Written by Top of the mornin’ Comedy n Gamers! Its GODmadethunder here and today we will be taking a good look at the latest installment of Telltale’s very own The Walking Dead series. Like always there is a no spoiler guarantee.
Let me start by saying Telltale has done an amazing job with pretty much all of its series. Batman, Game of Thrones, Minecraft, and The Wolf Among Us (just to name a few) are all great examples of how very little gameplay can go a long way. (they DO NOT endorse us by the way) I would recommend any of these games to Telltale newcomers, however, there is no doubt that The Walking Dead is their flagship franchise.
Lee embracing Clem
I’ve been a huge fan of the Walking Dead games since season 1 and it isn’t because of any big guns or power-ups. It’s the sentiment of the characters, the way they interact and how they feel about each other. Its bleeds from the screen into our gamer hearts and most fans will they tell you they feel deeply connected to the characters, rightfully so. Season 1 was about a man named Lee who was on his way to prison for murder while the outbreak first started, he meets a child named Clementine and thus starts the adventure we know and love today. Season 2 was centered around Clementine as the main character and it is sort of her coming of age story even though she’s still a child, we see how fast she had to grow up in the apocalypse.
The face you make when everyone you love is dead
Now we’re up to “The New Frontier” or just Season 3 for lack of better terms. The first cutscenes introduce us to our new main character, Javier. A baseball player on his way to the big leagues before getting busted for betting on his own games. (stupid) He is traveling with his sister-in-law/love interest(?) Kate, and her step-children Mariana and Gabriel. Javier and Kate’s relationship is very confusing and unclear to me. At one point in the 1st episode you get the choice to kiss her so I guess it can be assumed it wasn’t their first time doing that, but up until that point, the romance isn’t necessarily implied. I mean wouldn’t it be weird seeing your uncle and step-mother kiss?, eh whatever maybe I’m just over-analyzing.
“I don’t trust you and I’m not taking any chances”
He meets up with Clementine and this is when I completely lost all professionalism. I’ll be honest I am 100% a Clementine fanboy and I am not afraid to admit it. You can only play as Clementine in certain flashback scenes which take place during the time gap between Season 2 and 3. These scenes also give insight into the person she has become. The innocent little girl from season 1 is now a much more mature gun-toting badass and we absolutely love it.
Clementine is growing into a pretty young lady and AJ is well…. still a baby
There is a certain bias toward her which is leading some to believe she is “ruining” the game. Javier is a character that is all about his family and their survival, it wouldn’t make sense that he would side with Clem on every single decision. (which is what the majority of players are doing) After all, we are playing as him and in his eyes, Clem is just a kid with a gun, but to the fans who saw her grow up she is much more than that, she IS franchise. HOWEVER I do believe there is room in our hearts for Javier, I see much potential in his character and by the end, he’ll most likely have grown on us in the same way Clem has. It’s hard to tell being that it is so early in the season.
Three different examples of player bias taken directly from my TV
Aside from all of that the first two episodes have been amazing and quite impressive, I must say. The graphics have definitely received a major upgrade, this is easily the best-looking game out of the three. If you’ve never played TWD this game would be the perfect entry for you, they specifically avoided calling it season 3 for that exact reason.
As future episodes release, I’ll write more review and thoughts articles so stay tuned!
What do you think about The Walking Dead: A New Frontier? Did you like it? Were you disappointed? Let us know in the comments!
Also for anyone who would like to add me on PSN here’s my online ID: GODmadethunder
Last modified: December 21, 2016
