All right, my thoughts. I've always had a rule to myself that Telltale's fourth episode is always the best, and so far it looks like the same rule is with The Walking Dead. I'm really impressed by how they always seem to make each new episode more depressing than the last. Even though I had Lee being bitten spoiled for me in advance, I still ended up shocked when it happened.
Also, now that we're closer to the end and it's easier to pull off branching paths...choices that actually matter! Part of why I was one of the few people to save Ben was because I thought "Whatever, the outcome will be the same either way." Needless to say, I was pretty surprised when I found out you can actually kill him. I also find the fact that you can have six different parties for the finale pretty interesting. I wonder how different the end will be depending on who's with you. I somehow ended up with everybody, but I bet the episode will be a lot more somber if it's just Lee and Kenny, or even worse, Lee alone.
I do have a few complaints, though. First of all, Chuck got killed off way too fast. It seems that, like Mark, he existed solely to pad the body count. You could argue Telltale's trying to make some kind of point here (especially with Vernon's lines about death becoming routine), but it still feels kind of...eh to me.
In fact, it seems like the game in general is moving too fast. Of the huge cast we met in Episode 1, Clem and Kenny are the only characters left. (Maybe not even Kenny, if you kicked him out of the group.) Those early episodes feel like ancient history now. Granted, this was probably the point. Part of The Walking Dead's charm is the huge timeframe it takes place over, and how things always change (but never for the better). Telltale has to convey that same feeling but in a much smaller space, so I guess the story has to be fast as a consequence.
Also, the FPS segments are a pain in the ass. There's no crosshair or cursor, so it's hard to tell exactly where you're aiming, which is especially infuriating since you have to shoot the walkers in the head. It's strangely satisfying when you do them right, though. Now I wonder if the Telltale Tool could handle a full FPS game...
Anyway, overall, great episode. Eagerly looking forward to the finale.
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