Review

Developed by:Telltale Games Published by:Telltale Games Genre(s):
  • Adventure
  • Platform:
  • Handhelds
  • Microsoft
  • Nintendo
  • PC
  • Sony
  • Cost:$24.99 (For Full Season) ESRB Rating:MATURE Players:1 Release date:December 17, 2013 Reviewed on:PC
    9

    The Walking Dead: Season Two Episode 1: All That Remains

    Zombie fans everywhere can’t seem to shake being enamored by The Walking Dead phenomenon. Whether it’s the critically acclaimed comic book series or the popular TV show, fans are drawn to it like a horde marching towards a farm house full of fatted calves. The same thing goes for Telltales’ hit Walking Dead series. With award winning voice acting and a well written, emotional roller-coaster of a story, it stands as one of the best licensed games ever made!

    Season one of Telltale’s episodic game was such a huge hit, that its success raised the question of whether or not they can outdo themselves in season two. Personally, based on my experience with “All That Remains”, I don’t think that’ll be an issue. But, before going into why I feel this way, let me bring you up to speed with as little spoilers as possible. The story takes place nearly a year after the events of season 1’s last episode. Clementine, a little girl around the age of 12, was last seen fending for herself after escaping a zombie infested city. At the start of this episode, it’s revealed that she was able to find some old friends to accompany. Things didn’t seem as bleak as they once where; the two adults in the group are discussing what to name their unborn child as they approach a public bathroom. It’s as though, after spending months traveling from place to place that they’ve finally come to grips with a world full of zombies. So much so, that they nonchalantly separate from one another to go wash up in the bathrooms. Unfortunately, they also seemed to forget that the walkers aren’t necessarily the biggest threat to their survival. One careless moment leads to a series of events that changes the lives of everyone involved – successfully jolting them back to the reality of death being steps away at all times!

    Beyond crafting compelling stories, Telltale is also known for introducing unique gameplay mechanics to the adventure genre. I’m happy to say that season two follows suit. The main feature being that your actions can change parts of the story. Of course, as we found out before, it’s more about how the world views/interacts with your character and not about multiple endings or diverging paths. Certain things are going to happen no matter what you do. Still, there are consequences to consider; everyone will remember your actions and the things you say (and don’t say), changing certain parts of your personal story. To enhance the overall experience, Telltale added some elements utilized in their The Wolf Among Us title. For instance, the action segments have been extended, allowing you to “mess up” a quick timed event and still have an opportunity to survive an encounter. Not only that, you don’t have to be precise with your clicks anymore. All you need to do is be in the general vicinity of the onscreen indicator when left clicking to complete any given action. This doesn’t mean that you’ll always come out the victor during a zombie attack. It just means that it wasn’t the game’s fault you were eaten alive.

    Aside from improvements the core gameplay, one of the major changes is that the player is controlling Clementine this time around. This creates an interesting dynamic between the player and the character. You see, I’m an adult who identified with Lee in his efforts to keep Clementine safe. And though my goal is still to keep her safe, I’m playing as a child – I’m playing as her. But I’m not a child, so my decisions don’t always mesh with her way of thinking. It’s like I’m her conscience, urging her to make better choices. I know that sounds odd (she isn’t a real person) but this is truly the felling I get. For instance, there is one moment where Clem’s fate is being decided by a group of adults.  They found her in the woods, injured by what could have been a zombie. Obviously she could be a threat to the group if she’s infected. Not sure what to do, they openly argue with one another in front of her. At this point, dialogue choices popped up allowing me to address the current situation.  My instinct, again, is to keep Clementine safe at all costs. So when the option comes up to manipulate a grown man by playing on his paternal instincts, I take it.

    Being an adult, I would have taken a different approach in trying to convince the group I wasn’t going to be a problem. But, because I’m playing a little girl, the choices given to me where based on the fact that she’s a 12 year old. The consequence of my actions – the man’s wife notices how I went about things and deems me untrustworthy. I’m now someone she needs to keep an eye on. Ultimately, this type of thing makes me question myself. Am I really her conscience if my advice causes more harm? Or, is it that there are no good or bad choices, in the extreme sense of things? I mean, she is safe because of my choices. What I fear is that thinking like an adult could get me (Clementine) into a lot of trouble. At the same time, I believe I’d know better than her. As it stands we both “experienced” the events of season one. We both know how dangerous humans can be, especially after what happened at the beginning of this episode. And, being a parent myself, I believe that I would be justified in my actions of keeping her safe.

    What I’m getting at is the developers have created an internal struggle for me. I want Clementine to be trusted with this new group. I also want her to be safe. With Lee it was easy to be the bad guy when it came to protecting someone; I didn’t have to be liked by everyone. Not only that, most of the characters respected my actions as I was given more choices of what to do. Because I was an adult and a strong asset to the group, I didn’t have to be secretive or manipulative in any way. I had the option of being deceitful, but I could choose not to be. But Clementine is a little girl. And though she can take down a zombie just like anyone else, she doesn’t have much pull within a group of adults. Because of this, you have to use other methods of getting your way. This makes it tougher to identify the most morally sound decisions (or if there are any to begin with). Essentially, we’re given a realistic view of what it would be like to be Clementine in this harsh environment. Last season the developers got us to believe that Clementine was a real little girl that needed to be cared for. This season, even though this is just the first episode, they’ve made it possible to believe that we are Clementine!

    Being Clementine is a real treat, dramatically speaking, and a great reason to get back into The Walking Dead. Adding to that is the well written narrative. Though there aren’t many twists just yet, there is an overall mystery that needs to be solved. The new characters are interesting and their interactions are with one another seems genuine. Helping in this regard is the great work all of the voice actors are doing. Speaking of which, the talented Melissa Hutchison has reprised her role as the voice of Clementine. To put it bluntly, she deserves another award for season two and it’s just starting. Visually, everything looks just as good (if not better) as it always has. The musical score is also great. I especially liked the song that plays during the closing credits; its haunting melody helps capture the mood of the entire episode. My only complaint was that I didn’t notice any threads from season one or the 400 days DLC that were based on my choices. Take that with a grain of salt though; my impatience to see what happened to old characters is just…well, me being impatient. I’m sure Telltale will work in our save files in the coming episodes.

    Besides that minor complaint, I thoroughly enjoyed All That Remains. It literally starts with a bang and never lets up till the end. If you’re a fan of The Walking Dead, good adventure games, or a compelling story in any form then you’ll want to check this first episode out. Even if you haven’t played the first season, I’d still recommend the purchase. There is just too much of a good thing here to miss out on!

    Gameplay:

    10

    The gameplay complements the story. Hopefully, this will continue throughout the season.

    Graphics:

    10

    The game looks great. So far, I haven’t seen any glitches or the weird “eye moments” from before.

    Sound:

    10

    Melissa Hutchison steals the show again. The musical score is nice too!

    What's New:

    7

    There are tweaks to the mechanics here and there, but nothing totally “new” here outside of the setting and plot. Still, it has evolved since the last season.

    Replay Value:

    8

    The want to replay is hindered by the fact that your saves from the previous season come into play. Basically, most people will want to see their actions to the end before replaying an episode one even with the slightly different outcomes your choices make.

    Final Score:

    9

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