Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.
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Overview
The Walking Dead returns with Clementine as lead, with a whole new adventure.
Review (with Spoilers)
- Story
The story for episode 1 “All That Remains” seems to begin not too long after the last season, and then it just 16 months ahead after an incident happens. From there, the ties to the last season are severed and though Clementine will give you opportunities to speak on her memories, largely you are forging ahead. However, unlike last season, there seems to be more drama when it comes to the group you involve yourself in. Between a uncle who seemingly is the father figure to his nephew; a woman who may have cheated on her boyfriend/ husband, though we aren’t sure if this was willingly or not; and a father trying to do the exact opposite Lee did for Clementine, we are given quite the foundation for things to happen.
- Controls
When it comes to controls, The Walking Dead does adapt some of The Wolf Among Us, and yet still has the occasional issue. The reason is, unlike The Wolf Among Us, there are more scenes which deal with only giving you a few seconds and, like last season, there are times when in those few seconds you don’t easily find yourself being able to defend yourself and dying because of it.
Outside of that, the controls, on PC, feel largely responsive and I didn’t have any major issues outside of trying to use the mouse to do stitches, and during one walker fight.
- Combat Difficulty & AI
As noted in the Controls section, the difficulty of AI mostly comes from either lack of dexterity or however you control Clementine. As for the actual combat, you don’t get the same level of combat The Wolf Among Us had like when you were fighting The Woodman. Remember, you are fighting as Clementine so largely you are fighting at a disadvantage and are more so looking to grab something and try to get an advantage than looking like Buffy the Walker Slayer.
- Graphics & Presentation
From the first season to this season you can definitely see many graphical upgrades, though the series remains more focused on telling a story than giving us the type of graphics which will leave you in awe. However, even as I say this, they have created more depth in environments, of which mostly are woods, and this detail should be noted.
But, while depth has been added to the environment, naturally, there are invisible walls which keep you from really exploring the areas. In fact, I would say that while the story remains this sort of delta, the areas have become a bit more linear. This isn’t as much exploring, at least in this episode, and in a way I think it is for the best.
- Miscellaneous
When it comes to some of the decisions, I must say that sometimes it feels like the game is sort of setting you up to fail, like in the beginning of the game when you go into the bathroom and leave your gun on the sink. Because of this, the game feels like it steers you a bit more than the first season and, just a tad, makes you feel less in control. However, it is nowhere near the level of Beyond: Two Souls. You do feel the story and decisions you make will have long term consequences, it is just it feels like they, on occasion, don’t give us the option to avoid some situations.
- Multiplayer (N/A)
- Praise
When it comes to praise, the biggest thing worth noting is the fact it feels like the ideal sequel. We have a familiar face we have grown attach to, and it doesn’t feel like a rehash of the original. Changing the perspective to Clementine gives us this ability to see the world through the eyes of a child and not the usual masculine figure. With this comes a sense of real vulnerability and helplessness, yet some type of hope because life is only starting to become a burden for you don’t have full responsibilities yet.
- Criticism
But, as noted in the miscellaneous section, I do feel that because she is a child, and we are given the decisions a child would make, it does create frustrations while playing. Be it not grabbing her gun while hiding, not re-securing an area she was in, and a few other matters, this can become a bit aggravating. On top of that, being that these episodes aren’t long, you are left with a lot of questions about what has happened since episode 5 of the last season, and aren’t given much, if any, answers sadly.
- Overall – Buy
After being forced to replay season 1 because my save didn’t show up/ import, I can say without any second thought that this episode will please fans of season 1. Though this episode is more for setting up the foundation of the future than clearing up things that happened in the past, the future it presents makes me think that TellTale Games will likely be the early THQ. The reason I say that is, THQ used to make so many licensed games, which honestly were bad, but the style TellTale uses truly sort of brings not just the approachable aspect, but also something which feels well rooted in the original content’s universe. I will say, though, if the option were available, I would say to rent this rather than buying it, despite it being $25. After all, each episode is only a few hours long, and unless you want to know what each decision would do, I’m not sure why you would play an individual episode more than once, at least until the season is over and you can know what those decisions will lead to.
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