Title: The Walking Dead Game: Season 2
Format: PS3(reviewed), Xbox 360, PC, Mac, iOS, Vita
Release Date: December 17(First Episode), August 26(Final Episode)
Publisher: Telltale Games
Developer: Telltale Games
Price: $4.99(Per Episode), $19.99(Season Pass)
ESRB Rating: M
The Walking Dead Season 2 is the follow up to the first season that won numerous Game of the Year honors. While Season 2 started off slow, by the end of the second season, I remembered what makes this series so special.
* Major Season 1 Spoilers Below
Story and Presentation:Season 2 of the Walking Dead pretty much kicks off right after the first season ends. You left Lee to his inevitable demise, and you're now wandering around as Clementine as she escapes the city. She later meets up with Christa and Omid, and you continue your journey with them. Along the way however, you end up losing a lot of characters, old and new. Rather than putting the emphasis on Lee and the supporting cast, Season 2 really focuses on Clementine, and the girl you want her to become. This new narrative pathway took some time to come into it's own, but when you reach the endgame, it proved to be an extremely engaging narrative. Your decisions built up over the season finally began to come to fruition, and depending on your previous actions, some characters will turn their backs to you. The tough decisions were absent from the first three episodes, but the writers really ramped up the choices you make. The bulk of the decisions you make towards are basically life and death situations, and a character's life is usually hanging the balance of what you choose to do. Clementines maturation process was the big the highlight in Season 2. You could easily tell by the decisions that were presented to you began to change over the course of the season, decisions that directly correlated by what Clementine had gone through. Touching scenes were easy to come by, especially during episode 5. I didn't think Telltale could dive any deeper into the character of Kenny, but they managed to do so. The visuals are your usual fare of comic book like style, that always highlight how a character feels at any given time. I've always admired how well the devs animated the characters faces, it really adds to the level of realism. The soundtrack was incredible, and it was just as haunting as the first season.
Core Gameplay and Presentation:The gameplay hasn't changed really at all. Telltale mainly puts their focus on the narrative side of things, and it kind of shows throughout. The Wolf Among Us had a lot of action during the endgame, and the mechanics were a bit stiff. Although you won't be turning into any wolves, the combat sections are still rigid in design. Luckily, there aren't that many as there were during the early episodes of Season 2. Even though the action sequences are sparse, the game did a masterful job at building tension and gut wrenching moments. Your nerves will constantly be on edge, so it may prove to be difficult to make your choices on the fly. Like I said above, your decisions ultimately decides how the last episode plays out, including who's with you at the end. The game ended on such a high note that I forgot about the technical issues that have plagued Telltale's titles ever since the beginning. The game still hitches up from scene to scene as the game is constantly saving and loading new data, so the PC is still the best choice for the smoothest experience.
Final Thoughts:The Walking Dead Season 2 started off slow, but it ended on a really high note. The game has been getting compared to the Wolf Among Us this year, and I have to say that The Walking Dead really edged the Wolf Among Us at the end.
+Roller Coaster of Emotions
+Terrific Character Designs
+Clementine's Maturation
-Technical Hiccups
S&S Rating: 9/10 @whatsPlay
