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| Clementine is now older, wiser and probably just a tad cynical |
- Developer: Telltale Games
- Publisher: Telltale Games
- Release Date: 18 December 2013
- Time played: 2 hours
So it's finally time to continue The Walking Dead game series with Telltale having released Season Two shortly before Christmas 2013. This review will seem very similar to my previous The Walking Dead reviews but that's only because nothing has changed in terms of gameplay or artistic direction - only the plot has.
Plot (5/5)
In the second season of The Walking Dead, you play the role of Clementine, a young girl who is separated from a couple accompanying her called Christa and Omid. It's then up to Clementine to fend for herself, alone in the wilderness, surrounded by hordes of zombies. Clementine eventually comes across another group taking refuge in a house but Clementine doesn't find it so easy to gain their trust.
In fact this whole episode (and indeed The Walking Dead as a whole) revolves around the issue of trust. Whether you can trust that others in need won't (literally) bite the hand that feeds them.
Oh and for those who've never played Season One (although I'd thoroughly recommend you do) it doesn't seem essential to have played the first season of the game in order to appreciate this one - however Clementine does make references to it.
Gameplay (3/5)
For those that have played The Walking Dead: Season One, you know the drill. Gameplay is pretty light, with simple puzzles and the game feels more like a visual novel. The game is mainly conversation driven and focuses more on your relationships with characters more than anything else. You'll occasionally have some Quick Time Events (QTEs) during action sequences but that's about it.
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| That fire ain't gonna light itself |
Sound (4/5)
Voice acting is great but that's to be expected from veteran voice actors – the only issue I had was that the audio was sometimes too loud or too soft.
Music (4/5)
The game has a suitably atmospheric music soundtrack; while there are no memorable themes it is effective in setting the sombre, depressing mood to the game.
Graphics (4/5)
The graphics are similar to The Walking Dead Season One (as you'd expect) and are the best I've seen in a Telltale game yet adopting a thick edges, comic-book style (a similar style is adopted in The Wolf Among Us). The only thing that annoyed me was the fact the framerate tended to jump all over the place at times.
Replay (3/5)
Just like Season One, the ending you receive depends on the choices you make in the game, so there is some attraction there to replay the episode (and indeed, the whole game once it is released). Also like Season One, achievements are still very easy to acquire (i.e. proceed to a certain point in the story) and there's not enough variety to encourage multiple playthroughs.
Polish (4/5)
Unfortunately, as it's a Telltale game, it uses the most recent Telltale Tool so the interface is a very console-friendly one, not a simple point ‘n' click adventure. The game also has the annoying Type 1 save system where progress is autosaved but you never know when the next save point is.
Score – 8/10
An eye-opening, adrenaline filled return to form, Season Two of The Walking Dead amplifies the tension by casting you as a (seemingly) defenceless, young girl. As with the previous season, this game toys with your emotions and has moral dilemmas galore; all things we should see more of in computer gaming!If you want to get the game, you can get it on Steam.
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[LINK: Official The Walking Dead (game) website]
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