This video was recorded and edited directly on my Playstation 4 with SHAREfactory.

Episode 3 – Fractured Mask

Foreword

Batman: The Enemy Within is an episodic story based game by Telltale Games. This episode builds on the previous Episode, The Pact. Back when I started Episode 2 there was a large continuity bug that ruined the immersion right away. Someone who died in Episode 1 was alive and the person who was supposed to be alive was dead. Well that was fixed in this episode so now in my game Agent Blake is once again dead and Agent Avista has taken his place. I can only hope this doesn’t keep happening in the last two Episodes. If that isn’t annoying enough Bane came back into the picture after I chose to leave him behind previously. So once again it’s starting to feel like the rest of the Telltale games which make it abundantly clear your choices are meaningless in the end.

Cracking the Riddler

Batman: The Enemy Within episode 3 finds Bruce Wayne continuing to work undercover for Amanda Waller in order to take down Harley Quinn and “The Pact”. With Catwoman’s arrival she explains that Riddler had created a secret back door into his ex-employers mainframe only accessible by retinal scan. With his corpse she will be able to scan his eye and create a pair of goggles to access anything he could. The only problem is no one knows where the blacksite he worked at is located. His old laptop may hold the clues but it’s heavily encrypted and Harley won’t let it out of her sight. She doesn’t trust anybody and after the GCPD arrived during the armoured car job she has every reason to believe there’s a rat on her crew.

In the meantime Harley tasks Bruce, John and Catwoman with tracking down the blacksite. The first stop is Riddler’s old hideout. Inside they discover a USB decryption key but no information regarding the blacksite just the name Sanctus and something called project Lotus. Catwoman says she’s heard of Sanctus and that they’re a really dangerous group dabbling in really bad things. As they are about to leave Catwoman double crosses Bruce and steals the USB decryption key. Turns out she and Riddler were closer than anyone realized and she blames herself for not reaching out to him before he became too far gone. Bruce offers to work together but she has made up her mind to steal Riddler’s computer from Harley and proceed on her own. She tells Bruce he doesn’t have the kind of code to do what will be necessary.

Friend or Foe

When Bruce returns to Harley empty handed she’s not very happy. To make matters work Bane has returned and he’s beating other members of the Pact to death if he suspects they’re rats. While talking to Harley Bruce notices Catwoman sneaking in and stealing Riddler’s computer. Awhile later Batman confronts Catwoman on Gotham’s rooftops. After a flirtatious little game of cat and mouse Batman convinces her they’d be better off working together. She says there’s only one problem we’ll probably need a super computer to break into Riddler’s computer. That’s when Bruce asks her to come home with him, to the Batcave. She’s taken aback by the gesture and inside the cave their relationship grows. They’re also able to crack Riddler’s computer where they find information on Sanctus, Project Lotus and the Bodhi Spa. And worst of all, it all leads back to the Agency.

Bruce contacts Amanda Waller to find out what she knows about the Agency’s involvement with Sanctus and she asks to meet at Wayne tower. On his arrival Bruce is arrested by Jim Gordon. Luckily Waller shows up before he can cart Bruce away and orders his release. With Gordon gone Waller and Agent Aventi explain Sanctus was a division of the Agency shut down a long time ago, at least it was supposed to be. Bruce proceeds to the Bodhi Spa for some recon but is spotted by Bane who knocks him out. Bruce wakes up back in Harley’s hideout. She interrogates him and explains that it’s either him or Catwoman who are the mole. To save Selina, Bruce confesses and in horror she’s forced to watch as he’s frozen inside one of Mr. Freezes cryogenic pods.

Bottom Line: Good Episode

The Fractured Mask was a much needed step in the right direction after the previous fumble. It seemed to get back to the basics and had a much narrower focus. Not to mention the setup for the next episode has me all kinds of excited. I also enjoyed having Catwoman around and really hope romancing her can continue however I fear she’ll revert to the catty type resulting in me losing that gambit and a friend in Jim Gordon too. But, as is becoming par for the course, the true star of this episode was none other than our good buddy John Doe. It was nice to see his character fleshed out a bit more and seeing the Joker shake hands with Batman was great. I was expecting him to have a shocker button in his palm though.

If you'd like to see how I've rated other recent games please visit Rebel Gaming Canada’s GAMES LIST.

Twitter - https://twitter.com/RebelGaming_CA
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/RebelGamingCanada
Youtube - Rebel Gaming Youtube
Steemit - https://steemit.com/@johnquake
Webpage - https://www.rebelgamingcanada.com