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Telltale's Walking Dead series has always known that the characters are the most important aspect of the story and this is never clearer than with the second season opener.
Clementine is the focus of this season, leaving Lee and her past behind. Although she is not alone at the beginning of the first episode, it's not long before the situation changes.
Being The Walking Dead, the walkers soon make their presence felt, sending Clem off in a new direction that shakes up the established dynamics, not least because now the player is seeing the game through her eyes, a potentially fragile character who still needs to rely on others in spite of her growing competence at survival.
Events very quickly lead the way to introducing a bunch of new characters, all with their own past and secrets to be gradually revealed in the coming episodes. Luckily, the game doesn't waste any time in getting to know these new people and provides action and excitement from the start. Telltale seem to have the pacing of this game pitched just right, there’s never a dull moment in the world of the zombie apocalypse, but not always because of the dead.
Those important choices are back, too, and Episode 1 of the new season plays off a few of the decisions you made last time around too. It’s nice to see some of these finally shaping the game’s world a bit but even if you haven’t played the first season, the game will offer plenty of new choices that promise to have repercussions in future episodes.
Episode 2 throws up one of the biggest surprises so far for the series and it works brilliantly. Without going in to spoiler territory, it's safe to say that it tests Clem's loyalty and shows how much she's changed, it's also a distinct change of pace from the last episode, thanks in part to the character introductions and plot having already been established.
I’d encourage those who still haven’t played Season 1 to go back and do so, though. The reflections of your actions certainly add a lot of emotional impact to Season 2’s story. Even the mini-episode, 400 Days, feeds into the paths of characters in Season 2.
One thing that doesn’t seem to have improved, though, is the game engine’s ability to stall and stutter at walking-dead-season-2-episode-1-2times. For most of the game this is fairly un-noticeable, but in the middle of a narrative it can be jarring.
The Xbox 360 build seems to suffer more than on PC, with scenes not appearing until after the game gets going at times. Fortunately, this does not detract from the overall quality of Telltale’s game.
Episode 1 and 2 of this new series gives you a better interaction with the game in taking a more active approach to avoiding zombies. While most of Season 1 was button pressing, there seem to be a lot more of this reaction based gameplay, particularly in the first episode.
Fans will be delighted to know that Season 2 starts off every bit as tense, character driven and emotionally draining as the first season. The move from Lee to Clem is handled brilliantly, bringing in a whole new dynamic to the game and giving it a fresh perspective and Episode 2 in particular highlights how much she has grown since the last series. Odd quirks in the game engine aside, this is game storytelling at its best.
9/10
Clementine is the focus of this season, leaving Lee and her past behind. Although she is not alone at the beginning of the first episode, it's not long before the situation changes.
Being The Walking Dead, the walkers soon make their presence felt, sending Clem off in a new direction that shakes up the established dynamics, not least because now the player is seeing the game through her eyes, a potentially fragile character who still needs to rely on others in spite of her growing competence at survival.
Events very quickly lead the way to introducing a bunch of new characters, all with their own past and secrets to be gradually revealed in the coming episodes. Luckily, the game doesn't waste any time in getting to know these new people and provides action and excitement from the start. Telltale seem to have the pacing of this game pitched just right, there’s never a dull moment in the world of the zombie apocalypse, but not always because of the dead.
Those important choices are back, too, and Episode 1 of the new season plays off a few of the decisions you made last time around too. It’s nice to see some of these finally shaping the game’s world a bit but even if you haven’t played the first season, the game will offer plenty of new choices that promise to have repercussions in future episodes.
Episode 2 throws up one of the biggest surprises so far for the series and it works brilliantly. Without going in to spoiler territory, it's safe to say that it tests Clem's loyalty and shows how much she's changed, it's also a distinct change of pace from the last episode, thanks in part to the character introductions and plot having already been established.
I’d encourage those who still haven’t played Season 1 to go back and do so, though. The reflections of your actions certainly add a lot of emotional impact to Season 2’s story. Even the mini-episode, 400 Days, feeds into the paths of characters in Season 2.
One thing that doesn’t seem to have improved, though, is the game engine’s ability to stall and stutter at walking-dead-season-2-episode-1-2times. For most of the game this is fairly un-noticeable, but in the middle of a narrative it can be jarring.
The Xbox 360 build seems to suffer more than on PC, with scenes not appearing until after the game gets going at times. Fortunately, this does not detract from the overall quality of Telltale’s game.
Episode 1 and 2 of this new series gives you a better interaction with the game in taking a more active approach to avoiding zombies. While most of Season 1 was button pressing, there seem to be a lot more of this reaction based gameplay, particularly in the first episode.
Fans will be delighted to know that Season 2 starts off every bit as tense, character driven and emotionally draining as the first season. The move from Lee to Clem is handled brilliantly, bringing in a whole new dynamic to the game and giving it a fresh perspective and Episode 2 in particular highlights how much she has grown since the last series. Odd quirks in the game engine aside, this is game storytelling at its best.
9/10
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Telltale's Walking Dead series has always known that the characters are the most important aspect of the story and this is never clearer than with the second season opener.
Clementine is the focus of this season, leaving Lee and her past behind. Although she is not alone at the beginning of the first episode, it's not long before the situation changes.
Being The Walking Dead, the walkers soon make their presence felt, sending Clem off in a new direction that shakes up the established dynamics, not least because now the player is seeing the game through her eyes, a potentially fragile character who still needs to rely on others in spite of her growing competence at survival.
Events very quickly lead the way to introducing a bunch of new characters, all with their own past and secrets to be gradually revealed in the coming episodes. Luckily, the game doesn't waste any time in getting to know these new people and provides action and excitement from the start. Telltale seem to have the pacing of this game pitched just right, there’s never a dull moment in the world of the zombie apocalypse, but not always because of the dead.
Those important choices are back, too, and Episode 1 of the new season plays off a few of the decisions you made last time around too. It’s nice to see some of these finally shaping the game’s world a bit but even if you haven’t played the first season, the game will offer plenty of new choices that promise to have repercussions in future episodes.
Episode 2 throws up one of the biggest surprises so far for the series and it works brilliantly. Without going in to spoiler territory, it's safe to say that it tests Clem's loyalty and shows how much she's changed, it's also a distinct change of pace from the last episode, thanks in part to the character introductions and plot having already been established.
I’d encourage those who still haven’t played Season 1 to go back and do so, though. The reflections of your actions certainly add a lot of emotional impact to Season 2’s story. Even the mini-episode, 400 Days, feeds into the paths of characters in Season 2.
One thing that doesn’t seem to have improved, though, is the game engine’s ability to stall and stutter at walking-dead-season-2-episode-1-2times. For most of the game this is fairly un-noticeable, but in the middle of a narrative it can be jarring.
The Xbox 360 build seems to suffer more than on PC, with scenes not appearing until after the game gets going at times. Fortunately, this does not detract from the overall quality of Telltale’s game.
Episode 1 and 2 of this new series gives you a better interaction with the game in taking a more active approach to avoiding zombies. While most of Season 1 was button pressing, there seem to be a lot more of this reaction based gameplay, particularly in the first episode.
Fans will be delighted to know that Season 2 starts off every bit as tense, character driven and emotionally draining as the first season. The move from Lee to Clem is handled brilliantly, bringing in a whole new dynamic to the game and giving it a fresh perspective and Episode 2 in particular highlights how much she has grown since the last series. Odd quirks in the game engine aside, this is game storytelling at its best.
9/10
Clementine is the focus of this season, leaving Lee and her past behind. Although she is not alone at the beginning of the first episode, it's not long before the situation changes.
Being The Walking Dead, the walkers soon make their presence felt, sending Clem off in a new direction that shakes up the established dynamics, not least because now the player is seeing the game through her eyes, a potentially fragile character who still needs to rely on others in spite of her growing competence at survival.
Events very quickly lead the way to introducing a bunch of new characters, all with their own past and secrets to be gradually revealed in the coming episodes. Luckily, the game doesn't waste any time in getting to know these new people and provides action and excitement from the start. Telltale seem to have the pacing of this game pitched just right, there’s never a dull moment in the world of the zombie apocalypse, but not always because of the dead.
Those important choices are back, too, and Episode 1 of the new season plays off a few of the decisions you made last time around too. It’s nice to see some of these finally shaping the game’s world a bit but even if you haven’t played the first season, the game will offer plenty of new choices that promise to have repercussions in future episodes.
Episode 2 throws up one of the biggest surprises so far for the series and it works brilliantly. Without going in to spoiler territory, it's safe to say that it tests Clem's loyalty and shows how much she's changed, it's also a distinct change of pace from the last episode, thanks in part to the character introductions and plot having already been established.
I’d encourage those who still haven’t played Season 1 to go back and do so, though. The reflections of your actions certainly add a lot of emotional impact to Season 2’s story. Even the mini-episode, 400 Days, feeds into the paths of characters in Season 2.
One thing that doesn’t seem to have improved, though, is the game engine’s ability to stall and stutter at walking-dead-season-2-episode-1-2times. For most of the game this is fairly un-noticeable, but in the middle of a narrative it can be jarring.
The Xbox 360 build seems to suffer more than on PC, with scenes not appearing until after the game gets going at times. Fortunately, this does not detract from the overall quality of Telltale’s game.
Episode 1 and 2 of this new series gives you a better interaction with the game in taking a more active approach to avoiding zombies. While most of Season 1 was button pressing, there seem to be a lot more of this reaction based gameplay, particularly in the first episode.
Fans will be delighted to know that Season 2 starts off every bit as tense, character driven and emotionally draining as the first season. The move from Lee to Clem is handled brilliantly, bringing in a whole new dynamic to the game and giving it a fresh perspective and Episode 2 in particular highlights how much she has grown since the last series. Odd quirks in the game engine aside, this is game storytelling at its best.
9/10