Review

The Walking Dead Episode 5: No Time Left

This is it; the last episode in the Walking Dead Series from Telltale. Finally, we get to the end of this emotional roller coaster. And while we might have lost one of our shoes, a hat, or even a limb along the way, it would be hard to get off thinking that this was anything but one hell of a ride!

In an effort not to spoil anything, I’m going to be vague about the happenings of this episode. I will say that heart strings are pulled as we learn who lives or dies. Questions that have haunted gamers since the beginning are answered, some in the most shocking of ways. Anyone that played the previous entry knows that it left gamers with a cliff hanger of an ending. No Time Left delivers on that built up anticipation; cutting our support ropes and sending us plummeting to the jagged rocks below.

Seeing how this group of survivors dealt with the ramifications of their actions is the highlight of the series. Consider Kenny, he’s a broken man due to what happened on the way to Savannah. Because of this, he’s been hard to get along with. If he isn’t floating in a liquor bottle, he’s up in someone’s face ready to fight. He took his pain out on one character so badly, that I thought he was going to kill them by the story’s end. It wasn’t till they stood up to Kenny, that he realized that he wasn’t the only one that lost people in this mess. Others have experienced worse than Kenny and yet have found a way to “keep it together:” What’s makes this even better is the fact that Kenny’s change of character was realistically done. Just because he realized he was being a jerk doesn’t mean he was ready to hold hands and sing Kum ba yah!

Another aspect that I liked about this episode was the reflection of my previous choices. Playing as Lee, I’ve come to understand that my decisions didn’t matter as much I wanted them to. Of course, some people will live a little longer based on my…Lee’s actions. Their involvement, or lack thereof, would surely effect how certain events played out. At the same time though, when I consider the story as a whole, the choices I made for Lee didn’t have a critical effect on much. The story is written in such a way that the outcome(s) are inevitable. That said, this was the first episode where I felt like my contributions to the group made a difference. Because this is the end, the cast was able to formulate a final opinion of Lee. My decisions might not have made a difference when it came to someone living throughout the entirty of the story, but it made a difference in how people viewed my version of Lee. He was a good friend to one person, a father figure to another. A protector to some and a trusted leader to others; his past had little to no effect on their opinion of him anymore. This is sense of acknowledgement proves that what I…Lee did in the previous episodes was worth doing.

Of course, being that there were tough choices to be made, not everything Lee did was accepted. Again, not to spoil anything, I’ll be vague here. The story takes an interesting turn towards the end with a twist that few may have seen coming. Lee has had to deal with a person who has a different view on what went down in the previous episodes. The logic behind this new threat is treated in such a way that it almost justifies what happens a few seconds later. And just like with Kenny, this twist was done realistically, making Lee’s final confrontation all the more harrowing.

Saying that this entry is the best in the entire series would be an understatement. That said, it wouldn’t have been nearly as good if it wasn’t for the previous episodes. Each episode before this helped me become attached to these characters in a significant way. Which is a credit to the talented writers working at Telltale; they’ve done what most developers try to do in a fraction of the time (each episode is a little over an hour to two hours long). They made gamers care about the fictional characters on screen. Helping in this endeavor are the voice actors who delivered their lines in a believable manner. While they all were good, Melissa Hutchison (who I believe deserves an award for her performance) easily stole the show as the voice of Clementine. Even if you hated the gameplay, Clementine was a reason to keep playing!

I guess what I’ve been trying to get at is that the story is what makes this entire series worth experiencing. As much as it pains me to say, you don’t play The Walking Dead because it’s a fun game to play. You play it because you’re captivated by the story. Not to say that the game mechanics are bad or that it was a chore to get through. It’s just that the story is the central focus. Due to what it’s based on and the genre it represents, my conclusion is quite fitting. Though the gamer in me may find fault with that, there really isn’t a reason why anyone should skip this title. Don’t let the fact that it is a licensed title scare you away. It’s a testament of what licensed titles should be; a true representation of the original property’s vision that thoughtfully, incorporates appropriate gaming mechanics. Telltale should be proud!