The Walking Dead:
While I've finished The Walking Dead series once, in a disjointed manner, I intend to play it again. Eventually I'll write an article reviewing the complete series, but that might be a year distant, so I wanted to include some thoughts about The Walking Dead universe, of which the video game series is just one part. Unlike many people, my first Walking Dead experience was the video game, and I followed it in reverse order to the show, and then to the original comic. I've, obviously, finished the video game series, watched seven season of the TV show, and read all the comics. I appreciate that Robert Kirkman's comic birthed the universe, providing the proper tone and framework, but the characterization in the comics was shallow compared the to the later media. The TV show and video game contain more well defined characters, a critical feature, since it seems that the purpose of the entire series is to empathize with the suffering of the survivors. Even between these two I've thought that Clementine holds a unique perspective.
The Walking Dead: The Final Season
is the end of Clementine's story. Telltale Games always intended the
fourth season, composed of four episodes, to say goodbye to Clem.
The Walking Dead: Season Three, officially called A New
Frontier, ended with Clementine setting out in search of her
adopted son AJ. His abduction had been told in flashbacks during
Season Three. Telltale Games was already two episodes into
Season Four when they abruptly announced the immediate closing of the
entire studio. With episode three and four unfinished, Skybound
Entertainment, the company founded by the creator of the Walking
Dead comic, purchased the rights to the entire Walking Dead video
game series. Skybound worked with the laid off Telltale staff to
complete Clementine's story. The hand off was so successful that
there is no discernible difference between episode two and three.
The Final Season begins four
years after the conclusion of A New Frontier. Season Three
barely reflects on Season Four, the only connection being flashbacks,
which tell how AJ was taken from Clem. Perhaps that is why the
recaps of Season One and Two are excellent, because they
connect to The Final Season, while the review of Season
Three is poor because is does not relate to the series as a
whole. The first scene opens in media res as a teenage Clementine
and a six year old Alvin Jr. drive along searching for supplies. It
isn't long before danger forces them to seek shelter at a new
location, which functions as a hub for the season. They discover
allies at a school for troubled youth, a sprawling mansion which the
adults have fled, but is home to children and teens. This setting is
the best of the series, because Clem explores it and build a
connection with the people living there. Her and AJ share a room,
and The Final Season includes collectibles the player can
discover to decorate it. From the crumbling complex, Clem and her
new friends venture out to search for food, but encounter danger
inside its walls, and out in the woods. The situation is reminiscent
of Lost for its threatening
environment and the Lord of the Flies
because of the difficulties of civilization among children. All the
areas, both inside and out are well designed, so the player
never feels as if there are contrivances to keep them contained. The
developer doesn't deploy forced enclosures or invisible walls to
curtail the player.
Compared to previous games in the
series, Season Four saw a significant visual upgrade. In the review
of The Walking Dead: A New Frontier, I criticized the sub-par
appearance of characters and background alike. The fourth season
looks like it was designed with a new engine, and while it still
retains the distinctive style of the series, the visual effect is far
superior to Seasons One, Two, and Three. The characters are
humanized by the improvement, while fights with the zombies are
intensified, enhanced by a realistic blood effect. Character's eyes
and face are especially effective at conveying emotion. The You Are
Dead screen, displayed when Clem dies, looked better too,
particularly reminiscent of the comics. I saw this screen often,
because I like to see what happens if I don't perform a quick-time
event when interacting with people. This never generates a bad
result. Most quick-time events only have three possible outcomes:
succeed and receive a good result, fail and receive a different (but
good) result, or fail and die (and death only sets the player back
seconds). Quick-time events and puzzles rarely alter the story,
unlike the choices which determine the flow of the plot.
Unfortunately, the timer for the dialogue and difficult choices is
difficult to see, compared to previous games. Another strange
development allows some minor binary choices to cause Clem's death.
Like deaths caused by failure in quick-time events these cause the
player to replay the scene again.
The sound of The Final Season
returns to basics, incorporating much of the music from previous
Seasons. Fan favorite like In
the Pines, which was the Season Two
Episode 2 credits song, returns as the credits song for Season Four
Episode 2, while Take
Us Back, the Season 1 Finale Credit Song,
repeats as the conclusion song for the The Final Season.
Both the visual and audio effects alone
would improve the combat, but the developers added extra effort. For
previous games, combat was a series of simple quick-time events.
Click the Q or E button repeatedly, maybe press up, down, left, or
right to react to an event. Combat is now like a simple action game.
As walkers approach, the player controls Clem moving her into the
proper position, like a slow dance, before striking. Clem can kill a
zombie, or knock it down. While killing the zombies is preferable,
when surrounded by a horde Clem needs to knock them down first,
because the animation is quicker. The Final Season also
includes a small number of interesting, and sometimes frustratingly
difficult action puzzles. Late in the series, the player must move
quickly from zombie to zombie, using them as cover to be avoid being
shot. The new combat creates a more immersive and suspenseful system
that requires a bit more effort, without making it too difficult.
While
this article is about the history of The Walking Dead
series, the visual effects, the setting, and combat, there are two
subjects to address quickly.
First,
The Final Season displays Clementine's current
objective during her adventures, which helps the player understand
her mind, even if the objective sometimes changes because of
circumstances. And the writers employed their wit, by using sly
subtitles to each object Clementine focuses her attention on.
Another big different between Season
Three and Four relates to the plot. The story of Three is a mad
rush from beginning to end, with strange fits and starts, slow parts
that don't make sense, and anger the whole ride long. Season Four
follows the standard story procession, and is better for it. It
starts slow, teases with a jolt of excitement, before returning to a
peaceful location. From the safety of the school, danger starts to
threaten from outside again. The tension rises to a peak near the
end, and recedes perfectly for a calm conclusion. Unlike A New
Frontier, the characters, twelve or so children and a few adults
are well developed, and despite them residing at a home for troubled
children, none are as psycho, paranoid, or trigger happy as those
from Season Three. The Final Season focuses on
character over combat, even as it improves the combat system and
visual effects. The plot is tight and focused, and doesn't cause the
player to wonder why Clem didn't do something else, or how they
wandered into this mess.
Next week will be the end of The
Walking Dead, until a second completion of the entire series next
year. The following review will examine Clementine, Alvin Jr., and
the resolution of the video game series and its relation to the
conclusion of universe as a whole.
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