BATMAN - The Telltale Series - Episode 2: Children of Arkham Reviews

BATMAN - The Telltale Series - Episode 2: Children of Arkham is ranked in the 56th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
IGN
Top Critic
8 / 10.0
Sep 20, 2016

The second installment of Telltale's Batman takes all of the solid foundations established by Episode 1, trims most of the fat, and continues to build an engaging Dark Knight story in a unique and uncharted version of the D.C. legend’s universe. Old Bat-fans will get much more out of the unexpected twists and turns than a newcomer, but the relationships Bruce Wayne forms and develops with the people around him appeal equally.

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Metro GameCentral
Top Critic
4 / 10
Sep 22, 2016

Telltale Games continue to be a formidable supervillain, and manage to turn Batman into the one thing he should never be: boring.

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9 / 10.0
Sep 20, 2016

An emotional roller-coaster ride that is often jolted by gun shots and unexpected plot developments

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6 / 10
Sep 20, 2016

Telltale gives Oswald Cobblepot some time in the limelight, but skimps on gameplay to do so.

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Sep 23, 2016

Telltale continues to craft its own version of Batman and Bruce Wayne. The action is still solid, but this is all about the story: Who is Bruce Wayne when everything he knows to be true is a lie? Given the truth of his origins, who is Batman? Telltale's Batman relies on safety and familiarity to subvert expectations here and it works well.

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7 / 10.0
Sep 20, 2016

You still have your patented "safe" approach from Telltale with Batman: A Telltale Games Series: Children of Arkham, but its heart is in the right place. Retreading on Batman themes we've already seen from great writers like Jeph Loeb, Frank Miller, or Scott Snyder isn't necessarily a bad thing.

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Unscored
Sep 20, 2016

A strong second episode that rattles along at a fast pace and includes no shortage of surprises and reveals. And now that we know what the Children of Arkham in the title refers to, I’m definitely looking forward to the third.

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8.5 / 10.0
Sep 20, 2016

A much better episode this time around, featuring some tough choices, great visuals and a fresh take on the Batman mythos.

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Sep 27, 2016

Batman: The Telltale Series Episode 2 "Children of Arkham" continues perfectly off of the stellar first episode. The action is tight, the dialogue is engaging, and the characters are all fantastically acted and scripted. Fans of Batman and/or Telltale will be very pleased with the direction that this series is going. However, technical problems still create headaches, though they might be lesser for some players depending on the system they play on and the setup they have. Hopefully Telltale can clear those up soon, so that Batman: The Telltale Series can truly live up to its already great potential.

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6 / 10
Sep 21, 2016

It has the air of young men putting on silly costumes, not knowing what they're doing, and trying to style it out.

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Ken McKown
Top Critic
Unscored
Oct 12, 2016

Children of Arkham delivers a great follow-up to the original episode, while also cleaning up the pace and some of the technical issues. I am more invested now than after the first episode, and am excited to see how things develop. Telltale has crafted a unique take on the Dark Knight, with characters taking on new roles, making it interesting for fans of the character. I am extremely excited to see where this story ends up.

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6 / 10
Sep 21, 2016

An improvement on the first episode, but still marred by technical issues and. A move in the right direction, but it's still too early to tell if this is more The Killing Joke or Batman & Robin.

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Sep 21, 2016

In traditional Telltale fashion, "Children of Arkham" ends on a high note and I'm already anxiously awaiting the next episode.

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7 / 10
Sep 20, 2016

By trimming the fat, Telltale has delivered a much stronger episode in its fledgling Batman series. The story's beginning to take a shape of its own now, and more interesting personalities are beginning to come to the fore. While it still feels like the developer's laying foundations, this episode begins with a twist and goes out like a rocket – and that's how we'd like it to continue, thank you very much.

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4 / 10.0
Sep 22, 2016

There's promise going forward, for the story at least, but this is an otherwise messy episode on several levels.

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82 / 100
Sep 25, 2016

The story is gripping, the game looks beautiful, the production values are excellent, but you don’t really get a lot to do.

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3.5 / 5.0
Sep 20, 2016

Batman: The Telltale Series is still firing on all cylinders in terms of story, and is introducing new and more complex dynamics to character relationships with Bruce and Batman, as we should know to expect from the studio. Due to this, I find myself less enthused about pulling off slick combos as Batman, and more about watching how he and his human side tackle this sticky situation and the consequences of their choices.

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Sep 20, 2016

Children of Arkham eventually gets to really interesting places, but it takes them a little too long to get there — and many interesting story threads from the premier aren't given proper attention gameplay-wise or story-wise. Still, it's nice to see Bruce Wayne and Batman taken in such a dark new direction.

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8 / 10.0
Sep 21, 2016

It’s definitely aimed at the Bat-fans, but Telltale is busy crafting a superb story starring the dark knight that manages to feel fresh and brutal.

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8 / 10.0
Sep 23, 2016

Telltale’s Batman is off to a great start, but only time will tell as to if the developers can weave a Bats story that ranks among the upper echelon of The Dark Knight’s adventures.

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