Telltale’s sophomore season of it’s acclaimed Batman series closes it’s doors with the finale to one of the best Batman stories ever told. In the second season of Batman: The Telltale Series, Batman faces off against fan favorite villains such as Mr. Freeze, Bane, Harley Quinn, and arch-nemesis The Joker.

Batman: The Enemy Within is a 2018 episode adventure game, it is developed and published by Telltale Games. It is currently available on PC, console, and mobile devices.

Editor’s Note: A PS4 review copy of Episode One of Batman: The Enemy Within was provided by Telltale Games in support of this review, the remaining season was purchased by myself.

Batman’s latest adventure in the hands of Telltale is by far their best game to date next to The Walking Dead.

Who would have thought that an episodic adventure of Batman would turn out so well? While season one was admittedly a bit rocky, Telltale has completely knocked it out of the park with the second season “The Enemy Within”. Bruce Wayne and Alfred have both been traumatized in their own ways due to the ending events of season one, and depending on player choices certain elements stick, such as Bruce losing part of his ear and Alfred having nervous breakdowns. Other players of course will experience alternative consequences depending on season one choices, and because of this it gives ‘The Enemy Within’ a truly different story experience in a lot of instances and gives it a ton of replay value.

Season Two was full of twists and turns.

THE GOOD: Batman: The Enemy Within is a Batman story for the ages. Never short of The Dark Knight’s rogue gallery, it often makes you forget that this is a pseudo-origin of an unseasoned Batman. In season two we get Telltale incarnations of The Riddler, Bane, Harley Quinn, and of course The Joker. While some of the characters are in line with their usual personalities from previous Batman lore, others have been altered to fit the narrative of Telltale’s canon and it oddly works. Key examples of this are Harley Quinn who for once was the leader of the Harley/Joker dynamic and was even a huge influence on his turn to the dark side. Whereas The Joker was more of a naive young man who was easily taken advantage of by both Harley & Bruce.

The Enemy Within’s inverse character changes make for a fun, new type of Batman story.

Three key characters are greatly effected by Bruce’s actions & choices made from season one: Bruce himself, Alfred, and John Doe. Bruce will continue to cross the fine line between right and wrong in an effort to get things done, Alfred will suffer from PTSD or deal with a lost eye (again according to player choice), and John Doe will add Bruce/Batman to his list of most influential people in Gotham. Depending on how you deal with your interactions with John he will either become a vigilante inspired by Batman & struggle with the ideals of right and wrong, or he will become the villain we’ve known for decades out to torture The Dark Knight by harming those closest to him. The strongest element of The Enemy Within’s story is the vigilante persona of John. It’s clear that he has awareness of what’s right and what’s wrong even with his obvious psychotic behavior, but there are instances that showcases his humanity just as much as there are instances which showcase his potential evil intent.

Allies both old and new effect Batman’s morality in season two.

The three main antagonist of Agent Waller, The Pact, and Joker each gave different perspectives into how far Bruce was willing to traverse the darkness in order to protect Gotham. He used Waller and the Agency’s resources to get the jump on enemies while butting heads with Commissioner Gordon. Used John multiple times to get intel on The Pact. And made false bonds with certain members of The Pact for his own gain. Alfred takes note of this and makes a huge decision in regards to his relationship with Bruce during the end game, which forces Bruce into an ultimatum that will likely have a large effect on the eventual third season. Speaking of the end game, depending on player relations there’s hints that Batman will have two (kind of) new allies in season three; Batgirl and a Robin of sorts. These roles are hinted at being played by Tiffany Fox and The Joker respectively. If this is the direction they’re going with Telltale giving us an idea of what a rehabilitated Joker might look like under Batman’s wing is an interesting one.

Pact attack!

THE BAD: The first episode is a bit slow and takes awhile to get the season off the ground. Certain major characters aren’t as developed as they could have been. It’s likely Telltale is saving this for future seasons, but it doesn’t make it any less disappointing.

A dynamic duo’s roles are reversed.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Though the initial intro into ‘The Enemy Within’ is a slow one, the ultimate pay off is more than rewarding. Either you can keep it safe and stay in line with core DC canon for these characters, or you can provide them fresh lore we’ve never really seen before. And because of this Batman’s second season is one of the greatest Telltale projects to date.