Review

Developed by:Telltale Games Published by:Telltale Games Genre(s):
  • Adventure
  • Platform:
  • Handhelds
  • Microsoft
  • PC
  • Sony
  • Cost:$24.99 (For Full Season) ESRB Rating:MATURE Players:1 Release date:April 25, 2012 Reviewed on:PC Episode Released:June 29, 2012
    8.6

    The Walking Dead Episode 2: Starved for Help

    The Walking Dead franchise is steadily increasing in its popularity. Fans of the show flocked to San Diego’s Comic-Con just to get a brief look at season three. Activision recently announced that they too were making a Walking Dead title, scheduled to release next year. With so much “zombie” news floating around the web, it’s no wonder that Telltale’s Dead series is doing so well!

    For those of you who haven’t played episode 1 (shame on you), this series is based on the comic book and not the AMC TV show. Gamers will take on the role of Lee Everett, a man who was convicted murderer currently on his way to jail but freed by zombie intervention. Episode 2 follows the story of Lee, Clementine (a little girl he is taking care of) and the rest of the cast that survived episode 1.

    Episode 2 picks up a few months after the first one. The gang has been holding up in their makeshift fort of a motel, complete with a lookout on top of an RV. The game opens up with Lee and Mark (a new character) walking through the woods looking for food; the zombie epidemic makes it hard to shop for groceries. It isn’t long before they hear screams of another survivor. Lee and Mark head towards the sounds of pain to find a couple of high school students, one of which has been caught in a bear trap. Mark tries to free the boy but soon learns that the trap has been modified and can’t be opened. Lee, looking for a way to break the chain, notices that they weren’t the only ones to hear the kid’s screams. Walkers are fast approaching, giving Lee only a brief moment to figure out what to do. Just a few minutes into the game and I’m faced with tough choices. Awesome!

    “Starved for Help,” episode 2, is the first time we get to see Telltale’s new inclusive story mechanic. Similar to the Mass Effect series, choices made in early episodes will have long lasting effects over the rest of the series. There is even a cool, TV show like episode recap that showcases what you did previously. While it is definitely a good mechanic that works most of the time, unfortunately it’s a good mechanic…that works most of the time. Nearly all of my previous choices are realized in this episode; the people I saved are still alive, conversations I had in the past are referenced, and certain loyalties are still present…somewhat. There was one part in the last game where two groups of people got into an altercation. I specifically aligned my actions so that Lee would befriend one side of the conflict and not the other. During this episode, a character from my favored group was angry at me. They felt that I had betrayed them during that past event. Which throw me for a loop; I distinctly remembered siding with him/her. Adding insult to injury, the group that I chose not to side with still hated me; they clearly remembered what happen.

    To be honest, this didn’t hurt my gameplay experience that much. As I stated before, most of my actions have been passed along to this episode. This made the majority of my conversations more interesting because I’d had established a relationship with each of the characters. Telltale made sure to write a realistic script. The only other low point to the character interaction came from them remembering too well one second but not so well the next. One second Lee would be having a peaceful chat and then he’ll hit on a nerve that makes the person he’s talking to really angry. Then, a few dialog trees later, it would be as if that never happened. The characters would respond a certain way regardless of what was just said earlier in the chat. I guess this is something that couldn’t be avoided. The game gives you different options when it comes to talking, all of which can be picked at any given time during the conversation. So, this problem really only happened when Lee was allowed to talk about multiple things in one conversation.

    Outside of the original cast, Lee will run into new characters. Crazed women, bandits, an odd family, you name it The Walking Dead has it. Not to give too much away, gamers have some tough choices to make in this episode. Knowing that your choices will ultimately affect everyone makes the decision making process even more gut wrenching. There is even one instance involving a choice that was made concerning Clementine that had me just plain scared. Now One could argue that anything dealing with Clementine would result in a strong emotional response from me being that I have a daughter but I would reply that it is really because Telltale has done such a good job making you care about what happens to Lee’s group of survivors. Even though there are people I couldn’t stand, I didn’t necessarily want them to die. Of course, that’s just the way I’m playing Lee. Things could be different for “your” group, which is the beauty of this game!

    Starved for Help is a good episode. Not perfect, but good. It’s like the second episode of the first season of the show, doesn’t quite capture the magic of its predecessor but a decent follow up none the less. That said, most of the things that made the first episode great are present. Voice work, graphics, action segments, all of these things are just as awesome as before. I’m eager to see where the series goes. Especially, seeing as how the game has come from a broad start but is slowly narrowing down to a 100% unique experience based on previous choices. There’s no telling what shape Lee’s group will be in during the final episode. Here’s hoping the series stays great till then!

    Gameplay:

    8

    Episode 2 continues Lee’s story. Although a little tarnished, it’s still worth your time!

    Graphics:

    10

    I love the way it looks. Telltale even fixed some of the creepy eye rolling seen in the past episode.

    Sound:

    10

    The voice acting and sound effects were great!

    What's New:

    6

    Not as new as the first game. The rolling story mechanic is cool…when it works.

    Replay Value:

    9

    With multiple choices that really affect everyone involved, it would be hard not to want to go back and see what happens!

    Final Score:

    8.6

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