Batman: The Enemy Within
PlayStation 4
Nostalgia Factor:
When I first got my PS4 back in December of 2017, it came with a free one month trial of PlayStation Plus. One of the free games available during that trial was Batman: The Telltale Series. I’ve always been a big fan of Batman. I’ve always been a big fan of Telltale and their games. It was an easy decision that I was going to check the game out.
I played the game and I enjoyed it. I thought it was a unique take on the Dark Knight. It focused more on Bruce Wayne than any other Batman game I had ever played. It was dark, it was surprising. It was a lot of fun! After I was done, I looked up the game online to see what other people thought of it. While doing my research, I was surprised to see that there was a sequel for the game that was already out. I made a note to myself to check out the sequel someday.
Now, that day has come. I renewed my GameFly subscription late last month, and made this one of the first titles I added to my queue. It wasn’t #1, but due to the limited availability of games ahead of it, it was the first one shipped out. Since Telltale Games has shut down, I played this with a heavy heart knowing that it is one of the last of their games I hadn’t played yet that I would get to review.
Story:
Telltale games are known for their storylines rather than their gameplay, and The Enemy Within is no exception. The game starts with Batman in pursuit of the Riddler, who is killing people with elaborate “Saw”-like contraptions. Batman’s personal battle with the Riddler is only the tip of the iceberg. There is a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes, most notably the battle for a virus for which, if used properly, could lead to a cure-all type serum. If used incorrectly, well, it will kill everyone it comes into contact with.
Many other villains get introduced to the fold: Mr Freeze, Bane, and my personal favorite – Harley Quinn, among others. Catwoman returns, and the game also reintroduces John Doe from the first game and throws him in the mix. He befriends Bruce Wayne, which leads to some interesting decisions you have to make. You can shun him and treat him like a criminal, or you can befriend him and try to turn him away from a life of crime. I’m pretty sure he becomes The Joker no matter what you do (most obvious plot twist ever), but it’s the thought that counts, right?
Just like in the first game, The Enemy Within switches character control back and forth between Bruce Wayne and Batman. Bruce does the schmoozing and the undercover work, Batman handles the fighting and the high tech investigations. Also like in the first game, different choices you make can affect how the game plays out. I only played through the game once, so I didn’t investigate what would have happened if I’d played differently. I can only imagine that people can have very different experiences with the game depending on the choices they make.
Gameplay:
I’ve reviewed a ton of Telltale games, and they all basically work the same. You walk around looking at things, you make conversation choices, and you perform QTE during battle sequences. I don’t want to dive into detail YET AGAIN explaining the game mechanics. They are very self-explanatory and easy to get a hang of. After reading through my old reviews, I really start to sound like a broken record after a while, explaining how these games work. So I am not going to do that here.
Graphics:
Telltale games have never been known for their spectacular graphics. That doesn’t mean that the games look bad, they just look very basic. I think they are going for the “pulled directly from the pages of a graphic novel” look. I’ve always liked this art style. It gives the games character, and a very distinct “Telltale” look to them. That said, the Enemy Within looks better than most Telltale games. Things are a bit more crisp. The characters are expressive and well-designed. Telltales’ graphics have been getting ever so slightly better over the years, even if the changes aren’t particularly noticeable from game to game. It’s a shame I won’t be able to see where they take their graphics in the coming years, since Telltale won’t be making games anymore.
Yeah, I am still bitter about it.
Sound:
The voice acting for Telltale’s games has always been strong, at least in my opinion. This game is no exception. Line delivery can be a bit stiff at times, particularly when Bruce is speaking, but for the most part it is very good. I love the Joker’s voice. The side characters are all strong. My personal favorite voice from this game is Harley Quinn. Usually I don’t like those trashy New York/New Jersey tough girl accents, but I liked it here. A lot. Here’s my “TMI DAN!!!” moment of the review: I was actually kind of turned on by it. I don’t know why. One cannot explain how the heart works. It just does.
The game’s music? I don’t remember much of it. There was one particular tune that sounded like it was pulled straight from the Christopher Nolan movies, and I was digging it. Outside of that, I didn’t really take notice of the game’s music. It wasn’t particularly memorable, but it wasn’t noticeably bad at the same time. I must not be a video game music person, because I say this quite often in my reviews.
Overall:
For the most part, I know what I am getting into when I pick up a Telltale game. The graphics will be serviceable, but nothing spectacular. The voice acting will be good. The gameplay is going to be very basic and “hands-off”. You’re going to spend most of your time talking to people and making conversation selections and trying to steer the story the way you want it to go. All of that is fine and dandy with me. What defines a good Telltale game lies in its storyline and if you care about its characters. To me, The Enemy Within delivers.
As a big Batman fan, I can admit to being a little biased. I eat up and enjoy anything Batman related, even if it has obvious glaring flaws (I’m looking at you, Batman & Robin). I’m a sucker for the Dark Knight, what can I say? A lot of this game is fan service, and I am okay with that. Do we really need to cram Mr. Freeze, the Joker, Harley Quinn, Catwoman, the Riddler, Bane, and several other enemies into one game? Not really, but seeing as how this is the last Telltale Batman game, I am glad they went all out. Better too much than not enough has always been a personal motto of mine.
From a pure video gaming standpoint, this game has obvious flaws, and some can even argue that this is barely a game at all and more of an interactive movie. It’s short, laughably easy, and in a world of Batman universes (comics, TV shows, other games, etc), it is set in a universe that is going to be forgotten about quickly. Still, it is good at what it does. I had a fun time playing it, and isn’t that what video games are all about?
If you are a fan of Telltale games, you can’t go wrong with this. You probably have an idea in your mind of what you are getting into, and that idea is probably an accurate one. Similarly, if you are a Batman fan you will want to check out both this game and its predecessor for their unique take on the world of the Dark Knight.
Overall:
B
If you liked my review of Batman: The Enemy Within, check out some of my other game reviews:
Next game I will be reviewing shall be Spider-Man for PS4. It was the next game from my GameFly queue to arrive, and I just beat it and sent it back a few days ago.
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