whole The Enemy Within season. We have had a lot of fun in the first few episodes cutting about with the rogues gallery, then spent a couple of episodes trying not to p*ss off John Doe in case he turns full Joker and we end in a crescendo of madness with a phenomenal end sequence. I have high hopes Telltale drop another Batman season on us because some of the choices you have to make before the final credits lead us down a very interesting path.
I will be giving this game another play through for definite so I can find out what the other ending entails… But for now this is classic Telltale, and an essential purchase.
