The Walking Dead: Season Two

The Walking Dead season 1 was something special. A true masterpiece in storytelling and character development. It was a true 10/10, and the finale made me feel a sadness I've never before felt in a video game. So how does season two stack up in comparison?

In season one we played as Lee, doing our best to protect precious little Clementine. In the second season we play Clementine herself. The difference is that we are met with an older, more mature and independent Clementine. This season really cements her as a true protagonist, and a damn good one at that.

One of the biggest drawbacks in my opinion when it comes to the second season is that the majority of characters we meet feel like completely dead weight, unable to perform even the simplest of tasks. It seems ridiculous that a bunch of adults put all the responsibility on an 11 year old girl, but game has to game I guess. Not all characters fall into this catagory though. In fact, the second season hosts a multitude of amazing characters, that you will either end up loving or hating depending on how you play. In my opinion season two gives us THE most complex character in the entire universe, and I'm not talking about Clementine. It also has arguably the greatest villain in the entire Walking Dead universe.

The early part revolves around getting to know new characters, and being introduced to old ones as well. The later half of the game focuses on a sort of rivalry between different characters, and you as the player has to choose which side you are on. The ending (depending on how you play it) is again very emotional, and though it's hard to replicate the impact of the first seasons ending, in my opinion it got pretty close. I won't tell you which ending I got, but I will say that it involved a hard to swallow good bye that was absolutely excellent.

Season one introduced us to a young girl, that we would die to protect. Season two gave us a development in Clementine that is hard to accomplish. She is still a young little girl, but a fierce survivor that beyond all else tries to navigate the moral dilemmas she is faced with. It's hard to create a character that the player really connects with, but TellTale has gone beyond that with Clementine. I felt a responsibility and admiration I've never felt for a character in a video game ever. In my book Clementine is the greatest video game heroine of all time, and season two is pretty damn close to the masterpiece that was season one.

The graphics, voice acting, character development, and sound are spot on. This is expected given the success of the first and increased budget.

The failing of this game is pacing and writing. Falling down or jump scares are cheap plot devices sprinkled throughout your gaming experience. Instead of just telling a good story you're forced into nonsense "action" sequences that are so clunky and poorly made it would make even Ubisoft cringe.

This is all in stark contrast to the first game. Which had clear cut game mechanics that were easy to understand and well explained when they weren't. You can really tell the devs dropped the ball on this one for the sake of cash grabbing.

Edit: Had to come back and really hammer home the poor mechanics. From one QuickTime cut scene to another the problem persists. They can't make the mechanics clear or change them so dramatically that you have to replay the same scene over and over.

Poorly made game. Devs should be ashamed of themselves for yet another abortion of a once great franchise.

Damn. So brutal. If you thought the first game was visceral, maddening, and just straight up flippin perfect, then you NEED to do yourself a favor and get in this hype train. All I can say; perfection. In this game, you now are in control of Clementine and must survive amongst the harsh new reality of clashing survivor groups and the endless zombie horde. This game doubles down on the carnage, with beloved (or not so beloved) characters getting either ripped apart or shot, a starving dog that doesn't want to share, countless zombie hordes, and of course, making hard moral decisions that pits you against certain characters. This game has many surprises, with one being the return of a character from the first game that I just didn't expect at all. It was so cool seeing his character develop into this broken man who keeps losing people, and this is where the hardest decisions come in. This may be slightly *spoiler* so to people that haven't played yet, probably stop reading. In my playthrough, I tried looking at both sides of the group. Knowing how much stuff Kenny went through, I didn't really egg him on too much, although there were times I said enough (which is around the end where he is basically bullying the Russian prisoner), but sadly, in hopes of saving his gf by chopping her arm off cuz she got bit, i just made things worse and she ended up dying, which Kenny blamed on me. Although he hated me for a while, he got over it and apologized, which I appreciated.. this is why I tried being on his side... I really tried. But in the end, he and Jane take it too far, and despite me thinking I did the good thing, I come to find out Jane was an antagonist who took it just as far as Kenny. I also loved the new cast of characters, like Paul, Luke, and the returning maddening characters from 400 days such as Bonnie and Jane.

Anyways, enough. This game is amazing. Any walking dead fan or story game fan will adore it. Highly recommended. Cannot wait to see where Clementine ends up in The New Frontier!

After watching the release trailer of "In Harm's Way" I was expecting already an excellent episode considering the way the previous one ended and, damn it, I was completely blown away! Congratulations to Telltale for creating a great and credible antagonist. I was so angry and so frustrated with Carver that all I wanted to do was to make him suffer.

I always believed Clementine had always a small dark side inside her and this episode confirms my suspicious. The Walking Dead Season 2: Episode 3 - "In Harm's Way" can show you a darker and vengeful Clementine where we can witness it during her talk with Carver and the last scene with Kenny in the end of the episode.

Overall, don't lose this episode because this is Telltale at their best and the ending is so bad-ass that that it will make you want to play the 4th episode right away! It's a pity that we have to wait 1/2 month(s)

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