It's been a long time since a beat-'em'-up like Redeemer--something so dedicated to the cause of simple punch-kick-shoot mayhem above all other concerns--has hit the scene. It's a niche whose modern torchbearers can be too complex and involved to achieve that kind of casual, pick-up-and-play hit of kinetic brutality. On the other hand, some are too busy trying to be cartoonish and above the pseudo-self-seriousness that guides classics like Streets of Rage or Double Dragon.
Redeemer makes a fine attempt at hitting the sweet spot between both philosophies, though, with a perfunctory story about a Russian ex-mercenary named Vasily ditching his old life in favor of living as a monk at a Shaolin temple. The past isn't done with Vasily, however, and when the bionic-enhanced PMCs come knocking on the temple's door looking for him, it's time for him to go back to work.
The story is less First Blood and more late-night Cinemax cult film, but there's still a tonal bullseye to hit between total mayhem and dour wartime parable, and Redeemer is off by a few inches. The story, told in comic book-style splash pages between levels, is the kind of gritty, grimdark tone worth making fun of, but it's delivered completely straight-faced before dropping you into scenarios of complete lunacy involving cyborgs and flesh-eating mutants.
It's not necessarily badly done, but it's highly incongruous. The aesthetics employed during gameplay lie upon an equally vast spectrum of tone and quality, with some environments and effects--fire, in particular--looking rather beautiful and breathtaking, and others appearing blurry, like a painting that's been rained on. That range in graphical fidelity can vary from scene to scene, but even at its best, Redeemer can't hide its often monotonous level design.
Still, the main event is the combat, which has its own balancing issues. For the first hour or so, Redeemer feels like Final Fight by way of Gauntlet: a top-down brawler against a never-ending slew of soldiers, with one button to punch, one to kick, one to block, and one to dodge. For a while, the only real complication is the introduction of a button to interact with the environment to pick up temporary weapons, toss objects at enemies, or (when close enough) insta-kill foes using your surroundings.
This can be fun, albeit mildly uninspired. The game doesn't offer any combos to perform, and there's no tangible difference between spamming punches and spamming kicks against every enemy, aside from the latent need for variety. In addition, while the game goes heavy on blood, the camera is too far away by default, only zooming in for context-sensitive finishing moves and the last blow struck against an a wave of enemies, Arkham-style. That distance keeps the game from achieving the brutal excitement of smiting one's enemies with extreme prejudice, where many of the game's finishers--which also feel a bit hurried--are indiscernible in busy scenes.
The game starts to get reckless in a hurry about throwing new twists at you. There's a half-hearted stealth element that allows Vasily to sneak up and assassinate enemies while their backs are turned, which is really just a convenient way of thinning a herd that, more often than not, will turn into a frantic, bloody mosh pit of five or more foes anyway. It's the addition of guns that ends up throwing off the formula the most, however, turning the game from a quaintly satisfying beat-'em-up into a less-gratifying riff on design principles from Hotline Miami.
Later in the game, a disarm mechanic is introduced to supplement Vasily's parry ability, which essentially robs the game of its casual nature and turns it into a game of strategy--the likes of which the more rickety mechanics aren't deep enough to sustain. Factor in the lack of variety in the enemy design after the mutants come out to play and a tendency to conflate difficulty with "throw more enemies at the player," and after about five hours, Redeemer is in danger of numbing you to its minor charms, creating more work than it's worth.
Fortunately, Redeemer teeters but never topples over the line into drudgery. For what it's worth, the added mechanics do at least introduce a variety of options for dispatching the legion of enemies Vasily faces in his bloody rampage toward vengeance for his fallen temple. There are smirking joys to be found in the right situation where Vasily snaps a soldier's neck, steals their shotgun, blows away two of his buddies the next room over, and finishes the third with his bare hands. Redeemer's a game that clearly has its heart in the right place but feels the need to justify or enhance a genre that needs less to succeed than one might think.
Note: This review contains spoilers for Season 1 of Telltale's Batman series.
Actions have consequences, and in Season 1 of Telltale's Batman series Bruce Wayne learned this truth the hard way. His father, Thomas Wayne, was revealed to be one of the most powerful criminals in Gotham history, with his nefarious activities giving rise to a terrorist group called the Children of Arkham. Their leader, Lady Arkham, joined forces with an embittered Oswald Cobblepot and together they turned Bruce Wayne's life upside down. They drove a wedge between Batman and his allies, then exposed the sordid Wayne family history to the ever-volatile citizens of Gotham.
While the events of Season 1 mostly wrapped up neatly, with the Penguin behind bars and Lady Arkham presumed dead, one very important thread was left laying bare. At one point, in order to escape incarceration at Arkham Asylum, Bruce Wayne briefly allied himself with John Doe, a green-haired, pale-faced lunatic with a chilling ear-to-ear grin. And as we all know, actions have consequences.
But The Enigma, Season 2 Episode 1 of Telltale's Batman series, approaches this loose end with a deft touch, allowing the threat of John Doe to linger in the background, ever present but quietly simmering. Instead of immediately placing the focus on the Joker it pivots to a compelling take on the Riddler, who is excellently voiced by Robin Atkin Downes. Although Riddler is primarily used as the setup for much bigger threats, Telltale still does justice to the character with a gripping, self-contained story.
As with Oswald Cobblepot in Season 1, Telltale has made a few small changes to Edward Nigma to present him in a way that, while not completely unique, puts a new spin on him. In this universe, Riddler existed before Bruce Wayne became Batman and, in fact, he terrorised Gotham in the days when Carmine Falcone, Mayor Hamilton Hill, and Thomas Wayne's criminal empire had an iron grip on the city. He was known to be so fearsome that even they gave him a wide berth.
His return to Gotham is not only an ominous sign of things to come, but the spark that ignites a number of fires for Batman and Bruce Wayne to fight. In typical Riddler fashion, he immediately sets about challenging the intellect of Gotham's so-called saviour. Their initial confrontation is a brutal casino brawl which culminates in the villain leaving the Dark Knight with a mystery to solve: a small, strange box that must be figured out--"or people are gonna get hurt."
The bulk of the episode is spent unraveling the mysteries of the box and then dealing with the fallout. But the search for answers has a devastating impact on the people around Batman. Telltale isn't wasting any time, as Episode 1 has a few harrowing moments and tough decisions that put you under pressure. By the time the episode has wrapped up, the Riddler has made a permanent mark on the life of Bruce Wayne and Batman.
The means of driving the narrative in Season 2 hasn't changed drastically from the previous season. Investigations involve finding clues by moving around environments and interacting with specific objects, at which point a Bat-Monologue will explain how it could be relevant to the mystery. The puzzle-solving is similarly rudimentary, asking you to make connections between pieces of evidence in order to reconstruct a simulation of what happened. While the first game's crime-solving sequences weren't much more complicated, they at least had a multitude of variables to think about. In this episode, however, the solutions were obvious and the steps to solving conundrums were simple, often requiring you to simply connect a pair of clues. I didn't much feel like the world's greatest detective.
Episode 1 as a whole feels more weighted towards action set pieces, and although the interactions are still a series of quick-time events, Telltale has introduced more opportunities to direct Batman in the moment-to-moment scuffles. Now, after delivering a flurry of bone crunching hooks and uppercuts, you can choose whether you want to follow up with a roundhouse or a bodyslam--or you'll have to tap buttons multiple times to ensure your Batarangs hit all the goons in the area. It's a small change, but one that encourages players to stay focused and engaged.
Although Riddler is primarily used as the setup for much bigger threats, Telltale still does justice to the character with a gripping, self-contained story.
As with all Telltale's games, the way you respond to characters through dialogue choices not only defines how the story branches, but now also redefines relationships. It can be difficult to see someone you once considered a friend now doubting you, through no fault of your own. This shake up injects further drama into existing dynamics, which means you never truly feel at ease during a conversation.
While the episode is less overt than Season 1 about trying to deconstruct Batman and Bruce Wayne, the Riddler is used to assess the principles they operate under. Each new SAW-like death trap questions what sacrifices the Caped Crusader is willing to make in pursuit of his justice. It's subtle, but Telltale is picking at the line between hero and criminal in a way that could unravel Batman's sense of self, with interesting implications.
The Riddler's arrival has also attracted the attention of The Agency, a shadowy law enforcement group that has been tracking the villain for some time. This outfit is headed up by Amanda Waller, and DC fans will immediately appreciate the implications her introduction has. Waller is known to be one of the most powerful non-superhuman characters in the DC universe, regularly scheming and politicking to keep the worst criminals and greatest heroes under her thumb.
She begins to undermine the fruitful relationship between Gordon and Batman by creating a rift between them, something which you must then work to mend. She becomes yet another plate for you to spin, a new source of stress in the game's decision making moments. The episode ends on a very unexpected revelation involving Waller which will change things for Batman in a big way.
Of course, there's also the matter of John Doe, who abruptly reappears having been released from Arkham Asylum with a clean bill of health. Doe makes his somewhat unwelcome comeback in one of the episode's most somber moments, becoming an uncontrollable wildcard. However, while he's still ever so slightly unhinged, he's also unusually helpful to Batman's investigations, which once again emphasizes the actions-have-consequences mantra Telltale's games are built on. Do you accept help from someone who, deep down, you know will eventually turn on you?
Without the need to retell the origin story and unburdened by that baggage, Season 2 of Telltale's Batman series has started strongly with a variety of well-realized new characters. There are a number of tough decision-making moments that will give the you pause and invite you to consider the impact your choices could have. While gameplay is not markedly different, combat is tweaked just enough to make it an improvement over its previous iteration. Overall, The Enigma is a successful opening chapter to a Batman story that's shaping up to be more ambitious than anything Telltale attempted in the first season.
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