No more waiting! It's arrived. All the navel gazing style dissection of the trailer no longer has to suffice to feed our appetite. The Walking Dead Telltale game, season 2, episode one, is here. And all is good in game land, for it is, like, awesome and stuff.
The world of the Walking Dead has been great for a fan base totally taken with the prospect of interacting with the Robert Kirkman's zombie apocalypse. Elsewhere I've discussed the thriving domain of the Walking Dead fanfiction . Telltale's super game provides further opportunity for interacting with this desolate, creepy and fascinating world.
Clementine, once the object of our care and projection, has graduated to hero of the class. This little girl, who the first season portrayed as innocent and vulnerable, having lost her guardian, now has had to grow up and make the hard decisions to survive in the zombie apocalypse.
The almost universally celebrated game, in its second season, continues breathing new life into the adventure game genre, once left for dead by many a gaming aficionado. Its strength of the past carries through into the present, skirting the danger of lapsing into mere puzzle solving. Instead, the emphasis on dynamic and interactive story telling remains its forte. And these aren't empty choices.
The protagonist's choices matter. Not just in the moment, but also in the future. They can lead to surprising and tragic outcomes. The game keeps track of choices, even alerting the player about specific statements or actions that another character will remember. Often these past decisions come back to haunt the protagonist. And this is not only from episode to episode, but it appears choices from last season will affect options in this new season.
As happy as I am with this continued emphasis on the interactive dynamic, not everything is the same. Mostly, though the changes are improvements. This is particularly notable on the technical side of things. The graphics are greatly improved: richer and more detailed. The frame rate too is better. Clementine walks more quickly than we saw in season one. When you're gripped in suspense at the prospect of a walker attack, that's a great add.
My one complaint was that too often I thought the dialogue choices were too extreme. Either Clementine had to be harsh or childish. That's the way I read it and I didn't think that kind of limitation gave either the character or the story the fullness from which it could have benefited. I'll be keeping an eye on that development going forward.
On the flip side of the coin, though, playing a young girl does provide for some interesting options that weren't available by playing Lee. Clementine can be coyly manipulative. This is a new and interesting option - especially for those of us who have never been young girls!
And, I'm happy to report, that Telltales' strongest strong suit remains firmly in place here in the first episode of season two. I'm referring of course to the moral complexities confronting the protagonist. For instance, are you prepared to make Clementine a dead cold killer right from the get-go?
Lots of people already have. What are the consequences of that? Only future episodes will tell the tale. This is why the Walking Dead Telltale games have been so successful and so compelling. So far, the future looks bright. At least, from outside of the zombie apocalypse...and all that.
The world of the Walking Dead has been great for a fan base totally taken with the prospect of interacting with the Robert Kirkman's zombie apocalypse. Elsewhere I've discussed the thriving domain of the Walking Dead fanfiction . Telltale's super game provides further opportunity for interacting with this desolate, creepy and fascinating world.
Clementine, once the object of our care and projection, has graduated to hero of the class. This little girl, who the first season portrayed as innocent and vulnerable, having lost her guardian, now has had to grow up and make the hard decisions to survive in the zombie apocalypse.
The almost universally celebrated game, in its second season, continues breathing new life into the adventure game genre, once left for dead by many a gaming aficionado. Its strength of the past carries through into the present, skirting the danger of lapsing into mere puzzle solving. Instead, the emphasis on dynamic and interactive story telling remains its forte. And these aren't empty choices.
The protagonist's choices matter. Not just in the moment, but also in the future. They can lead to surprising and tragic outcomes. The game keeps track of choices, even alerting the player about specific statements or actions that another character will remember. Often these past decisions come back to haunt the protagonist. And this is not only from episode to episode, but it appears choices from last season will affect options in this new season.
As happy as I am with this continued emphasis on the interactive dynamic, not everything is the same. Mostly, though the changes are improvements. This is particularly notable on the technical side of things. The graphics are greatly improved: richer and more detailed. The frame rate too is better. Clementine walks more quickly than we saw in season one. When you're gripped in suspense at the prospect of a walker attack, that's a great add.
My one complaint was that too often I thought the dialogue choices were too extreme. Either Clementine had to be harsh or childish. That's the way I read it and I didn't think that kind of limitation gave either the character or the story the fullness from which it could have benefited. I'll be keeping an eye on that development going forward.
On the flip side of the coin, though, playing a young girl does provide for some interesting options that weren't available by playing Lee. Clementine can be coyly manipulative. This is a new and interesting option - especially for those of us who have never been young girls!
And, I'm happy to report, that Telltales' strongest strong suit remains firmly in place here in the first episode of season two. I'm referring of course to the moral complexities confronting the protagonist. For instance, are you prepared to make Clementine a dead cold killer right from the get-go?
Lots of people already have. What are the consequences of that? Only future episodes will tell the tale. This is why the Walking Dead Telltale games have been so successful and so compelling. So far, the future looks bright. At least, from outside of the zombie apocalypse...and all that.
About the Author:
If you want to keep up with all the Walking Dead news , you should be following Mickey Jhonny's posts at the Pretty Much Dead Alhave a look aty blog. Gaming fans will want to have a look at his piece on the best games for PC that is entirely free!
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