Review: The Walking Dead: Season Two - All That Remains
Kids these days.
The last we saw Clementine, she sat alone in the countryside of Georgia, still grieving the loss of her fallen father figure and hopelessly unaware of what to do next. Then, two indiscriminate figures on a hilltop off in the distance stopped and pointed her way. Did they know Clementine? Were they friend or foe? Was the young girl’s cliffhanging gasp one of terror or one of relief?
After a year’s worth of speculation surrounding the fate of our favorite child of the apocalypse, The Walking Dead is back to shed more light on the darkest days of humanity with a second, five episode-long season that doesn’t just tell us the answers we seek about Clementine. Rather, Telltale Games has us step into her tiny little shoes to find out for ourselves.
As Clementine’s former allies foretold, all of the world’s boundless horrors don’t discriminate in The Walking Dead universe, and the events that unfold in Episode One corroborate that point with startling accuracy. Few punches are pulled in All That Remains’ three hour tale. So, lets just say that little Clementine goes through a lot more than most players will be comfortable with.
But, for as frighteningly entertaining as Episode One is, the amount of shocking, teeth-grating moments do become a bit excessive in the opening hour or so — even by the franchise’s own standards. Telltale Games certainly drives the point home about Clementine and company’s harrowing lives, but the lack of peaks and valleys sometimes causes certain death-defying ordeals to lose their effect over time.
The overwhelming focus on Clementine’s struggles also steals valuable screen-time away from her new supporting cast, which is only given a third of the episode to establish their personalities and plights as potential season mainstays. Players aren’t necessarily supposed to know every character like the back of their hand yet, but not having much time around them hurts the game’s hair-trigger moments when Clementine chooses to assist or take the side of certain survivors. The first episode of last season handles things far better in comparison.
Perhaps that was the intent, though. If All That Remains’ story was meant to create a sense of unease while surrounded by a group of adult strangers, it was a resounding success. If, however, players were already supposed to care about this ragtag group of survivors by the time the credits roll, consider Episode One an astonishing letdown in that regard.
In spite of all that, there’s no question that Telltale Games’ investment into Clementine’s character was a worthwhile risk for Episode One’s narrative. Needless to say, a lot has changed since the days of sitting next to Lee on a rail car while our new primary protagonist sighed over short haircuts and gun lessons.
In learning that quiet innocence serves no purpose in this bleak new world, Clementine’s usual one-word responses have been replaced with telling facial expressions and intriguing dialogue options that give her more dimensions than ever before. Whether it’s standing her ground, being sweet, guilt-tripping or intently charming someone’s socks off for personal gain, Clementine’s choice of words more than makes up for what she lacks in brute force.
Episode One’s meaningful narrative also makes up for Telltale Games’ lackluster engine; however, that forgiveness is only to a certain extent. You would think that all of the engine’s performance issues would be rectified by now, but just like the troubled life of Clementine, things have only gotten worse over time.
The unwelcome addition of long and frustratingly frequent loading screens makes All That Remains exceedingly tough to tolerate, and that’s not even counting all the snags that make their unwelcome comeback from the first season. Auto-saving, storing player choices and triggering cutscenes still cause abysmal stuttering issues that compromise the immersion, and it’ll likely get worse once future episodes start referring to Season One and Two’s in-game choices even more.
With so much give and take already circulating The Walking Dead: Season Two, it’s imperative that Telltale Games keeps knocking it out of the park with narrative if they want fans to remain on-board for the bumpy ride. And thankfully, Episode One’s plot does just enough to pass that test — missed opportunities and all.
Any trace of skepticism players may have about Clementine’s effectiveness as The Walking Dead: Season Two’s lead will dissipate quickly. Just watching her newfound independence take shape in Episode One alone has made her one of the most captivating protagonists in all of modern gaming.
Maintaining that interest will, of course, hinge on Telltale Games successfully expanding upon the exciting, if not slow-burning groundwork they’ve set in place with All That Remains. And if the preview for Episode 2 is any indication of what we should expect out of the rest of the season, then buckle up. This is going to be good.
7.5
Written by: Marco Strzeszynski
