[SPOILERS]The Walking Dead episode 5 and entire game REVIEW thread

[Vainamoinen]

Yup, this is it. Post your long and short, detailed or general, random or specific thoughts about the last episode and concluding thoughts about the Season right here.

No spoiler tags necessary, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU'VE PLAYED THE EPISODES!!!

(poll rates the whole game, not just episode 5)

[That1Guy]

It was REALLY good. Oh, and BTW wasn't your username in the credits?

[Sodawasser]

I voted for 7
I don't want to make a list of positive aspects because I mostly liked the game I just say the negative things:
Episode 1 lagged sometimes (tried on 3 different new PC's). So there might have been a component in these computers which wasn't good for the game. Anyway this shouldn't be in a game with that low engine and graphic details. (they were okay for the game but anyway) -> -1 point
There were no real decissions and only one ending, I really disliked that -> -2 points
Anyway I had fun playing this game. That is why I think 7 points are okay.

[savi]

It's weird, I enjoyed the game more than the TV show...Maybe because I'm in direct control and feel more intimate with it rather than just watching it...Although if they did make this a television show I still think it'd get to me more than The Walking Dead that's currently airing.

[Isterio]

so sad :*(


It was a bit mean to give me hope with the option of cutting off the arm. This should have been possible earlier and with the option to let the others do the heavy lifting and and and...

Anyway ... a great game. I'm happy that the download worked again and there was no further problems for the pc. Well done, TTG. It's a real gem. Now just get the technical issues resolved, get rid of your delivery problems, improve your support and you're going to be fine.

I didn't quite get the ending though. Some more resolve would have been nice. This looks like a season finale or something. "Buy season 2 and see who the 2 persons were and what is going to happen to Clem and how your choices affected her. And find out, what crime Lee actually commited ...". Well at least there weren't a blue, red and green ending.

[FoxxyFox]

Atleast in my playthrough my Christa & Omid seemed to survive the episode. I bet at the end since Christa idea was to go countryside that Clem see both of them. And since Molly not appeared I think she might be the 4th member in the 2nd season.

I'm happy that Christa & Omid survived the last episode, atleast my faves survived it but on the other hand beeing so sad about Lee & Clem.

Still very sad episode specially the ending and PROPS to the voice-overs.

[zivi7]

I'd go for a 7 as well.

It's a nice experience overall. Like with previous episodes it have been small things that killed the immersion for me in the final one.

From the top of my head:

Lee has this discussion with Christa and Omid on the rooftops that he should do the risky things from now on since he has been bitten anyway. They reach that provisional wooden bridge and Christa says omething like: "Careful here." Still she and Omid go first and not Lee. Seconds later, where they want to cross the street by climbing the sign, they basically have the same argument again. Do they even listen to each other at all?

After the stranger is dealt with, the player can't pick up the hatchet but only click on the exit door. Minutes earlier, that weapon helped me to fight through the horde and now I want to leave unarmed?

When Clem asks me what she should pick first from the Security Officer walker, of course I tell her to grab the gun - so she can shoot the walker if it somehow breaks out of its trap (which didn't look very tight anyway). But Lee says: "The gun, always the gun!" Errrm, no?! I didn't mean to give her a lifelong lesson, potentially important for a future series. I was just telling her what to do in that situation. It's just one example for many dialogue lines throughout the game that look like they have one connotation when you can pick them but then turn out to have a totally different meaning because Lee adds sentences that I didn't see on screen before.

I'm handcuffed to the radiator and my last suggestion for Clem should be that she should always have her hair cut short?! I found it annoying enough when Chuck advised me to do it out of nowhere on the train and now this. Even if she was bald, zombies can still grab her by her clothes or limbs.

Finally, according to the "Which choices change things drastically?"-thread not even in the final episode does anything really matter.

Personally, I would have prefered many different endings in this one and a fresh start for season two over the way it is now.

[Crusher87]

I'll repeat what's in the (very short) start post: This is about the whole season, not about the last episode!


My rating for this season: 8

I'll start off with the negative aspects:

1: The game engine is horrible. I had to reduce the shadow quality to a minimum with a very potent system so that sequences run smooth and to avoid audio issues.

2: In the end, The decisions didn't really matter. I know how hard it is to actually design games all around decisions, but I usually feel that the focus is wrong for that, and this game is no exception. We all get the same ending, although this is the most important thing that should change depending on your actions.

3: Personal thing, but: I don't like this episode-format to be honest. Waiting this long to have about 2 hours to play isn't as great as enjoying a complete game when you buy it. That's actually the reason why I waited until Episode 4 was out until I finally bought the Season Pass. Just wanted to mention that although it didn't affect the rating, I guess there are good reasons (advertisement, financial advantages, I don't know...) for it.


So, that things aside:

What an improvement to previous games! Right from the first episode the story totally got me. What I enjoyed the most is the focus on the survivors' behaviour rather than just adding one ugly gore scene after another, which is usually the case in any zombie movies/games. Especially the "silent moments" after things got out of hand were well done. There was always this dark, depressing mood swinging along everything, giving the game an apocalyptic feeling from hour 1 to the end.
Probably the best choice was using Clementine as the main theme of the Season. Having to raise a child with no experience of it whatsoever in a messed-up world of violence and cruelty was an interesting aspect that kept me hooked all the time. Plus it gave you an interesting view on your own actions. Example: In Episode 2 I killed the first one of the brothers with the pitchfork. To me it was a natural decision in that moment, but when she showed up and looked like I just kicked a bag of kittens I started realizing what I just did. Really powerful.
Which leads me to another point that I especially enjoyed: This game really created moral conflicts that let you, as a player, reflect on your own behaviour. While constantly judging others during your journey you also get the chance to be a monster, and sometimes that even seems like the logical choice. The most obvious choice was probably letting Ben fall. He was more or less the main reason why six companions either died or left you. He constantly screwed up and put everyone in danger, especially right before you have the chance to let him fall. But is it right to give up on him because you think he will continue to do that? Although I personally didn't hesitate and helped him up I thought that, rationally, this was a pretty hard call. And I was quite pleased to see he didn't turn out to be a great hero in the fifth Episode. Although Kenny will, well, "seem to die" anyway when you let him fall, it seems in this situation like he is the reason for his death as well. Although honestly I would have found it more interesting if Kenny can actually survive without him. That would really raise the question "is it okay to kill someone when he will be the reason for others to die?".

As you can see in my babbling this game totally got me. I hope that Season 2 will continue to focus so much on the characters and how humans become more and more like the monsters they're afraid of.
Last but not least a quick opinion about the single episodes:

Episode 1: Fitting for a beginning. Not a huge spectacle, but a slow introduction to everyone. I especially enjoyed how Lee's life was revealed via dialogue options as well.

Episode 2: Totally blew me away. You know from the beginning that something's wrong with those guys, but it turned out so unbelievably sick. A friend of mine was already suspecting them to be cannibals right from the start, but to me it never crossed my mind that they even do anything close to that. So it was one shock after another for me. Especially that they keep them alive so that the flesh is not corrupted. This was really the only episode in which I actually felt fear, what an experience . The "twist" about Kenny when Larry had his heart attack also finally made me question every single one in my group, which was absolutely great.

Episode 3: As good as Episode 2 was, I was very happy that the story didn't continue with even sicker events. The whole thing with Duck and Katjaa was the first really sad scene and didn't miss the spot. Not to mention that Kenny seemed like a ticking bomb after that...Chuck was an awesome character and his advice for Clementine finally made me realize that not all the rules of the world we know apply anymore. I was angry at him first for telling Clementine something like that, but it really makes sense - children are not allowed to be children in such a world, as hard as this may sound to us.

Episode 4: Now that one was long! As far as I know this one wasn't received as well as the others, but I personally liked it as well. Having to hurt Clementine so many times because she didn't want to accept that her parents are away was pretty hard on me. Crawford gave an interesting view on the behaviour of other survivors and pointed out once more that the walkers may be the lesser danger in that world. The ending was the perfect cliffhanger...thanks for that I guess -_-.

Episode 5: What a high TPM on that one (Tears per minute ). Still I can't help but feel a bit biased about this one. I guess I mainly don't like the decision that it just set the tracks for Season 2 and, as already mentioned, that ultimately my choices didn't really matter. The last moments with Clementine were exceptionally well done. I can't imagine how it must be for her to see her parents as walkers and losing Lee just moments later. Telling her how strong she is and how proud you are of her while Lee gets weaker and weaker was really bittersweet.
I also enjoyed Bens "final speech" against Kenny and the moment of realization from him until their final moment. Still, in the end I felt like it doesn't matter what I do too much. The illusion of choice (most of the time it is just an illusion in games) was just not as present as in previous episodes. Especially that there seem to be no differences whether you cut off the arm or not. I was expecting to fail with one of the decisions, be it because you would have needed a second arm or because the infection spread too fast because it's still there. Not to mention the number of persons you have to help you - it's quite annoying that you can do just as much alone as with 5 people. Something like that would have made a huge difference. In the end that would have been what I have wished for: The possibility to fail.

[zivi7]

You repeated only one part, the one that it's about the whole season. Let me repeat the other part: It's also about Episode 5.

edit: Uh, you were probably talking about the poll only while I was talking about written replies. Let's hug and go on?

[ThatoneJeff]

Fantastic. The part with Lee fighting through the Marsh house was awesome.

[Vainamoinen]

Originally Posted by Crusher87

I'll repeat what's in the (very short) start post: This is about the whole season, not about the last episode!

Writing a personal review later.

The POLL is about the whole Season; the THREAD is for episode 5 reviews also.

[def_c�n]

hi, i just finished episode 5. wow after finishing i was sitting a couple minutes in front of my screen and thought about what happened before.

for me episode 5 was after episode 3 the most schocking one.

in this episode you have to do a lot of decisions. i am wondering if they all matters?

does it help to cut off lee´s arm? i did´t think so, so i didn´t cut his arm of. did anyone play it twice and can say what difference it makes?

and can you save kenny? or will he die in the radio-sequnce at any costs?
does it matter if you say omid and crista that they should search for a boat, a train or just leave the city?

so many questions. i hope they don´t let us wait to long for season two!

and does anyone else have the problem with the chapter 8 achievement? i did finish the game inclusive the scene after the credits and still i don´t have the achivement for finishing the game.

[XicoFelipe]

I didn't get the last achievement either. I decided to cut Lee's arm (it felt a bit unconfortable) and the symptoms stopped until almost the end of the episode. He was bitten again during the 300 (zombies) part, but I don't know if it was scripted or if I messed up. I believe if you don't take Ben with you he won't fall, so Kenny doesn't have to mercy kill him and die in the process.

[def_c�n]

Originally Posted by XicoFelipe

I didn't get the last achievement either. I decided to cut Lee's arm (it felt a bit unconfortable) and the symptoms stopped until almost the end of the episode. He was bitten again during the 300 (zombies) part, but I don't know if it was scripted or if I messed up. I believe if you don't take Ben with you he won't fall, so Kenny doesn't have to mercy kill him and die in the process.

on no. i hadn´t ben in my group. kenny died by saving crista.
hm i think the infection has already spread around his whole body. think its kind of useless to cut his arm of, isn´t it?

and in the "3002 scene i wasn´t bitten.

[C`nr]

I just don't know what the fuck. Yeah. 10. But I just don't know what happened.

[moodath]

I enjoyed every episode, my favorite being 2, least favorite (that is to say the one that was least awesome) was 4.

Five was a satisfactory ending, it was very well done. I never experienced the technical issues that others have with any episode, 5 included.

Overall, I really liked all the tough decisions throughout the season, most of them were pretty impacting, though some turned into "well what the hell was the point of that" type decisions.

With the year almost over, and having played the major contenders for GOTY, I can say, personally, this game would get my vote. This is one of the greatest storytelling achievements in gaming, and the guys and gals at Telltale should be very proud. Thanks for sharing such an amazing experience with me. I can't wait to see what else you guys come up with.

[FoxxyFox]

For me a whole 10, I just LOVED this season and the game It might be hard to top that for the 2nd season, but with such low budget & the big name "The Walking Dead" at project had many people say: "Nahhhh, that will not work". But all of you guys did it and that so well.

Thanks TellTale and also Gary Whitta for that awesome ride in that half year, it was like a rollercoaster... I felt the up & downs like I would be a member from the group.

[Keupajer]

Originally Posted by savi

It's weird, I enjoyed the game more than the TV show...Maybe because I'm in direct control and feel more intimate with it rather than just watching it...Although if they did make this a television show I still think it'd get to me more than The Walking Dead that's currently airing.

Yes that is Wird... But I felt the same way

[RAnthonyMahan]

I cried. That's about all I have to say.

Bravo, Telltale.

[Zombieface]

Omg, I can't believe Lee died! I thought he was a surviver! So stupid the way he got bit too! Cause zombies are attracted to sound, so if Clem and her captor went by and dropped the walkie there that zombie would have heard them.. he would have been trying to follow Clem and her captor or trying to check out the sound coming from the walkie... unless he was dumb deaf and blind, but he sure jumped out pretty fast when I reached down to grab it! And I tried to tell dumby Lee to look under that damn board before I got that walkie but I still got bit D: I wish I could have told Lee to cut his hand off right away, instead of him waiting until the virus had obviously already spread... and why would they just leave those surgical supplies? That's dumb, they wouldn't leave supplies like that. There were more silly things I was going to point out, but I can't remember them all now. Besides the silly stuff, and besides being pissed that Ben didn't get a chance to really redeem himself before falling to his death, and being pissed that Kenny didn't just shoot Ben in the head with that last bullet and come with me to help save Clem, and besides being pissed and sad that Lee died, it was a good episode.

I didn't leave anyone with the boat cause I didn't think anyone was gonna steal the damn thing! I thought it'd be better to have the whole group with me! And I figured it was Vernon and his group that took Clemmy! Boy was I wrong! Taking that food in episode 2 DID come back to bite us in the ass!

I will definitely be playing this episode through again. I wonder what happens if I leave someone with the boat?

I'm kinda really excited for season two now cause I know I raised Clem up good.. and now that I'm thinking about it's kinda really well done.. the whole first season is you raising up Clem, teaching her lessons and stuff, then season two will probably be played as Clem, using all the skills and lessons that Lee taught her in season one. That'd be really cool anyways!

I feel so bad for Ben I wish I could have saved him.

I really hope that was Christa and Omid walking out yonder at the very very end clip! I wonder what happens if I tell them to find us when they get down, or to meet us at the other place (I told them to meet us at the train).

I shall play through again tonight!