The Walking Dead: The Game - Season 2

A "just about good" and particularly "dark" follow up to an unmatched emotional first season. Though it was no way near as excellent as its predecessor, but it wasn't as good as a die hard fan might want it to be. Maybe due to expectations or hype! Clem isn't a cheerful and innocent child any more, she is now a veteran survivor and a mature girl willing to make hard choices. It's understandable due to what she's been through for the first five episodes.

The group of survivors she meets on her way is very much similar to previous Kenny and group, so nothing new there. But these characters fail to be as memorable as the previous bunch. Maybe they will as the season progresses. This season promises to be even more darker, intense and brutal than the previous one.

All That Remains did feel predictable, maybe because we all know the format rather well by now. Yes! the build and story line is all very nostalgic, but one feels that the choices given are not fair as their could be other alternative. I better not spoil it by quoting examples, but I certainly can say that in Season 1 if one had to make a choice then the choices given to us are the most probable of what we would have actually thought. Whereas, the effect of our choices still remains good, as the major choices seem to; and probably will effect the future episodes, as one may relate from the Episode 2 trailer at the end.

Another Letdown is, the decisions from the previous season do not stand of least importance. Even if you haven't yet completed the first season, the game will generate your choices randomly. I am hoping that we see at least some impact of our decisions from season one and 400 Days in the coming episodes.

Coming to character development, well there wasn't much of screen space for anyone except Clem. Where the first Season had a high level of "Character Attachment" due to excellent character development and "character speech" options where we could interact with the character with a wide variety questions, this season clearly lacked it. But I am more than sure it will come i the coming episode. All that Remains was mostly about survival. Clem being the protagonist and the playable character has her character traits in our hand. The player might make her a heartless rather self catering young girl who trusts no one and will try to survive no matter what the cost, or one might shape her a kind but mature girl who wants to survive badly but cares for other living too. But in any case she is now prepared for anything.

The game does offer some good and shocking moments, the dog scene being my favorite and most shocking. Where Lee lead from the front and established himself as a leader of the group, Clem probably will have to fend off others.

Now the game-play, being a story based game, there isn't much for gamers. Just like the first season it is a "tailored by choices" game rather than a kill kill kill zombie game. Playing the PC version I missed the "Scroll" option which provided a lot of ease in selecting the action.

Direction/Animation/Graphics: Outstanding! Flawless.

Story/Screenplay: Great.

Music: Superb. To my surprise their is a nice credit song.

All in all a strong start to what is going to be a great season 2. Though extremely short, as I played it through one sitting. I'm pretty sure it is only going to get better!

It's pretty impressive that amidst all the next gen colossal titles, a game with much simpler nature will stand tall, merely by the brilliantly told story and passionately sympathetic characters. Continuing on the tradition and previous season, Telltale succeeds in delivering a personal and emotionally investing journey, this time focusing on Clementine. After surviving the hardship, baptized by blood and flesh, Clementine is slowly becoming more mature and tougher, while losing bits of innocence a little girls should hold for years to come, a proses which can be quickened by players' choice. Walking Dead will naturally draw players into caring for her, both her physical continuation and her mental well-being, and also characters she interacts with. This is a trait envied by many other games.

Players will assume control over Clementine, she can relatively defend herself better this time, but as a child there are still many limitations to her. The game creates many situations where she has to trust or rely on others. This is a bit different than Lee and Clementine relationship before, although the main purpose is the same; to keep her safe. Characters might treat Clementine differently or have contradicting motives, furthermore they are not one dimensional and quite hard to predict, a great writing on Telltale's part. This uncertainty brings more dynamic trust play, but the mutual dependency of Lee and Clementine is admittedly missed.

Graphic doesn't veer much from what Telltale is known for, comic style characters and background. Colors are nicely done, outline for visual are thick and heavily influenced by comic. Design for setting is sound, unique between each chapter and condition. The expressions are well made and this time around there are less lag when transitioning from scenes, although some bugs or stuttering persist. Action segments are more polished with the same concept of QTE is still in use. Loading time is also shortened a little. It's a slight improvement in technical department and also remains an artistic rendition, but certainly not as superior as majority of game nowadays.

The game's bread and butter are interaction and decisions. It is an interactive story, mixed breed between movie and game, so players will determine how Clementine will respond to certain events. Everything isn't a simple good or bad, there are times where hard decisions with looming consequences have to be made. The game really shines on the story, it feels personal and charming. While some scenes are probably inevitable, it's nice to see simple decisions might affect the scenes afterwards, be it small or large repercussion.

Narrative is a very strong point in this game, dialogues are intimate and emotional. Dubbing as a crucial part of the game doesn't disappoint as the cast perform splendidly to bring characters to live, especially Melissa Hutchison who sounds so organic as Clementine. Accents are defined, subtle sobbing , light snicker or frightened scream fit very well depend on the circumstances. Considering how many possibilities and situations, the actors do incredible job. There's not much in term of music aside from instrumental tunes for moody vibe and some songs, particularly at the end of each episode. What little it has works fine.

The structure between episodes is solid, however season one was better constructed, just by a thin margin. While it does have advantage of having decisions more far reaching and more diverse conclusion, season 1 had mystery tone to it. Personally, I don't think there's a bond as strong as that of Lee and Clementine, and season 1 just had a very memorable ending. However, this merely constitutes as opinion as both games are undoubtedly excellent.

The game is relatively short, about two hours per episode. It keeps the appeal of the prequel with Clementine as the heart of the game, players will likely try to protect and nurture her. It's an achievement in storytelling to captivate audience and make them care for fictional characters. Walking Dead is a brilliant, private and profound gaming experience.

The Walking Dead Season 2 is a perfect example on how to make a game sequel. It captures the charm and appeal of the first game, while expanding the universe of the game, to create it's own unique story, having a completely different identity to the first season. The stakes seem to increase, and the ending has a lot more choice, which greatly improves the playing experience.

In terms of improvement to the first season, and an element which makes the 2nd season completely unique, is the choice Clementine has in terms of her loyalty to Kenny. In the first game, Lee is completely loyal to the group, and there was never a clear divide, so as a result Lee never took sides, whereas in the 2nd season there's a clear split between Kenny and the result of the group. Therefore, Clementine's loyalty is greatly tested. This makes for really interesting gameplay, as the player has to consistently choose between the 2 sides. As a result the player has more autonomy over the events of the story, something that is greatly improved from the first season. The theme of loyalty towards Kenny becomes a contentious issue, one that has the potential for a great deal of analysis.

This game's just as well made as it's predecessor. It leaves an emotional impact and the characters are well crafted and memorable. As a result the Walking Dead Season Two is a masterpiece, and one of the greatest video games on the market.

Awesome game and i love every episode but can we handle the long release dates and episodes getting shorter? i mean season 2 was meant to be every month and it ending up being like 2-3 months after the 1st episode, I've got a feeling episode 3 won't be here till at least june, I'm sorry but whats happening to the length of each episode as well this is by far the shortest and doesn't seem half as long as season 1 episodes, does anyone know why they are so short when we get games like final fantasy and the beautiful ni no kuni which i recently finished after several hundred hours of play, i understand the play is different and making choices that give you other outcomes must affect the game but i really was surprised by how short this episode was, although i love the game, waiting 3 months for 20mins gameplay is not my idea of fun, I will stick with this season but I'm afraid next time i will be waiting till the whole game is made and released and buy it then

More darker and deeper sequel, great and sad for sure, personally I prefer this over the first season.