Batman: The Enemy Within Episode 1 Review - 7 Ups & 3 Downs

Telltale Games' sequel to last year's Batman-centric episodic adventure series is here, and from the basis of this first episode, "The Engima", it's looking like The Enemy Within is gunning to make up for the various issues that plagued the entertaining if uneven first season.

A substantial improvement right out of the gate, if also still beholden to many of the issues that plague most Telltale games, this dark, action-packed and character-driven opening episode introduces a number of compelling new faces, while also hinting at plenty more to come in upcoming installments.

It doesn't reinvent the wheel or break the mould, but after such a technically sloppy first season, it seems that the Caped Crusader is back with a tighter, more expansive follow-up.

Whether you wait to see how the entire season pans out before committing or not, this is one of the better single Telltale episodes from any of their many series in recent memory...

Downs...

3. The Puzzles Are Disappointingly Boring

There are so few video games that have truly engaged with the idea of Batman as a detective, and though Telltale's episodic adventures typically feature a lot of investigation and puzzling, rarely does it ever amount to more than the most basic sifting through the environment for objects to interact with.

Sadly, even with The Riddler presenting the Caped Crusader with some tantalising traps, the actual gameplay aspects are extremely dull and simplistic, with the player only being required to link various crime scene elements together in order to proceed.

Expecting much new or innovative from Telltale at this point is admittedly pretty foolish, but given their focus on a character so obsessed with puzzles in this episode, one hoped for at least a little more effort here.