The Walking Dead: Season 3 (A New Frontier)/ Episode 4 “Thicker Than Water” – Overview/ Review (with Spoilers)

As usual, things are often life or death and largely you are not in control. But if you have been playing the games thus far, you’re used to that by now, right?

Play Through Time

1 Hour and 28 Minutes

Storyline

We’re still in Richmond and trying to figure out a way to get out, everyone. But happy endings don’t exist in the Walking Dead universe. Someone always has to be sacrificed, you are always given ultimatums and no matter how much you prepare, someone has to stay behind. Someone has to become the person who allowed for the great escape.

Which is perhaps the whole theme of the episode: Loyalty. Though, isn’t that the theme of the whole series? Who will you remain loyal to in life or death situations? Which person are you willing to do something potentially screwed up for? Are you willing to kill Dr. Langard so Clementine may know what happened to AJ? When it comes to David, how far are you willing to go to protect his name and maybe find a way for him to survive? Will you sacrifice your friends? Your family? All for the sake of a brother who loves you solely due to blood, not necessarily because he likes you as a person?

Those are the decisions you have to make and let me tell you, by the time the episode ends, I hope these past seasons have built up your tolerance for loss. For otherwise, you’ll be ready to throw your keyboard or controller.

Commentary

Rather than do the usual highlights, criticism and on the fence thing, let’s treat this like any other episodic feature? So, let’s begin with the issue this game has had since the first season ended which of course is the lack of exploration. It’s still there, it still weakens the product, but it did seem the game gave us one moment that made us looking at this, opening that, meaning something. Even if it was just pads for Clementine, who just got her period. For, I gotta admit, I pretty much use Javier as a reincarnated Lee and am more than willing to sacrifice everyone, but Kate, to keep her alive.

Well, I could have killed Dr. Langard so she could have learned where AJ is, but I feel like he could become of use. It isn’t clear what kept AJ alive, be it the medicine, David raising him, or what? So, with there being some kind of hope that he is alive in the final episode, I was every advantage I could have. Especially since, the way things look right now, Clementine and Gabe are the only guarantees in my playthrough. Everyone else either died or I have no idea what their status are. And while I’m kind of willing to let Gabe die, cause he causing so much BS for me, at the same time he presents normalcy. Not for Javier, for again he is just the medium to protect Clementine. What normalcy Gabe presents that I care about is Clementine being around someone her age and getting to experience being a teenager.

You see, in the episode, we flash back and see Kenny and with him talking about how much of a mother she was to AJ and how beyond her years she is, it sort of hurt in a way. I mean, Clementine would have made it even if she wasn’t toughened up in season 1, but as Lee, I pushed her right out of childhood and into adulthood. I had her learn how to use a gun, forced her to push down her fears and tears and hardened her a bit. So to see her become soft with another individual, not necessarily for the sake of survival but because she feels something for them beyond that, I want to protect it, you know? Protect one of the few shots at normalcy the girl may ever have. Even if they may turn out shortlived.

But overall, I feel like TellTale needs to revamp their style. The art style is fine but either they need to really make it more interactive and open up the world more. Being often trapped to a room to explore sucks. Especially when the opportunity to move around is just to find one item while the rest are useless. I wish they would allow us to pick up junk which slows us down or won’t be useful until maybe two episodes, or another season. Maybe have puzzles and other things to make it not feel like I’m playing a constant game of this or that. Of which, usually when you are making a decision, it feels like the only ones which matter are when it is time to kill someone. Otherwise, things noted are just a ruse to make you think they matter when in truth, all they may really do is change one line of dialog.