The Walking Dead Season 2 (PC) Review

The original Walking Dead game (the Telltale series, not the crappy Survival Instinct) was a shockwave that no one saw coming in 2012; it’s emotional and gripping story was proof that computer games were more than capable of standing alongside films and literature in terms of detailed narratives. One year on and the developer is now continuing this story with Season 2, another great tale that should be experienced by everyone.

The Walking Dead Season 2, as its name implies picks up where the last season left off; Clementine, the young girl you had to protect in the original game is forced to fend for herself in a ruined world; she eventually meets a new group of individuals (who I won’t spoil here) and they embark on a new journey wrought with danger, loss and difficulty. How will Clementine make it through this new struggle? Well that’s up to the player; just like in the previous games, what makes Telltale’s story that much more engaging is that you can influence it; certain characters can live or die and for season 2, decisions are imported from season 1 and the developer has included multiple endings, providing more incentive for you to go back and play it again. The episodes themselves are all well-paced, with each featuring their own environments and set-piece moments. The characters introduced in the new season are just as well rounded and interesting as those in the original and there are a few surprises in store for those who played the first game. The story’s crowning achievement though is that as you go along, you’ll care about Clementine just as much as you did with Lee in the first season which a rare thing indeed, considering how the viewpoint has shifted between the two seasons.

Across five episodes, The Walking Dead maintains the design of the original; you’ll move from chapter to chapter, interacting with the environment from time and time and of course, get into all kinds of intense scenes. The short interludes between each episode are again very effective in building anticipation for what will happen next. When you first start the game, you’ll have the option of choosing a save file from season 1 to bring into the sequel and while it doesn’t really change the overall direction of the story, you’ll still notice subtle differences on separate playthroughs, particularly in the way certain characters react to Clementine. You can expect to spend another twelve hours across the five episodes on your first time through and even more if you want to go for the alternate routes towards the end credits, making season 2 just as long-lasting as its predecessor.

Aside from a few small additions, the gameplay in The Walking Dead Season 2 is both basic, yet accessible, relying on quick time events and slower paced exploration controls to engage the player. One of the major additions this time is click and hold which comes into play in certain actions like lighting matches. It’s a light touch, but it does make sense in the context of what you’re doing. Aside from this, the game’s controls remain predominately the same; exploring environments still merely requires you to simply find the correct items in the correct order to proceed or heading to certain rooms to trigger the next story sequence. Major decisions are handed out to you in larger quantities this time around and they seem to give you less time to make choices, which does succeed in ratcheting up the tension of the episodes. The gameplay in Walking Dead Season 2 is a formula which works for the genre; if you were fine with it before, you’ll be able to jump right in and enjoy the game.

Keeping the same cell-shaded art style that made the original so absorbing; The Walking Dead Season 2 is another title that really can fit seamlessly into the world created by Robert Kirkman. Despite the art style veering away from realism, the character animations, particularly on their faces have not faltered one bit from one season to the next, meaning that the characters never stop being  wholly believable. There’s also a wide variety of music that has been brought in, which compliments the game’s dark atmosphere beautifully; “Remember Me” by Anadel was one of my favourites amongst others that are sure to pull at your heartstrings. The game appears to run much better than the first as well, with much less jitters and pauses on screen. The only real knock on the game’s presentation is an irritating white screen crash which happened a few times during play and did pull me out of the experience a little bit. Still, the game’s unique art style and brilliant voice acting do rescue the overall package, ensuring that the game remains a deeply immersive undertaking.

Niggling flaws hold it back a little, but The Walking Dead Season 2 is nonetheless another strong and emotional journey from Telltale that will once again invite you to care about its characters and the bleak world they inhabit. There really isn’t any reason not to try it out, especially for those who played (and cried) through the original game.

Rating: 8.5/10