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 Episode Release Date:March 4, 2014
    9.5

    The Walking Dead: Season Two Episode 2: A House Divided

    There’s no point in beating around the bush with this review. “A House Divided” is one of the best episodes Telltale has ever created. Period! Of course, one declarative statement wouldn’t convince those looking for an informative review. Don’t worry; I’m going to elaborate. I just needed to state this   beforehand.

    Like I said in my last review, what really stands out this season is the fact that the player is controlling Clementine this time around. Playing as a little girl introduces an interesting dynamic; there is the need to protect her and at the same time, there’s her personality. She thinks like a child. Having to wrap your head around that fact when the opportunity arises to make an important decision can be difficult, especially when the choices given are based on what a kid would think is right or wrong. That was the major dilemma I faced during this season’s first episode. With A House Divided though, that struggle between me and Clementine’s control over “our” actions reached a new height – one that I didn’t expect to reach this early in the season.

    Think of a child that witnesses their parents arguing. Now, picture one of the parents holding a knife while the other parent is  just a few feet away from the child who now has a gun. The parent without the knife yells to their child to give them the gun as the knife-bearing parent poises  to attack. What should the kid do? As an adult, I could come up with a few scenarios but because a kid is making the final choice, none of these scenarios seem logical. You know…in a “no one has to die” type of way. Nothing about this situation is fair and that’s the point I’m trying to make. Sure, this isn’t anything new to the series in and of itself. However, the way in which things are handled in this particular episode is. The most carefree conversations seem to have dire consequences and direct actions sometimes result in an immediate loss of life. Moreover, there were times at which I felt that Clem was overzealous – I’d pick the option of just looking at someone and she’d insult them. It can get rather intense knowing that Clem’s actions will have a lasting effect on everyone and that you don’t have 100% control over her.

    Part of the intensity comes from the presence of a shady character. This stranger randomly visits Clementine while the other members of her group are away. When the rest of the group learns of this visitor, they believe him to be the leader of a rival group; a character mentioned in hushed conversations back in episode one. Afraid of what he might do if he ran into them, they decide to head north in hopes of finding another safe place. Their journey isn’t an easy one as mistakes are made and tempers flare. During this time a lot of weight is placed on the player’s shoulders. They’ll have to deal with accusing stares, decide who to trust, and deal with shaky relationships, all while fending off zombies. If these circumstances weren’t strenuous enough, Telltale makes it  worse by doing a great job of putting Clem in the middle of bad situations.

    There is just so much going on in this episode, it’s hard to talk about it without spoiling the plot. One thing I can say is that we finally get to see remnants of the first season, including a character from the 400 Days DLC. The events involving them in this episode mildly reflect the decisions that were made prior to this season; many of the references to the past were so subtle that most people would miss them on the first playthrough. This isn’t a bad thing. More like an “oh yeah I remember that” type of thing. There were some big nods to the past as well (hint: the conversations with key characters will change depending on past actions). All and all, it was great to reunite with the older cast and know that you had an impact on their current state.

    My only issues were that Clementine was given too much power and the bad shooting mechanics from season one made a return. As the story continues, the group will place their trust in Clementine so much so that they often disregarded the advice of the other adults. Adults they’ve known for years. Though it makes for an interesting story, at times it’s unbelievable for a child to have such pull in the group especially since this wasn’t the case an episode ago. As far as the bad shooting goes…well, it’s just that. There were times when I shot a zombie in the chin and they died (the game recognized it as a headshot). Other times I would shoot them right between the eyes, multiple times and they would keep coming. Saying that these are minor issues would be an understatement when compared to the rest of the episode. That said, I hope these types of things will be improved upon in the next episodes as they distract from an otherwise awesome experience. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next episode. So far Telltale has outdone themselves. Things can only get better from here on out!

    *We scored this review slightly different than the previous episodes due to the recent changes in how we review games. This doesn’t hurt the game (score wise). That said, we wanted to explain why there are only four categories instead of five.

    Gameplay:

    10

    The gameplay sill complements the story. The lame shooting could use some work though.

    Graphics:

    10

    Everything looks great as usual.

    Sound:

    10

    Awesome voice work from the entire cast.

    Replay Value:

    8

    On one hand, I can see lot of people replaying this episode using different save slots; there are just so many possible threads. One the other hand, just like before, your story is tied to your previous season. Most will want to see their story through to the end before starting over.

    Final Score:

    9.5

    © United Front Gaming. All rights reserved. Site design by: 801red