In addition to the usual reviews and comments you would find on a horror movie blog, this is also a document of the wonderfully vast horror movie section of the video store I worked at in my youth.

Monday, February 3, 2014

Hasn't She Been Through Enough?!

The second season of The Walking Dead Game crept up on me after the holidays, but I was finally able to dig into it last weekend. It's usually a time issue when it takes me a while to get to something, but, in this case, it was more about gussying up the courage to re-enter this universe.


Picking up where the first season left off, Clementine, having been reunited with Krista & Omid, continue their struggle for survival in the zombie apocalypse.

As I would imagine most people who made it through the first season would agree, this game is emotionally taxing. I made no bones about proclaiming this before, but the fact that a video game was able to reach a level of affectedness that the show - and even the comic – have not, is a testament to Telltale Games and their great cast of voice actors.

So, I made it through the first episode – entitled All That Remains – and it sure didn't miss a beat. Almost immediately, Clementine's world went from bad to worse and played out like some sort of Grimm fairy tale. This episode threw out at least four really perilous situations – one of which that really blindsided me – the last one being so cringe worthy that it eclipsed even Lara Croft's gut wound from the last Tomb Raider and Isaac Clarke's laser eye procedure in Dead Space 2. The stuff Clementine is subjected to in just the first stanza of this new arc would've been comical, if it wasn't so disquieting.

That dog. That. Fucking. Dog.

It doesn't look like any improvements have been made to the game play mechanics, as they still remained limited and clunky, but as before, that's a moot point. This is a game about story, character and keeping people out of harm's way. After talking to several other people about their experiences with this game, I am now even more aware of the game's illusion of choice, but am still not deterred. The fact remains is that this game is stressful as fuck because one wrong move means I have to watch a ten-year-old girl get torn to pieces. Not a party.

Post world problems.

I guess the only thing that is missing from this new season is the wonderful dynamic between Lee and Clementine. While it is true she meets several characters in All That Remains that could step into that role, those shoes will be hard ones to fill. Especially since they're all kind of dicks.

Telltale seems to be on the right track still with this venture and avoiding the sophomore jinx. I don't know when the second part is scheduled to release, but hey, feel free to take your time. I already need a break.

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