Batman: The Telltale Series: Episode 4 - Guardian of Gotham
Score: 95% Publisher: Telltale Games Developer: Telltale Games Media: Download/1 Players: 1; 2 - 12 (Crowd Play) Genre: Adventure
Previously on Batman: Bruce Wayne has had a rough couple of weeks. Not only has he had to perform his standard mix of night-prowling as Batman and elbow-rubbing as Bruce, but his recent efforts to help an old friend, Harvey Dent, get into the Mayor's office seem to have put some dark suspicions on the Wayne family name. By the time Batman: The Telltale Series: Episode 4 - Guardian of Gotham starts up, secrets concerning the origin of the Wayne fortune have been revealed to all of Gotham; Bruce, himself, has been removed as CEO of Wayne Enterprises; and the new terrorist group, the Children of Arkham, have not only made Batman's efforts to keep Gotham safe hard to manage, but it seems the drug they are trying to spread across the city has caused newly minted Mayor Dent to become very distrustful, even towards his old friend, Bruce. Episode 3 - New World Order ends with Bruce being poisoned by the same drug that has affected Harvey and then being forced to attack Oswald Cobblepot, the new CEO of Wayne Enterprises. Unfortunately, Bruce finds himself in a pretty bleak situation when Guardian of Gotham opens up - a padded cell in Arkham Asylum.
New Friends In Low Places: The first part of Batman: The Telltale Series: Episode 4 - Guardian of Gotham is all about Bruce navigating the grim surroundings of the infamous mad house. While he finds that his welcome is far from warm, Bruce does meet a new character that apparently really wants to be friends. While no one, not even the doctors, know his name or when he was admitted, the green-haired, grinning John Doe is quick to help Bruce out of a couple of tight situations. While trying to figure out how to get out of Arkham, Bruce learns that Harvey is apparently lambasting Bruce at press conferences, and while Bruce did attack Cobblepot in front of everyone, Harvey could have some personal reasons for being mad at Bruce, depending, of course, on how you handled certain situations with Selina Kyle. While Bruce does get out of Arkham in short order, he comes across some rather critical information about the motivations behind the Children of Arkham, but the source isn't necessarily a good one, so once Bruce is out on the streets again, he is going to have to do some research.
Back on the Streets: Just because Bruce gets out of Arkham, it doesn't mean that Batman: The Telltale Series: Episode 4 - Guardian of Gotham doesn't hold any new challenges. Quite the opposite really. Bruce's reputation has fallen a lot since he attacked Cobblepot, and the public doesn't seem to like the fact that he was able to get out of Arkham so quickly. Couple that with the fact that Bruce still has some of the strange drug running through his veins and Bruce could find himself in more than one no-win situation. Batman's investigations to corroborate the tips he received inside Arham lead to more than one shocking event. Not only does he have to investigate a gruesome crime scene, but the information he learns ends up in the wrong hands and Batman/Bruce needs to figure out how to handle a very delicate situation. On top of all that, it appears that Cobblepot has found a way to mess with Batman's tech and the Dark Knight will have to once again decide between two different events, leaving the path not traveled a potentially devastating setback for both Bruce Wayne and Batman.
Next Time on Batman: Batman: The Telltale Series: Episode 4 - Guardian of Gotham ends with some fairly dramatic events, but exactly how the game is going to wrap up the various plot threads in just one more episode is beyond me. Not only does the game continue to introduce new characters, but Bruce's reputation, not to mention the Wayne family name, is in shambles. It will be interesting to see if Episode 5 - City of Light can actually put all of the pieces back together. Batman: The Telltale Series continues to be one of the most unique Batman stories I've seen so far, especially in a videogame. The changes it makes to key characters give the story an even darker feel than normal, which says a lot for a Batman title. Unless the last episode is a total flop, Batman: The Telltale Series is shaping up to be one of the most intriguing games the company has produced so far.
-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Meyer
Related Links: Batman: The Telltale Series Home Page Batman: The Telltale Series on Steam Game Vortex's Batman Coverage
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