Hi I'm Clementine, and welcome to Jackass..
Callum Munro
(I try my hardest not to spoil any major parts of the plot)
My reviews are split into 4 sections that are rated out of 10, CONCEPT (The aim/idea/plot of the game), VISUALS (What the game looks like), GAMEPLAY (How the game plays and how fun it is), SOUND (The sound, funnily enough) and then given a final score out of 10.0 .
Hello everybody and welcome to my review of the first episode of Telltale's second season to the Walking Dead.
(This was played on PC)
Concept/Story
The intro to this game seems to take place very soon after the events of the 1st season. Clementine looks the same age and she is with Omid and a heavily pregnant Christa.
That is as far as i will go with revealing what happens in the story, as I dont want to ruin any thing that happens.
Disappointingly, the story I saw when playing this, was not in any way different due to my choices I made from season 1, or not that i could see. Clementine as you would expect is very troubled and lonely without lee watching over her, this is straight away apparent in Clem's emotions and in the way she does things.
The intro (Before the walking dead logo comes up) is short, but explosive. It goes from normal to completely effed up in a matter of seconds, and then cuts out and advances 16 months.
After the 16 months Clem looks slightly older and acts much more mature. This is interesting because it allows you to shape how Clem is going to react to people, basically meaning you have control over how Clem is going to grow up after all the things she has gone through.
The best thing about the story of this episode is that it is entirely exciting and very dark.
Clem is thrown into all these awful situations which happen frequently through the episode.
This helps show the player that Clem is truly alone and how she has had to adapt to the world she now lives in, it also means that there are some extremely tempting evil things for Clem to say to people which again shows what she has become mentally.
The story in the first episode is great, you meet some very interesting and likeable characters and there is a lot of dark action to showcase the new mature side to Clementine that is remarkably believable.
It creates an emotional bond from the start and manages to stay consistently gripping throughout, falling short because of the choices you made from the first series don't seem to effect Clementine as a person.
Concept/Story - 9/10
Visuals
The visuals in this episode are slightly better than the first season, but not by a huge amount. telltale are obviously sticking with the comic approach and it is as effective as ever.
Jittery bugs and weird facial expressions are much improved from the first season, but they are still there unfortunately.
Environments and the walkers look fittingly spooky and help with the great atmosphere of the game, along with the tons of cartoon blood that helps with the dark and violent side of the game.
The visuals are good and stylish as you would expect, however there is still the odd facial expression that looks very strange, or a jittery bug when the game is trying to realize what your choice is going to do.
they are a definite improvement from the first season, but are nothing special.
Visuals - 7/10
Gameplay
Gameplay
Thankfully this episode is full of walkers and people who want to hurt you which means there are plenty of fast paced QTE's to keep you busy.
The QTE's in this are so much better in every way than the ones in season one. It has definitely taken a leaf form the Wolf Among Us's book, by having QTE cinematics that last long and flow smoothly.
In this respect the gameplay is very smooth, the buttons you need to press in the QTE's are very responsive and perfectly positioned and the scene plays out very well depending on how well you do.
Also the freeze between scenes that were awfully noticeable in the first season are pretty much gone completely. Which is lovely.
Unfortunately I cannot say the same throughout.
Interacting with an object is slightly awkward, due to the fact that you now do not scroll between looking and using, but instead hover the cursor over which one you want to do. The reason this doesn't work very well is because the cursor normally finds it quite hard to actually find its mark on the particular option, and it left me a couple of times sitting their trying to click on a bloody eye, just for Clem to look at it and not do anything.
The gameplay in the second season is much more polished than the first. Gone are the freezing bugs that jogged your gameplay every now and then when QTE's were happening and thanks to an exciting storyline there are plenty of opportunities for the polished QTE's to make an appearance.
Unfortunately the controls are slightly awkward, and interacting with an object is a bit of a pain, but it is easily forgotten.
Gameplay 9/10
Audio
Audio
So far Season 2 has shown some excellent voice acting from Clementine and the new characters that you come across in the episode, it makes them feel much more believable and allows you to become immersed into their reactions and emotions easier.
Music also fits in perfectly to the scenes in which it is played in, adding to the atmosphere, and also with a great track played in the credits to end the episode nicely.
Unfortunately in some places the audio isnt completely in sync with the gameplay, but its very infrequent and a minor technical hiccup.
The sound in this game is only slightly flawed and outweighed with emotional and believable voice acting and music.
Audio - 9/10
The first episode of the second series is gripping, dark and emotional. It has you witnessing awful things that happen to Clementine and seeing her having to make choices that are unthinkable for a girl her age.
This allows you to make some interestingly nasty dialogue choices and shape Clementine's future to how you want it.
Unfortunately season 1 choices dont seem to have made a difference quite yet and there are some slight technical issues in the gameplay and visuals which let it down a bit, but overall All That Remains is a brilliant start to what seems a very promising season with a massively strong lead character.
See, dads are smart like that. - Lee Everett (Walking Dead: Season 1)
