Batman The Telltale Series Episode 2 Children of Arkham

Episode 2 of Telltale’s Batman Series, Children of Arkham, expands on the promise suggested in Episode 1. The Penguin has started his revolution under the guidance of a mysterious new villain and it turns out that Bruce Wayne’s parents, who have mainly been presented as benevolent philanthropists in the past, were in cahoots with crime boss Carmine Falcone.

The scenes with Bruce Wayne were fewer this episode (although you did get to choose to visit the mayor as Bruce Wayne or Batman) meaning the pacing of the story was faster. There was certainly more action too, and I felt the quick time events were better suited to sitting back watching the beautiful artwork on the screen. In one fight Batman, up against a blue giant from Penguin’s gang, is launched out a window by an uppercut and had to use his grappling hook to get back to safety. It felt more like playing a comic book and that’s a good thing.

Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle become closer and their flirty beginnings in Realm of Shadows leads Bruce to help Selina fight off Penguin’s thugs and this carries over to their costumed counterparts as Catwoman teams up with Batman in the episode’s final act, where the Penguin has taken a televised debate (where one of the debaters is Harvey Dent) hostage.

A lot happens in the episode’s climax, a video of Thomas Wayne injecting Cobblepot’s mother with something that drives her mad is broadcast across Gotham. Bruce’s father is also the father of the Children of Arkham and the seed of doubt in Bruce’s history has now born its fruit.

This is a perfect vehicle for a Batman story, where Bruce Wayne and Batman both have parallel and interesting storylines, where the dynamic between the two sides is undergoing stresses it hasn’t seen before and I can’t wait to see what’s next.