Genre: Graphic Adventure
Year: 2014
Developed by: Telltale Games
Published by: Telltale Games
Platforms: PC, the rest of them
#77
Feeling Like: Take me back
You’re either a fan of Telltale or you’re not. I’m convinced there’s no in-between. You have to accept the absence of gameplay, or at least be content with dialogue choices and moving your mouse around a few times per hour. If you can’t tell already by the high placement of Walking Dead: Season Two, I am a fanatic of this style, yet recognize it’s not for everybody. Many of the games on the 500 I can recommend to just about anybody due to their accessibility, or revolutionary mechanics, or beautiful graphics. Walking Dead: Season Two has none of these, but it rides the coattails of one of my favorite experiences and I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Clementine yet.
This is a personal pick, to be sure. I’m confident if I went back and played it, I wouldn’t have nearly as good a time. When you know exactly what happens, this type of game doesn’t hold the same appeal. But the bleak tone, desperate characters and harrowing choices are just as unforgettable as they were in The Walking Dead.
Clementine has grown since the first season, but the remaining members of her original group are either dead or scattered. Naturally, she latches onto a new cohort with their own interpersonal challenges; trust is a luxury in this world, and when you think you can depend on somebody, they can reveal their true colors at the worst possible time. This is a challenge for a fella like me, who wants everybody to get along and survive as a team. Not possible in the world of Telltale’s Walking Dead – you’re going to disappoint some and hurt others in the name of survival.
Reuniting with Kenny from Season 1 is one of the game’s most heartfelt moments. At the 1:00 mark you can see all the emotions you need on Clementine and Kenny’s faces. When the prompt appears to [ HUG KENNY ], I mashed it so fast I didn’t even have a chance to register what the other options were. Then the theme hits and this is why I’m drawn to these types of games. I can’t find the emotional kick I get here in any other genre. The animation may be slightly stilted and they’re hardly realistic, but the style works well enough for the characters to get across what they’re feeling and thinking nearly every time. And the voice acting is stellar. I get chills watching this scene, though knowing what’s to come makes it all the more bittersweet.
Things go to south, quickly. Even something as innocuous as choosing which group to sit with at dinner will lead to the ominous warning that a character “will remember that.” Alliances are made and dissolved quickly and with the ever present threat of zombies around every corner, you can be sure the pacing remains strong throughout. Just because you’re a kid, doesn’t mean the adults won’t blame you, or put immense pressure on you to sway somebody’s opinion.
Just because it looks like a cartoon, doesn’t mean there aren’t some grizzly moments. Making a split-second decision in a moment of panic almost always ends in horror. When Sarita’s hand is bitten by a zombie, I made the quick choice to chop her arm off, with a sliver of hope that we could prevent the infection from spreading. Well, naturally, she lets out a blood curdling scream and that attracts the rest of the zombies onto her, killing her quickly.
It’s awful, but scintillating. Actions have consequences, and the developer wasn’t afraid to show some teeth. What good is a threat if it never follows through? It also justifies erratic behavior; you’re not able to be kind, or think as clearly when a monstrous horde of flesh-eating demons are at the gates. They never get tired, they never stop. So when a member of the group shows obvious weakness, or slows you down, how nice should you be?
Sarah is one of the more tragic figures in the series. She’s terrified and nervous, constantly. She isn’t capable of making her own decisions and latches onto her protective father. So much so that when he’s killed, she retreats into a catatonic state. It’s not hard to predict her ultimate fate, but the way she goes is absolutely brutal, one of the worse deaths in the series. She may have been a liability, but nobody deserves to get munched on while being trapped under collapsed rubble. Her pleas for help and cries of terror made me want to shut the volume off entirely.
Sarah’s demise reveals the stark contrast of how Lee prepared Clementine, versus how Carlos babied Sarah along. In the first Walking Dead, Clem is a child – fearful, curious and absorbs teachings like a sponge. Clementine wouldn’t have made it this far without proper guidance, and although Lee’s absence is harshly felt throughout Walking Dead: Season Two, we see that Clem has evolved and is more than capable to handle herself in a pinch, largely because of her beloved father figure.
Lee does make an appearance, however, and it’s the moment that stands out above all. Clementine is shot and goes unconscious. We are immediately plunked into past, in a powerful flashback where Clementine is speaking with Lee while they’re on the road. It’s what we’ve wanted the entire time, for Lee to be back and helping Clementine. Teaching her, protecting her. Protecting us. Dave Fennoy has one of the great voices in video game history. It’s deep, it’s soothing. It’s authoritative enough so we pay attention, but not strict enough that we cringe upon hearing it. This flashback wouldn’t have worked if Fennoy wasn’t in it. But he is, and it does.
Telltale may have only had a few tricks up their sleeve. Season Two relies heavily on the original, and they never got close to The Walking Dead‘s sales number again, eventually folding. Some players adamantly argued that the choices “don’t matter” because, in the end, the story beats are mostly the same. I was never in that camp – choices mattered to me, because in the moment my agency felt important and choosing to save one life or another meant something to me from a narrative standpoint. I enjoyed the path I took, regardless if there should have been ten additional routes. I haven’t even mentioned the soundtrack yet, which is an absolute banger. With somber tunes like “In the Water“, “Remember Me” and “In the Pines” played at the end of each episode, they punctuate an already highly charged experience with devastating reflection. The fact that apparently they don’t include these tunes in the Walking Dead collection seems insane to me.
It doesn’t have the novelty, or impact of the original, but Season Two is one of my all time favorite graphic adventures. The point and click style will turn some gamers completely off, and the Telltale formula may have worn out its welcome. But navigating Clem through hell while trying to retain her humanity will always remain one of my favorite stories told in gaming.
The 500 