BATMAN - The Telltale Series - Episode 4: Guardian of Gotham
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BATMAN - The Telltale Series - Episode 4: Guardian of Gotham Media
Critic Reviews for BATMAN - The Telltale Series - Episode 4: Guardian of Gotham
While this is the weakest episode in Batman’s Telltale series yet, my investment in the unpredictable, multi-layered plot hasn’t wavered, thanks to the critical state of each of Bruce Wayne’s relationships. Episode four’s first act felt like it was just filling in time for the season finale, but some conflicts have still been built upon, including showcasing how the people of Gotham are reacting to the intense political climate. I’m still excited to jump into the season finale - especially to see the consequence of the series’ weightiest decision.
Though the limited interactivity during combat sequences is grating, this episode is one of the best in the series
While it may mark a slight bump in the road, Episode 4 nonetheless still offers plenty of great action and suspense that builds on what has been offered so far, and with only episode to go I’m still looking forward (more than ever) to see where the path leads in the finale to Bruce and Batman’s story.
Despite the abrupt ending in Guardian, Batman: A Telltale Games Series has been one of the most consistent works the developer has put out to date. I still get the occasional audio or jerky animation issue on PC, but at least on my machine, nothing in the first four episodes rang any major alarm bells. With just one chapter left, I think you're in the all clear for going all in on this.
This review will contain spoilers for all previous episodes and the current episode of Batman The Telltale Series. Here are our previous reviews for episode 1, episode 2, and episode 3.For everything that Guardian of Gotham does right, it makes all the wrong moves to get there. The story reaches a precipice of intensity after a very slow burn over the last three episodes, and the dire situations at hand seem impossible to resolve within a single finale, with far too many threads left open after the conclusion of this penultimate episode. I really wish that the story had built to this level of intensity much earlier instead of waiting this long, but it’s great to finally see this Batman tale coming to fruition with real stakes for the dark knight, even if it has to come through forced storytelling and a poor use of the engine.
Batman: The Telltale Series - Episode 4 might take a different narrative path than most players would expect, but overall it works well. While the Children of Arkham story kind of takes a backseat, what is presented here is engaging and fun. It also does a good job of tying up a couple of its many loose ends, and setting up for a climactic finale in the next episode. However, the minor technical issues that have been present since the beginning are massively exacerbated here, to the point that they impact the enjoyment players can have with the game. Perhaps after an update is issued things will get better. Hopefully the final episode is crafted with more care.
"Guardian of Gotham" is some of Telltale's best writing to date. It masterfully paces several dangling story threads into one tightly delivered penultimate episode while also seeming to build the greater Bat-verse for future seasons. It's exciting and uniquely theirs at this point.
A solid enough penultimate episode, but the overall quality of this series hinges on how Telltale brings the threads together to finish it.
