The Walking Dead: Season Two (PlayStation 4) Review

By Robert Blowes 18.12.2014

Review for The Walking Dead: Season Two on PlayStation 4

Media history is littered with examples of a blockbuster first entry to a series running away with all the critical acclaim and awards that are available to it. Telltale's The Walking Dead: Season One was almost perfection personified in terms of telling an emotional, impactful story with a strong cast, voiced perfectly by a masterfully directed voice talent. Season Two then, has a lot to live up for, but Telltale delivers, and then some!

The Walking Dead doesn't reinvent the wheel in terms of game mechanics; it's a simple point and click adventure married with strong elements of visual novel storytelling. The first game felt clunky in parts but relied very much on the offering of player choices and decisions that tailored the storyline in such a way that it stabbed at the coldest, most unfeeling hearts out there.

Season Two demonstrates the developer's improvement over the original launch title - things are more streamlined now, less prone to glitches and bugs, and, as a result, it feels smoother and meatier than its predecessor. It isn't flawless, but it comes very close.

Clear and obvious design decisions have been made here, and Telltale has recognised the obvious matter that the story and script writers are phenomenal talents, so the game has been directed with a clear and stronger focus on the storyline. Where Season One allowed a lot of freedom in terms of moving about, solving some puzzles, doing a lot of action sequences, and so on, Season Two cuts it down considerably, instead pushing the story along at a rapid pace, preventing the player from ambling about, examining everything, and working out what to do next.

Normally this limitation of freedom would be a bad thing, but here it works perfectly and can be justified somewhat. Season One starred Lee Everett, a 30-odd-year-old man who had the strength, the charisma, and the ability to affect things, to wander about a bit, so to speak. Season Two stars Clementine, Lee's moral compass in the first season. At only 10 years of age, she has to rely on her wits, small size and agility to survive instead. As such, there's less opportunity for her to wander around as Lee did, although there's still a lot of action sequences, incorporating movement and targetable body parts during combat in some situations. On top of that, a young girl of her age is often underestimated, looked-down upon or taken advantage of, so it is understandably much more difficult to be the persuasive force that her mentor figure was.

Screenshot for The Walking Dead: Season Two on PlayStation 4

That said Clementine is a voice of reason (depending on player choices) in a world that probably isn't worth saving anymore. Season Two picks up where the original left off, and then absolutely runs with it. There's very little in the way of hope spots here, perhaps recognising the vulnerability of the heroine. Telltale decided to take advantage of that innate parental instinct, and even the natural protective instinct that is there deep down within most human beings anyway.

The plot is darker and more brutal, punching the player at every possible opportunity. Nothing goes right, and if it ever does, there's a high price to pay. It's a scary, dog-eat-dog world where adults wrangle for power, forsaking reason, and they abuse or insult each other, even going as far as killing one other. This isn't a happy world - it's a nightmare and its one where the Undead suddenly take a backseat to the story. This is an in-depth analysis on the human psych and the failings of the human species as a whole. When the proverbial hits the fan, good people do bad things to survive and the impact is doubled - tripled even - because of whose eyes it is seen through.

If Season One set the bar high in terms of emotional impact, then Season Two just set the bar that bit higher. It avoids the issues of a weaker sequel, and it carves its own name in the blackness of the world. Conversational choices remain, building interaction with the characters, but it is the choices, actual, proper choices that Clementine, and by extension the player, must choose that are even tougher now. There's little time to think, there's little time to reason that hold on a minute, this here is a little girl. She shouldn't have to do these things, she shouldn't have to make these choices… but they have to be made, they have to be done. All the while, what is revealed is how it impacts on her, how it changes her. By the end of the game, there is a lingering feeling of despair, disgust, sadness, and a sudden realisation that trust is becoming harder to give and that this world isn't a world for children anymore. It is a credit to Telltale that the plot is so strong and powerful, and that is down to some impressive writing and, yet again, another cast of absolutely brilliantly written characters - broken and flawed. This isn't a fairy tale in the real world; there are no more heroes, and that's a sad thing.

Screenshot for The Walking Dead: Season Two on PlayStation 4

Cubed3 Rating

9/10
Rated 9 out of 10

Exceptional - Gold Award

Rated 9 out of 10

For Season One Cubed3 said:

"Telltale has delivered exceptional story-telling through terrific voice acting, and involves the player directly with decision-making that determines what happens through this moving narrative. A game that impacts players in all manner of emotions, The Walking Dead is not to be missed by anybody pining for an example of this form of entertainment to affect them on such a personal level."

This still holds true for Season Two… and then some. This is a masterpiece, raising the bar higher than ever, and is truly rewarding for those who have completed the original and kept their save files. The question was asked, and Telltale answered. If it continues in this way, then Season Three could very well break a man emotionally.

Developer

Telltale

Publisher

Telltale

Genre

Adventure

Players

1

C3 Score

Rated $score out of 10  9/10

Reader Score

Rated $score out of 10  0 (0 Votes)

European release date Out now   North America release date Out now   Japan release date None   Australian release date Out now   

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