Yes, perhaps the big surprise of Season 2 is that the main player character this time around is Clementine. Spoilers for the last season in three… two… one… now then, after the death of Lee Everett at the end of the last episode Clementine has had to look after herself. From this point onwards it depends on how you finished The Walking Dead since your saved files can be picked up and carried over. My Lee told Clem to find Omid and Christa, who were still alive and seemed a nice couple. She did, but I don’t suppose it’ll be much of a spoiler to say she gets separated from them again and thrown into the big zombie-filled world on her own, followed by a tense meeting with a new group. Oh, and a cut to a whopping 16 months later.
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| Mmm, rat! |
The story is the main appeal of The Walking Dead and, to be honest, All That Remains is rather explicitly a “setting up” episode. There are a few surprises that tear nice things away from you in the saddest way possible just when you were beginning to think this zombie apocalypse might not be all bad, but overall nothing much happens that couldn’t be either predicted or written off as setup for future episodes. The first episode of the last season did a much better job without compromising the story, whereas All That Remains is just a bit too obvious. That said, those surprises made the whole thing work and pushed the otherwise predictable encounters to interesting places... including one bit that equalled “Lee sawing his arm off” in the nearly-making-me-pass-out stakes.
A forgivable error for a first episode, but perhaps less forgivable is how few choice/consequence moments appear. In the absence of any really complicated gameplay or challenge the way The Walking Dead brilliantly adapted to your choices is what got it the awards (along with the great story), but in All That Remains the choices are either really subtle or not that big a deal. There’s a straight binary choice at the end that will undoubtedly prove interesting, but beyond that it’s mostly dialogue options. The ‘My Choices’ page on the main menu looks decidedly bare-bones by the end of the episode.
So where does that leave All That Remains? It leaves it as an interactive comic book, a visual graphic novel, a clickable TV show episode. Yes there are also still the dramatic action moments full of QTEs, which at least have been thoroughly improved. Button prompts are clearer, basically straightforward and are just meant to amp up the tension. I admit I didn’t deliberately lose any to see if it was possible for Clementine to get torn apart by zombies, but Telltale allowed a young girl to get eaten by a T-Rex in Jurassic Park so I’m sure these QTEs can be failed. As expected the “adventure game” puzzle sections are gone too, and although you still get to wander searching for supplies it’s just a matter of exploring and clicking on things until a cutscene plays. The trouble is that these moments aren’t the reason people like The Walking Dead: it’s the story and seeing how it branches with the choices you make, and in Episode 1 both are a little lacking.
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| I’m sorry, I’m really sorry |
It’s the characters where the story is strongest of course. I’m not going to say about Christa and Omid, but most of the new characters in the group you discover seem interesting. Telltale already start to hint at hidden depths to these characters, and even the nicer ones can turn nasty (and vice versa). Sarah’s probably the stand-out, the young daughter of the group’s doctor Carlos, as she’s sweet, naïve, and takes to Clementine immediately if you let her. Knowing the way The Walking Dead goes she’s clearly zombie bait, so I’m preparing to be devastated already. And then there’s Clementine of course, who’s a little older, a bit more capable, and (depending on how you play her) not willing to take s**t from anybody. I like her a lot, and she’s already proving her leading lady capability – special props go to returning voice actor Melissa Hutchison for making her really sound like a young girl who’s gone through hell, and she definitely sounds a year or so older now too. She’s the same voice actor who played Stinky in Telltale’s Sam & Max series, fact-fans!
There’s not much to say about All That Remains on the graphical side as it unsurprisingly doesn’t seem massively improved from Season 1, although the comic book style is still lovely to look at. Telltale certainly are skilled at creating a sense of place, from abandoned campgrounds to the house at the end which you can explore almost in full, and their stylised woodlands are looking particularly nice. I believe they’ve improved character faces too, smoothing off the edges, adding a lot more detail and expressions, and the results certainly show.
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| Clementine goes all Splinter Cell |
However, I do have to report that I found a few little bugs and unpolished bits that makes me think Telltale rushed this a little to get it out before Christmas. Nothing really major in terms of glitches, apart from one moment after I fought off a walker where the mouse pointer disappeared and I couldn’t select anything, so had to exit the game and reload my last save. After that the most annoying thing was trying to click an icon – one option is fine, but if there’s two options the game didn’t want to accept either for several frantic clicks. Oh, and in one bit by a campfire the camera actually obscured one of the options. Then there are a few storytelling annoyances, like new guy Pete, who says he believed my story (I did tell him the truth) then when the group discussed Clementine he didn’t back me up!
It was perhaps too much to ask of Telltale that they blow our minds in the very first episode, but I still feel a little let-down with how “setty-uppy” All That Remains felt, with a mostly predictable storyline and few really significant or interesting choices to make. It’s also short of course, taking me a straight 98 minutes to finish. Nevertheless there were surprises, plenty of tragic moments and at least one section that nearly made me pass out, so overall I consider this first episode of The Walking Dead’s second season a success. Now that the setting up is done however I demand nothing less than excellence from the next episode, A House Divided. No pressure, guys.
Something that’s not a spoiler? Clementine looking at a picture of a duck. “Duck,” she mutters sadly. Sniff.
THE WALKING DEAD SEASON 2 - EPISODE 1 VERDICT
It was perhaps too much to ask of Telltale that they blow our minds in the very first episode, but I still feel a little let-down with how “setty-uppy” All That Remains felt, with a mostly predictable storyline and few really significant or interesting choices to make. It’s also short of course, taking me a straight 98 minutes to finish. Nevertheless there were surprises, plenty of tragic moments and at least one section that nearly made me pass out, so overall I consider this first episode of The Walking Dead’s second season a success. Now that the setting up is done however I demand nothing less than excellence from the next episode, A House Divided. No pressure, guys.
TOP GAME MOMENT
Something that’s not a spoiler? Clementine looking at a picture of a duck. “Duck,” she mutters sadly. Sniff.
