Review: The Walking Dead – Episode 2
After a few not so great games, to be precise, Back to The Future and Jurassic Park, I feared Telltale will sell out and keep dishing out licensed half assed products that will sell good no matter the quality of the games in question.
Boy, was I wrong.
Remember, kids, no running with axes!
The first episode was supposed to be released in September last year, and the final product definitely shows that a little more development time can do wonders. We didn’t review Episode One, but let’s give it a 8/10 right here. It was a good game that made promises about how every decision will have impact on the future episodes. We didn’t have much choice in the first one, the only real choice was deciding which of the 2 survivors to save at a key moment. Some other choices we had didn’t impact the outcome, like giving a gun to a bitten woman at the motel. She would shoot herself anyway, only the cutscene how it plays out would be different. I was hoping if you don’t shoot her, she returns the next episode and tries to eat the survivors, but nope.
Only now, after I have played Episode 2, I could see the tremendous effort Telltale put in the characters and their interactions. Even the smallest things you said and did will be referenced or mentioned in the subsequent episode. For instance, in one scene in the first episode Clementine asks you what that nasty smell is. If you say “Manure”, in Episode 2 when Duck asks her what is that, she will proudly say “Manure!”. It’s small things like that that make The Walking Dead game really shine. And I don’t get all that excited about manure very often.
Maybe…they’re under the stairs
Without spoiling anything, I can freely say that the story in Episode 2 is amazing. The constant feeling of dread the survivors experience really gets under your skin and a few OH SHIT moments will make you jump out of your chair. Yup, the second episode is a whole lot scarier than the first one.
I replayed the first two episodes a few times times to see how the story develops if you say different things and make different choices. Some choices really do matter, but how much they impact the future episodes, we will just have to wait and see. The first two episodes didn’t disappoint, and I’m confident the remainder of the season will be as good as the beginning.
Blue moon, you saw me standing alone.
The Walking Dead Game is a bold experiment in storytelling, without falling to a trap of becoming an interactive movie like Jurassic Park was. It is, without any doubt, the best game Telltale made so far.
If you’re a fan of the comic books, zombies and adventure games, you should buy it, now. It’s the first adventure game that not only you can play again and get a whole new experience, but you will want to play it as many times as possible to see all the possible outcomes of your decisions.
Summary: The Walking Dead Episode 2 is better than the first one in every single way, a must have for adventure lovers and the fans of the comic and the TV show.
Platforms: PC, Mac, PS3, Xbox360
Verdict: 9/10
The Walking Dead Game was developed by Telltale Games and is available in their store or on Steam
I agree with the review. The game is an amazing adaptation, as well as a fun adventure game. After playing through the two episodes, the game is already better than the show. I just hope the episodes come out faster than this one did.