sabaidilae nyinditonhab ToriJ khong
vidiookem khidhen. Last year in August I reviewed Telltale's The Walking Dead and it was one of the best games I've
ever played. So I thought it was only natural that due to all the
strong female characters the sequel introduced, that I would dive
right in to Season Two.
The game kicks off right where the
last one left off, with Clementine finding Omid and Christa and the
three taking off to survive on their own. This time around we play as
Clementine, the deuteragonist of the last game. I know what you're
thinking, “How is playing as a little girl gonna work?” Well,
the game has a simple out for that. Time skipping to where she's a
teenager. So, naturally Omid and Christa are going to be with us for
the ride right? Right?
OMID!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Yeah, the
guy who was a main character in the last game, dies before the
opening title screen. But surely we'll still have Christa right?
Nope. You get separated and Clementine runs into a new group of
survivors. So despite all the buildup to finding Omid and Christa
they do jack all with them. Does the game want to focus on a new
group of survivors with Clementine at the helm? Nope! Because by
episode two Kenny who “Got lucky” shows up back from the dead
and overshadows all of the original characters that were introduced
in this game. I'm having a hard time understanding what direction
you're wanting to take this in, guys.
Now, don't
get me wrong I do like Kenny. I can understand why other people
wouldn't, but overall I like the guy. Hell, I know guys like Kenny
in real life, but it feels like the only reason he's back is because
he was so popular in the first game. He just shows that the
characters they have this time around, with the exception of a few,
just aren't as interesting as the cast from Season 1, which makes
you wonder why they bothered with killing off Omid and getting rid of
Christa in the first place.
Oh, I'm
sorry, was this your boyfriend? Hang on, just let me get this yanked
out of here and I'll be with you in a sec.
The Walking
Dead Season 2 plays largely the same as the first game, or any
Telltale game you play for that matter. The added difference this
time around is that there are action scenes where you need to keep a
finger close to the directional buttons. Unlike Beyond which
continued whether or not you screwed up, mess up here and you can
actually trigger a game over and even watch Clementine get eaten.
Wow, guys... Just wow. They throw you in the line of fire as soon as
the first episode and if you're not ready you'll just die, die, and
die some more. You can't hit the button too late, you can't hit it
too early, and if you don't press down on it enough you're dead.
Your
decisions are... still neatly veiled to where you think they matter
but really they don't. Although to the game's credit, depending on
whether you help Nick or Pete at the end of episode one you get a
completely different opening scene in the next episode. That was kind
of a nice change of pace. But then there were things that just made
me go “Why? Why did you even bother?” The best example to
explain what I'm talking about is in episode four where you have the
option to save Sarah from being eaten by walkers. Does it lead to
anything? No. She just dies by walkers later in the same episode. At
least Ben actually made it to the NEXT episode if you decide to save
him and got to stand up to Kenny providing some kind of closure for
his character before they killed him off. Here they may have not even
bothered to give you the option to save her the first time.
Put the gun
down, ya bastard!
The reason
I chose this game for March was because of its strong female cast, so
let's take a look. We of course have Clementine who goes from an
innocent kid to a hardened survivor who you could make a realist or
an optimistic depending on how you play her. A lot of people didn't
like this about Season 2, but I'm not sure what they were expecting.
If a child had to grow up in this world, that is exactly what would
happen. If they wanted to stay alive. It's just an unfortunate fact
of how the world is, and if it was their own gun that shot one of
their best friends, and the closest thing to family they had left
followed by losing a baby, I think they'd be a bit more hardened
than before themselves. From a story perspective it makes sense and
sets the tone for the season.
Another
character that stands out comes from the bonus Episode “400 Days”
from the first season, Bonnie. A recovered drug addict who you find
with Carver's group, the primary antagonist for the game. She gives
off a rather fragile vibe about her, but she's actually pretty damn
tough on the inside, and I think being able to get clean from drugs
is a testament to that. I think a lot of people would have more
reason to get high off their rocker if the world ended. I have to
wonder if she got popular after 400 Days, or the developers liked
her, because she's the only one from that episode to have any
relevancy to the story. The rest of the cast were just reduced to
cameos.
I'm gonna
feed him you.
Then
there's Jane. A woman who has been through hell and back and believes
the best way to survive is on your own. And given how well being in
large groups have done me, I can't blame her in all honesty. I mean,
have you seen the show? You get more crap from the drama of the
people you're surviving with or from another group of survivors
wanting to take your shit than anything else. I'm just waiting for
the walkers to eat everyone now. Except Daryl. Daryl can stay.
Now I see a
lot of people criticizing Jane because she's a lot like Molly from
Season 1, and while I can see where they're coming from, I disagree.
Molly was more laid back. She was always cracking wise and kicking
ass. Jane is a bit more reserved. Yeah, she had the occasional funny
moment and everything but her character was a lot more serious and a
product of the times. Afraid of getting close to anyone because it
may lead to losing them. Something I guess can be said about Molly
too, but frankly it can be said about anyone who survived in this
world long enough.
We see her
bonding with Clementine (honestly who wouldn't at this point?) and
she even takes her under her wing to help her improve her chances of
staying alive. I appreciate the help, Jane, but I think we got this.
Clem just survived ten episodes of The Walking Dead. A lot of people
can't say that. While I appreciate Jane's role as the survivalist,
they really make her character stupid by the end of it, but more on
that later.
I don't have too much to
say about Sarita or Sarah. I like Sarita, and it was sad to
see her die, but she felt like a substitute for Kat. Actually, I
think it's fair to say that's exactly what she was intended as and
it made Kenny fly off the handle when he lost her because it was like
losing Kat all over again. With Sarah, it was nice to see Clementine
interacting with someone closer to her age again especially after
Duck's death, but it never evolved to that same level of
relationship, depending of course on how you play. I like that they
tried to touch on the subject of someone with mental illness (if
that what they intended as it's never fully explained) but sadly that
didn't get across, and there's no payoff. When she dies it's like
“Okay, she's dead now. Next.” But not every death was like that.
There was one death that left us jumping for joy.
You're in my
personal space, mother fucker!
William
Carver. Or just Bill or Carver depending on your preference. I can't
remember the last time I wanted a villain to die so badly. I was
just counting the hours down to his demise, and boy was it ever
worth the wait. Though I dare say it came a little too soon. Because
after his death in episode three there wasn't much of a central
antagonist anymore. The most we got were some Russians and Kenny
going off the deep end. At least they knew to keep the Stranger
around until the finale last season.
Carver is the leader of
the group stationed at Howe's Hardware that made its first
appearance in the bonus episode 400 Days and where that group of
survivors can be found as guards. He's a deeply intelligent,
charismatic, and cunning individual who turns out to be completely
batshit insane by episode three. The game does a good job of making
you want to kill this asshole, and if I knew I could take the gun
from his office I would have so I could at least have the
satisfaction of shooting the son of a bitch. At the same time his
reasoning for doing some of the things he does, can be understood.
It all goes back down to that basic instinct, survival.
Carver takes it to the extreme and
that's what makes him dangerous. But at the same time, where are you
going to go? He has the food, he has medicine, he has shelter, and
weapons. I don't blame anyone in that group for at least trying to
make it work. The Cabin group took a risk leaving and I don't blame
anyone for their choices. It was a tough situation and people at the
end of the day did what they thought was right. And that what makes
these games so good. Now let's cover the bad parts of the game. I
think you have a good idea what's coming.
You're
a wizard, Harry!
Meet
Arvo. Arvo is a Russian you meet in episode four and have the option
to steal medicine from. Like all things Telltale it doesn't make a
difference if you choose to steal from him or not, the same thing
happens regardless. And how anyone in that group were able to survive
being shot at at such a close range is anyone's guess. The bullshit
continues when you're forced to kill his sister after she turns into
a walker. Does Arvo know this? No. Do you get the chance to explain
it to him? No. Because then there wouldn't be any conflict,
apparently. Come on, guys. If you really wanted to keep the conflict
there this was all you had to do:
Arvo:
Why
you kill my sister?
Clementine:
She
turned into a walker.
Arvo:
No,
no, no, no, no!
Clementine:
It's
the truth!
Just have him not believe her. It's still a stretch
I'll admit, but it's a lot better than what they gave us. Now, I'm
sure some people want me to comment on the whole Bonnie and Mike
betrayal late into episode five, and after some thinking it started
to make sense to me. The stuff they have at the house were
technically Arvo's, so he should have some say what they did with it,
and I don't believe Bonnie and Mike wanted to screw over Clem, Jane,
and Alvin Jr., they just wanted to get the hell away from Kenny
because Kenny was impossible to deal with, and I can't blame anyone
for having Clem call Kenny and Jane because again, they're still
fucking them over. It's a fucked up situation and I can understand
both sides of it. The real bullshit is when Arvo shoots Clementine
with a rifle and she shrugs it off like an action movie hero.
To provide some context here, in episode one we see
Clem practically torturing herself to close an open wound from a dog
bite and being in a lot of pain from it. She almost died from that
incident alone. Here we have a bullet from a rifle hitting her
shoulder and she just shrugs it off? I don't care if the bullet did
go all the way through, that would hurt. Her shoulder would be in
pain. But no. Nothing. We just go on our merry way like nothing ever
happened so we can make our final big decision.
Guys, guys, you're both pretty.
Near the end of the game you have to choose to shoot
Kenny or let him kill Jane. Oh, if you thought Luke was going to be
an important character later down the line because of all the buildup I'm
afraid they put him on ice.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Too soon?
This whole situation is just...
unnecessary. Long story short, Jane makes Kenny believes Arvo Jr. is
dead so she can show Clementine how dangerous he can be, and she at
least admits later on it was a stupid plan. And she's right, it was
stupid. Of course he's going to lose his mind if he think the baby
is dead. It's a baby! Anyone would lose their fucking mind! It's not
just yourself you're putting in danger. You're putting Clementine in
danger! Heaven forbid she got hurt or even killed during this fight
because you know Clementine didn't have any problem getting between
you two. Clementine said it best:
Clementine: My
friend is dead, you put Alvin Jr. in danger, just to prove a point?!
And...
Clementine:
You're fucking crazy!
But that's your
decision. Kill one friend or let another one die. Hell, you can even
let Jane die and shoot Kenny in cold blood. That's dark, game. At
the risk of bringing down the wrath of an entire fanbase on my head,
I'm afraid my decision came solely based on an old joke.
OH
MY GOD! I KILLED KENNY! YOU BASTARD!
Kenny:
You made the right choice,
Clem.
Okay,
just as long as you tell your fanbase that.
This
was by no stretch of the imagination an easy choice, but I couldn't
just sit back and do nothing. Believe me, I let Jane have it when I
found out the baby was alive, in case that wasn't obvious enough. In
the end I chose to go off on my own. Kenny was dead, and I certainly
didn't trust Jane anymore. Jane was the one who wanted Clementine to
have her own life free from others, and that's exactly what I gave
her. What are we gonna do? Where are we gonna go? How are we going
to take care of a baby? I have no idea. At least I don't have to
worry about anymore crazy people holding me down. Not until Season
3, anyway.
I
will never get used to that smell.
My
game ended with Clementine covering herself and Alvin Jr. in walkers
guts to get past a herd. I really hope he doesn't wake up and cry or
anything because that would be bad. You have five different endings
to choose from depending on your choices. One where you can return to
Howe's Hardware with Jane and either let new people in or send them
away. And the other is where you take off with Kenny to Wellington
and either part ways or stand by him. Each one is good and I have to
admit Clementine choosing to stand by Kenny's side with Alvin Jr. is
pretty heartwarming to watch. As much as I'd like to play as
Clementine again, I'm perfectly content with her story ending here.
Unless there's a way they can make each ending matter going into
Season 3, but given their track record that seems unlikely. I'd love
to be wrong.
So,
is TWD Season 2 as good as the first one? I have to say no. Is it
still a fun game to play? Yes. It has a lot of good ideas, and a lot
of wasted opportunities, but as far as that first playthrough goes,
as always it's fun and addicting as hell to play. I couldn't stop
playing it and the only thing that ruined my experience was a glitch
that caused my ENTIRE save data to be erased. Which happened to me
again while playing it for this review so once again when Season 3
comes out I'll have to play it over from the beginning just to have
my decisions carry over. Assuming it just doesn't do it a third
time! But despite all of that, if you like The Walking Dead,
Telltale, or point and click games, give it a try. I don't think
you'll be disappointed.
Get
it
No comments:
Post a Comment