I’ve waited a long time to write this review on a game series that has become one of my all-time favorite stories…ever!
The Walking Dead: The Final Season makes a farewell to Clementine in a very spectacular way honestly. For the last seven years, Clementine has been protecting her little companion A.J. just like Lee had done for her in the first season of the game. What Lee did for her in the first season created a survival instinct within Clementine that is unrivaled by almost no one. This survival instinct is what has kept her and A.J. alive all these years.
The Final Season is one of the most focused arc’s if not the most in the series since its debut back in 2012. The adopted mother/son dynamic between Clementine and A.J. create one of the best story dynamics the series has seen to date. This story also offers us something new with a different perspective about the walkers, which is weird to think about but after so many years of this game, the story attempts to show us that the walkers were once human before the outbreak. To me, the game is really trying to point at something new that we haven’t seen yet and that is one of breaking a cycle, one of possibly breaking old habits and living in this world differently.
On an episode by episode basis, I think the Final Season brings a good close to a great series and the studio that started it all. We get to see a mix of moments between dull and dragging, to cringe-worthy and exciting but the final destination of this game is well worth the time put in to get there. Each episode has at least two or three pivotal moments that made me feel like reloading my save and making the other choice, only to realize that either way would leave me with mixed emotions. When a story-based game can create hard decisions personally for you as the player then the developers have done an amazing job in my opinion! After knowing these characters in-game for so long it’s hard to make different choices aka break those cycles like we talked about earlier, but change is necessary for this game and the characters have a chance to change their ways and so do you as the player.
There were some big mechanical changes from previous seasons mainly around camera control which was an interesting feature. Basically, the camera now allows you some third-person views and giving you full control of the camera during combat. This feature definitely brings a new level of dynamic fighting and hectic moments. Even though this system does allow full camera control, and brings some new action to the game when encountering the Walkers, it is not without its flaws! For one the playable area for each scene is confined which makes running into those invisible walls a very frustrating common thing in the game, and another is the noticeable framerate drops when encountering big herds of Walkers. Overall, the third-person action sequences work well, but more often than not the free-roaming camera sequence has a negative effect on the game experience.
With all this said I think The Walking Dead: The Final Season does a fantastic job bringing you on a journey and discovering more about the relationship between Clementine and A.J. – Which honestly produced some of the craziest situations, and hardest decisions/choices ever in the game series to date. At times, the story gets clogged up with this new free-roaming gameplay feature, and the onslaught of new characters introduced that never get fully developed. Each episode though did have a very satisfying conclusion and wrap up that set up an amazing end to the final game. We ended the game on a bittersweet note especially since this was the last game TellTale worked on before shutting down, which really hit home in how they did the ending for Clem and this amazing story that’s unfolded over the last seven years.
Have you ever been in your car at a complete stop but thought you were moving, freaking out and smashing the break just to realize you really weren’t moving at all…? Well, that’s how this episode played out for me cause I thought we had some momentum built up and the story was really moving, and building to quite a climactic story plot…..then BAM you realize this episode is almost at a standstill in the story, or at least a creeping crawl in first gear.
This episode of the game is anything but graceful about it’s approach to the people in Clementine’s life as they seem to exist solely so their departure can hurt her. The loss of people has been a large focus of season 2 and this episode is no different other than how Clementine begins to process those big hits. She as a young girl really is put through some awful and terrifying situations, but those moments seem to define her from the decisions she “You” get to make for her.
Characters vanish in this episode so rapidly and unexpectedly that it steals some spotlight away from the emotional connection this game brings with it’s characters. Some of the characters exits are cheap and unfulfilling, while others are unjustified, forced and forgotten very quickly. Worse, some of those departed characters are replaced by new villains who come out of nowhere with no introduction.
Season 2 has been a large building block for the story and seems to be something much larger for Clementine, but it fizzles here by the end of Episode 4. Large stories by this time like the political battle between feuding sides seems to vanish, and Clementine begins to feel much smaller in the grand scheme of things, despite the grand large she is having to overcome. Meanwhile, although The Walking Dead: Season 2 has been building to something bigger for Clementine, it fizzles here by the end of Episode 4, the complex political drama that’s been brewing between feuding sides all but evaporates. Bickering elders don’t seem to weigh on Clementine as much as the grim things she has to do on her own. She’s starting to feel small, despite the big things she’s doing. I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing yet.
Telltale Games created a masterpiece with the Walking Dead game series and I took the hook, line and sinker when I first started playing the game. Now almost two years later after season 2 finished leaving fans with mixed emotions on how things ended, Telltale Games seemed to have closed the story with season 2. The famed developer company has been quite busy lately with the alternate story of their Michonne miniseries and just yesterday I saw the newest addition will be a Batman game coming later this year. All of Telltale’s games are pretty awesome if you ask me, as I’ve tried just about all of them, but the big question on the table is when the heck are we going to see the next season of The Walking Dead series release?
Hey again everyone!
This story became dark quickly and all happiness, smiles, and sense of safety was sucked from the monitor you’ve been watching. Clementine’s new family has now just been imprisoned by Bill Carver, the maniac who debuted in Episode 2: A House Divided. Clementine and her gang’s overnight escape plans put everyone at risk, and the story line built a very uncomfortable and surprising climax which will make you squirm in your very seat.
Telltale games has done something pretty magnificent with this episode as they have made me play Clementine completely different. Her bitterness in previous episodes was changed as she opened up in this episode to the people she found and so quickly became family with. This was all done because of Carver and his psycho tendencies, as it pulled you away and shows what can happen when you become cold and don’t cherish life.














