Can Batman protect his greatest secret in the finale?
SPOILER ALERT! THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF PAST EPISODES AND THE SEASON FINALE. CONTINUE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!
It’s finally here…the season finale of Telltale’s Batman series. It’s been a long road, but one that has been incredible, but can the finale wrap everything up and leave us wanting more? Oh yes, it can…
You’ll either begin the episode taking on Penguin or Two-Face depending on who you took out at the end of Episode 4, so for me it was time to return to my burnt Wayne Manor to stop Two-Face once and for all as Bruce. You can see the inside battle between Harvey and Two-Face, regardless whether his face got burnt or not…his mind still snaps between the two personalities. It’s superb and well handled by Telltale, not that I had any doubts mind you.
Bruce realises that a piece of Wayne Tech had been stolen by Selina and goes to confront her, only to be told that she played a long con with him to gain the item. Ouch! As much as I hated her for it, I didn’t buy that she didn’t have feelings for Bruce, she just put on a hard front and ran…but I doubt it’s the last we’ve seen of her either.
Two-Face’s defeat means that only Lady Arkham is left to deal with, but here’s the problem…she’s nabbed Alfred and tracking her down is far from easy. You return to the Vale house to hunt down clues, only to discover a torture room that Vicki Vale was put in as a kid by her parents, which makes their brutal murder all the more explainable. It’s not long before they realise that her next plan is to free all the inmates at Arkham Asylum, so Batman heads there to stop her and rescue Alfred.
A few battles between Bats and Lady Arkham begin, as well as between the inmates of Arkham. The only downside to this was an unfortunate glitch with an unloaded NPC, resulting in just a set of eyes and a mouth floating in the air…making the cutscene look unintentionally hilarious, but hopefully it’ll be quickly patched, because the actual combat scene is amazing. Then comes the hardest decision yet…do your reveal your identity to Lady Arkham to stop her killing Alfred or refuse and see what happens?
I couldn’t let anything happen to Alfred, so I chose to reveal myself as Bruce…shocking her to the core, before she loses it yet again and a final battle ensues. After the dust has settled, Gordon is made temporary commissioner and you choose to either let Bruce or Batman attend a public speech from him. I chose to go as Batman to wish him luck and to tell Gotham that he’s always watching, which paid off for him as an attempt is made on his life, but luckily Batman was there to stop it. Maybe it would have gone all wrong if I went as Bruce and Gordon gets shot and possibly dies?
Afterwards, a news report of the attack is played in a bar and zooms out to see Joker sitting there saying he’ll have to do better to top that…which only means it’s only a matter of time before he comes knocking on Bruce’s door for the favour I promised him in Episode 4…
Overall, this is a strong episode and leaves the door wide open for a second season with Joker as the main adversary. The season itself has been amazing and definitely Telltale’s best, there’s no doubt about that…there’s no lack of focus, it’s Telltale at it’s finest.
The Verdict
Episode 5 brings the Children of Arkham story arc to a close, but opens up a new one with Joker’s escape. Hopefully it won’t be too long before a second season is confirmed. This has been the best Telltale series to date and it’s going to be hard for even the new Walking Dead series to top it.