Game Review: The Walking Dead: Season 2
Played on: PC/Steam
Console: PC/Steam, OS X, PS3, PSV, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbone, iOS, Android and Ouya.
Price: $24.99 [Steam]
Genre: Graphic-Adventure
Past Game: The Walking Dead: Season 1 [Game | Review]
Contains: 40 achievements to obtain for 100% completion and no extra content, so far.
Warning: This game contains a few scenes of physical and verbal abuse (mainly against women), racism, implications of dead babies and attacks against children.
Basically
It has been some time since the events of season 1. Clementine has found Omid and Christa, now they venture further into a world that has a bleak look in regards to survival.
You are Clementine, the world has changed you and since the sad departure of Lee. You are nearly alone and trying to make it through each day
Mizu's Thoughts
Last time we saw Clementine, she was alone and mourning the death of the closest person to her. She never gave up and kept her promise to find Omid and Christa and travel with them but even after she did that, she seems to be in trouble, riddled with the worst of luck.
Dog Bites? looting for food and health? More deaths of those who matter?
Things just don't seem to work for poor Clementine but that are the least of her problems in the next installment of the Walking Dead series done by Telltale Games.
This installment spans over 5 chapters, each one more emotional and dark as the last, can you walk through Clem through this crazy world in hopes of making sure she lives for the next day.
Clementine has greatly changed since we last met her.
She has become stronger, colder but still holds the values that Lee had taught her. She is a lot more confident and has more courage to face the dark world she lives in and in some instances, based on your choices, she can become ruthless, caring and plain cruel but hey, that choice is yours to make.
Her emotional states tend to range from cold and eye rolling at some things, to very emotional and keen on making things work. She seems to cry less and tends to pick herself up and move on. Making her a very interesting character to observe during this game.
As usual, you meet an assortment of characters who both live and die but some leave a lasting impact.
There are a few characters who are dark and cruel. Others who are sweet but gullible. Some you dislike at first but grow to be close. You also meet a character from Season 1, who you thought was dead but proved to be the opposite.
They develop superbly in the progress of the game but it's sad when you get attached and they may possibly die (warning: don't get too attached, they may die).
In accordance with the returning character, they just get a bit creepy and are constantly in a dark place, which causes a lot of problems with the group and tends to fight with everyone when they disapprove what the plan is.
Which is a problem and that's it for characters, cause I can't give too much away.
The graphics are still as delightful from the first game and like the first season, it improves as each episode is played at.
A nice addition is the new environmental impacts and reactions from characters, for example, if they are cold, they shiver and react towards it, more so than it did before.
In this game, you control Clem, you also seem to have more choices than before. The hints are less subtle and tends to make choices a bit easier to see. It looks much nicer and I think there is the new addition of improved looks of the quick action and it stays up longer than it previously did, only if it is by a few seconds.
The controls themselves have not changed (use of arrows and WASD to move), with new quick action segments (Spam Q then press E or using directional pad to dodge things), though, these may not be new but it's nice to know.
Bonus: Not much of a change from Season 1, makes it easier to jump straight into Season 2.
The game incorporates your season 1 file into this game and you can see what past actions impact this game as it progresses. It also takes the data from 400 days, when you see the characters you convinced to follow you into the camp in that game. They are side characters who helps run Carver's camp, chances are, they don't last.
Yes, choices made in this game has been more emphasised in this game than it previously has and it comes back in a way you don't realise, with a good blow added.
The one part that annoys me is how the camera still sucks and not being able to run or react as quickly as I hope but what's a game without a few flaws. Still runs on a linear path and seems more restrictive than ever but the choices impact greatly on the game as well.
The sounds have not changed much since Season 1 and are very realistic and appropriate for the game and scenes. The sense of how it is makes the player think they are really there, experiencing what is occurring.
The music for the end themes are very appropriate for the game and I found myself enjoying listening to the selected tracks, secretly wondering where I can get these for my own personal listening.
Now, I made some notes on things I found unsettling, besides the gore.
From Episode 3 onwards, physical and verbal abuse becomes a frequent occurrence, mainly against women and children, which I think may not be a theme some people can deal with. So I would advise on being cautious, considering it can get pretty nasty in some of the attacks.
The other one worth mentioning is the subtle hints of death of babies. You see an end result during the beginning of Episode 1 but later on, you meet another character close to giving birth. During Episode 4, she has difficulty giving birth and it is assumed, at first, the child has died, for me, it turns out okay but during Episode 5, there is a situation where the baby is assumed dead but it all depends how it is played out on what happens but that is what happened to me. So a fair warning for people who cannot deal with this theme.
There is also a lot of Racism occurring during Episode 4, mainly against Russians and possibly against coloured people but during that segment, a lot was going on and it was covered by all sorts of talking/screaming/yelling/etc.
A personal opinion on this game is very small. I enjoyed it but I found some parts causes a bit of a moral distress since some themes unsettle me more than others.
A personal thought about the episodes is that after Episode 3, things become more intense and somewhat stressful. I may have used very coarse language due to this and not on one occasion either.
I still feel guilty when I let someone die over another, though in this season, it doesn't happen as much as one would think, thankfully.
I also wish I could skip the credits, one sorta gets the point after seeing it for the first three times.
Pros: Great story and very addictive.Cons: Unsettling themes, unskippable credits and annoying cameras and lack of running.
Conclusion
This is a great game, especially those who are dedicated to The Walking Dead franchise.
Highly Recommended but a warning to people who are triggered by certain themes.
Score ★★★★☆
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