TellTale Games' Batman: Season 1/ Episode 4 "Guardian of Gotham" – Overview/ Review (with Spoilers)

Overview

We return to Gotham once more and on top of being introduced to The Joker, we have to deal with Harvey Dent/ Two-Face who is hell bent on petty revenge.

Trigger Warning(s)

Grotesque Imagery (Two-Face and a Murder Victim)

Play Through Time

Roughly 1 Hour and 10 minutes (Not Exact Due to Computer Issues)

Storyline

You beat Oswald to the point of two black eyes and stitches, but have the least bit of memory about it. To add onto your problems, as revenge for being with Selina, Harvey had you put into Arkham. Yet, your new friend John Doe, aka The Joker, is willing to get you out – for a favor.

But once out, where to begin? What to do? You know Vicky Vale is Lady Arkham and she has a huge amount of drugs to move and use. On top of that, Oswald seems to have discovered Batman’s Wayne Enterprise tech hub and is hacking in. Lastly, with Harvey trying to reclaim the safety of Gotham, he has practically hired an army and has taken control of most of the GCPD. As for the people? Well, with Harvey using Hitler/ Trump styled fear tactics, they seem mostly fine with his safety precautions. That is, with the exception of Gordon who is watching the city burn and turn to hell.

Leaving you, either as Batman or Bruce once again, deciding how to handle all this. Whose reputation are you going to rely on or potentially tarnish? You wanna play things clean or dirty? Does it even matter as long as you get results? That’s truly up to you.

Highlights

Decisions, Decisions

We are at the episode before the finale and with them pulling out the Joker, and a favor, the episode started with me honestly going back to the main menu multiple times. If only because I just wasn’t sure how I wanted to deal with the devil. But, in general, if you’re like me and usually pick the good guy way of doing things, you are going to come to a point of wondering if that is for the best. Granted, you are working with the image of Batman, but it begins to feel that if you try to keep playing as your version of Batman, vs. making your own, your ending isn’t going to bode well for Batman or Bruce.

Though, in many ways, that is also a point of contention. Who will be your focus in saving, much less can one save the other? With the way my playthroughs are, Bruce is just way down the rabbit hole and, honestly, even if he or Batman revealed what Vickie and Oswald did, I don’t see how he can rebound. The drug makes you do your deepest desires and while, yes, you can be influenced while under them, the underlying concept remains the same. Much less, the Wayne name is forever tarnished and I don’t think TellTale is going to pull an “It was all a dream” or even make it seems what Daddy Wayne did was a lie. So how can Bruce rebound realistically?

Low Points

Hey, Click This Button

I don’t know why, but once more there is this “Hey, click this button” moment during cutscenes. As if TellTale has Final Fantasy or Metal Gear Solid length cut scenes and have a need to remind you to keep your hands near the keyboard, mouse, or gamepad at all times.

On The Fence

The Detective Experience

For the past releases, the detective puzzle was one of the best parts. Its use this go around though seemed more customary than to present a challenge.