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

[Bearcules]

TWD is definitely one of my favorite games this year. The price per hour and quality of entertainment is another big positive. Although one negative is the wait between episodes is detrimental to a dramatic game when you have a hard time trying to remember who said what two months ago.

[Dunwoodie]

Just played them all last night I bought the season pass when it first came out but just waited for all the episodes to be available.

Best gaming experience ive had in a long time definitely, a game which brings a tear to my eye which ep-5 did is a winner well done telltale 10/10.

Very much looking forward to season 2 I just hope it still set around the same story wouldn't like it just to end the way it did maybe even start 10 years later or so with clem being around 18.

[Glass Joe]

This game was so much more than the sum of its parts. The storytelling was powerful and emotional, something rarely done in video games and, as far as I'm concerned, never done this well. I think that the people who are complaining about the story in any way (not the technical issues, those may be valid but I had none playing the Xbox 360 version) just aren't looking at this clearly. There were things that could be changed by your decision. The overall story itself couldn't, but the way they got to those points sure were.

I chose to let Ben die in Crawford and that effected the way Kenny left the group. I saw both ways Kenny "died" and this one was MUCH better. He jumped down and took on the zombies to save a life for the good of the group. I was hopeful that I would see him again but was very satisfied with how they handled it. Also, people keep talking about the stranger who had Clem and that he wasn't rational in his decisions like it was a problem with the story. The guy had his wife's zombie head in a bowling bag and spoke with it like it was still his wife and they were still a family. I think it is fair to say that he wasn't all there upstairs. Holding him to any kind of logical standards went right out the window at that point. And finally we come to the ending. I see this complaint more than any and I just don't understand it. I don''t think the ending was altered in any way just because they decided to do a second season. It wasn't left open ended for that reason, it was left the way it was because that is how things would really be. The point of the game's story wasn't about the majority of the group surviving. It was about Lee's redemption as a human being and it was about him teaching poor little Clem everything she needed to survive on her own. When we first meet Clem she is a frightened, helpless child. When the game ends she is everything she needs to be to survive in such a horrible world. Whether she finds the remaining group or new people all together is irrelevant. There could never be a happy ending or closure in a world like that and I thank TellTale for having the guts to not cop out with a happy ending. 10 out of 10 for me and I can't wait for the second season.

[Jake]

Clementine uncertain and alone in a grassy field has been the main image for episode five from day one (its been sitting there in the main menu all this time!). Hopefully that alone shows that the epilogue has been planned from the start and wasnt tacked on later. What you think about it, whether you like it or not is a separate matter, of course!

[Kevorkian]

Overall an excellent gaming experience a bit of a shame that each episode was well overdue but aside from that theres very little to complain about episode 2 really picked the pace up and it never slowed until the end .
I'm glad i'm not the only one with an achievement glitch either albeit a different one to the ones mentioned by others (I hadnt heard anyone else mention it up until now so I didnt bother myself) at the end of ep.3 my console showed 27/32 achievements I thought that this would solve itself once the console realised its error when ep.4 was either started or complete but it didnt and now the whole game is completed and all the achievements are full (40/40) but my xbox reads that the game is 35/40 and not completed even though this is obviously impossible . Rating : 8/10

[CalDW19940]

Had to make an account just to say what I think of this game haha. Well I have to give it 8/10. It's truly deserving of it, it didn't just copy paste the storylines of the comics or show and truly got me absorbed in this storyline with it's characters. I'm gonna give a short thought on 1-4 but will talk more about 5.

Episode 1 started slow but was a good grounding for setting up the characters and drawing people in.

Episode 2 started showing more flare with some of the decisions really feeling tougher like the sharing of only 4 food items and the Larry incident (one of the most interesting characters too)

Episode 3 had a lot going on which was really good and it's arguably my favourite. The whole sequence with the bandits and Lily and then leading up to Katjaa and Ducks death was all pretty well done.

Episode 4 this was pretty long compared to the rest, felt a little slow at times but I still really enjoyed it.

Episode 5, I felt as though it was a bit rushed or too short, perhaps that's because episode 4 was much longer making me feel like this one would be longer like the episodes had more happening each time. Still very enjoyable and gripping with quite a few good pulls on the heart strings, particularly with Kenny's final moments with Ben and the final scene in the locked room. However I do feel there was a lot left unresolved or just off, like choosing who you could have brought, I brought everyone except Ben yet the whole scene played out with Lee doing everything anyway which made the decision lose weight especially since my Lee had his arm hacked off so if a one armed man managed to do all that with or without the group it felt kinda pointless making a deal about who to bring. Lee somehow knowing Crista was pregnent with no real reaction to him knowing since she never really adressed it in my playthrough but it was hinted at. Lee having his arm cut off I had hoped would impact the ending somehow by maybe extending his time till death compared to not doing so and if he didn't hack it off he'd have perhaps died before saving Clem but nope.

The stranger at the end being angry at me despite my choices (even when I didn't take the food) did make me think about my actions but knowing that he'd hate me no matter what I did in other playthroughs and the fact he talked to his decapitated wifes head to make him out as crazy further made my previous actions seem pointless on the plot cause he'd hate me anyway.

The final scene with Clem and Lee I will admit made me cry, was I satisfied with it? In some ways yes and no. It did a good job of making me really feel for Clem and Lee who truly lost everything and Lee trying to do everything he could with his last dying breaths did add power to the scene but so much still felt rushed and unresolved. Even more so with leaving Clem in that feild, will the final things I said to her before she left me have effected her as a character?

Don't get me wrong, this is by far one of the best games with the best characters in any medium I have ever played. I adore it and encourage more games and stories like it. My biggest gripe was that none of my actions truly effected the plot in any way, everyones playthrough would have the group all going to the farm, then the train, then the city and so on. An alternate storyline where the group perhaps goes somewhere else or triggers events earlier or later than they possibely could have would have been interesting. There were no real times where you would have failed and made the story alter or succeed and make it change except with a game over from a quick time event to which you'd just be popped back into the last time it was there to continue the same storyline.

In a way I can understand that "There are no right decisions" in this which is true, it's all based on what the player thinks would be right at the time as themselves or as Lee but I feel like whether it's the right decision or not is irrelevent and it should be more like "What will be the consequences of my actions be?" Things would have nearly always lead to the same outcome like in this game which would most likely not be the case in real life. In the end I love this game but felt the whole "Your decisions effect the outcome of the plot" thing just didn't happen and made it lose some weight in it's decision making but the choices still felt tough and made me ponder what really is the right thing to do for that situation.


Well done Telltale, you have truly outdone yourselves with this.

[Cyreen]

Short and sweet - thank you Telltale for an excellent story. I look forward to Season Two and hopefully the continuation of Clementine's story.

And how cool it is that Vainamoinen made the Special Thanks list in the credits?!

[Gratefully Dead]

I haven't gotten emotional playing a video game, like ever. Maybe slightly during FFX because come on, that ending was kind of heart shattering but even then I was more just bummed then anything and a touch on the misty-eyed side of things. But this game....

I'll admit it. I'm a full-grown man and I bawled like it was me in there. I could feel the pain that was coming from Clementine. (Might I add, she better win a helluva lot of voice acting awards, she was amazing throughout this entire series!) And I never button-mashed harder then the second time where she BEGGED for Lee to get up. I was fighting it til then but then I just let it out and yelled at him, "Get up you son of a bitch! This one last thing, DO IT!"

But I felt that it was also fitting that she did it herself. At least that gave Lee some peace of mind so he could go in peace. She was able to do it..... even if I had to kick the bat at her. <.<

So I gave it a 10/10 all around. Would I have liked to play as Lee for season 2? Yes, of course. But I have a feeling that Telltale will bring out another character that we can grow to love for that season....

Then kill them..... and make me hate them for a day but growing in to an even bigger fan. But come on, Omid and Christa got to live? ... Cos she had a baby. I actually had a feeling once we heard that that she'd be okay for a while at least. Probably out by Ep 2 next season but still. xD

[dustpuffs]

And how cool it is that Vainamoinen made the Special Thanks list in the credits?!

I second this!

[fusedmass]

I can't really understand a game that had so much build up could just jump to a break on the ending. First it was "The Bite" cutting off his arm didn't do a thing one way or another. But a company who prides itself on choices impacting should have made arm thing had a bigger impact.

The whole Ben and Kenny thing bothered me. If you dropped Ben then Kenny and Ben would never have that topic and they both get melted off at the end. I wanted to see them actually getting away.

The entire game we followed them where they went because they left the group we can't see them. I think entire game was great, voice acting was just top notch. Graphics were smooth no glitches and the story's were compelling.

I just wished we could've seen what happended at the end. I wanted to see them jumping on that dang boat.

[Axedquestion]

The Walking Dead game is definitely one of my top games this year, if not THE top game. Gameplay was as refined as you can make a classic-point-and-click game, and the story is incredible in every sense of the word.

My only problems with it is the fact that the majority of the choices are mostly just illusions. The only ones that affect anything is choosing to save Larry and Ben, and even then they mostly just affect small things (namely, Kenny; If you try to save Larry he will be a lot more douchey towards you, and if you save Ben he will die in a more spectacular manner than if you let Ben go. Either way, it felt mostly like a cheap little thing that TTG put in there, but otherwise i enjoyed them. The fact that even if i had a suspicion that they didn't matter i still felt a bit bad about the choices i made speaks for the level of quality writing TTG is capable of, so kudos.

10/10, really good game series. Can't wait for season 2.

[Vindicia]

Simply 10/10, it was a great game and an amazing experience for me, the ending (which made me cry like a little baby... and I still do thinking about the ending) topped it of. Loved it. Can't wait for the next season!

[mkane24]

Originally Posted by Jake

Clementine uncertain and alone in a grassy field has been the main image for episode five from day one (its been sitting there in the main menu all this time!). Hopefully that alone shows that the epilogue has been planned from the start and wasnt tacked on later. What you think about it, whether you like it or not is a separate matter, of course!

We got you walking dead fans! For season 2 our next trick will be to make sure none of our episodes corrupt your data!

[TheGonza]

I think this game is a dam masterpiece. I've never talked about a game and felt so much for characters emotionally in any game I played, I onestly felt like I was Lee and the endining was just heart renching not to sound like a sissy but dam near teared up saying goodbye to clem and trying to make her safe yet stronger, and that final credits ending i was litterarly shoutign at the screen GET TO THE TRAIN OMID AND CHRISTA ARE WAITING FOR YOU! its unbeleivable how protective I got to clem lol, and that ending of those maybe walkers maybe omid and crista....(please be them lol), so now I will forever support telltale games just becuase of this awesome series you've created, I'm now a groupie whore that is addicted to walking dead, I will be jonesing soon for the next series, ....please for the love of god make series 2 pronto please! you deserve time off but....its so dam good lol

[TheGonza]

also can people PLEASE Vote this game of the year in the followin link below, I already have and it needs to be recognised.

http://www.spike.com/events/video-ga...minees/voting/

[Hero1]

Originally Posted by Jake

Clementine uncertain and alone in a grassy field has been the main image for episode five from day one (its been sitting there in the main menu all this time!). Hopefully that alone shows that the epilogue has been planned from the start and wasnt tacked on later. What you think about it, whether you like it or not is a separate matter, of course!

Was that your idea to have that image in the main menu? Very clever!

[FISHY1254]

100 out of 10 for me . I love this game. I dont want to be here for an hour reviewing it so I'll just say this. This game is one of the best games I've ever played.

[Sabiancym]

After Episode 4 I would have rated this game almost perfect.

After finishing the final episode I give it a 7. The last one was just flat out lazy.

1: Killing the protagonist and leaving the player/viewer with an unhappy ending is no longer unique. It's been done countless times in both the gaming and movie industry.

2: Way too short. After all the build up, all the questions that need to be answered, they make a final episode that's not even half as long as most of the other episodes. It looks like they just rushed this out as fast as they could to get it over with.

3: Lame final conflicts. You finally find the guy who's been watching Clem. The guy who's been mysteriously contacting you for the past few episodes. He's able to take Clem away from the group without anyone noticing....but doesn't lock the door on Clem in the hotel and his plot is foiled by a 9 year old with a wine bottle....Plus instead of tense moments as you stand-off with this guy, you have a nice sit down discussion with him about things that happened in previous episodes.

Then the radiator scene...I'm fine with an ending that doesn't have everyone riding off into the sunset, but you can't do it in such an anti-climactic way. The hero of the game is first saved by a 9 year old twice, only to die next to a radiator a few minutes later. People will justify it in any number of "artistic" ways. He starts the game in handcuffs, and ends in handcuffs...so what. This is a game, not an indie film.

4: Lack of actual choices that affect the story. This is more of a whole series problem instead of just the last Episode, although it is most evident in the last one. None of your choices and decisions actually have much of an effect on the story.
Sure can save one person instead of the other, but no matter which one you pick they will play the same role in the game and either one will die at roughly the same time in the game. Saving Doug instead of Carly has no effect on the major storyline. You're still going to go to the same locations, and the same dangerous situations will happen.

NO MULTIPLE ENDINGS. For a game that has a message before every episode claiming that your choices affect the story, it's pretty ridiculous that they can't even include multiple endings. Getting shot in the head while handcuffed to the radiator, or just being left alone handcuffed to the radiator are not multiple endings. They're the same thing.

Telltale had a storyline planned for this game, but following the great success of the game they phoned this one in. The entire ending seems to be created entirely for the sequel. The basically put what should be the beginning of a game, at the end of this one....and yes, I did see the scene after the credits, it was even more proof of the Sequels ruining the first series.



I actually lost my saved game after reformatting, so instead of just installing episode 5 and going, I played through every episode in 2 days. Even though I knew the story of the first 4, they were still a ton of fun...more fun than the first play-through of the last one. I think that says something about how terrible the last episode was.

Episode 1: 9
Episode 2: 9.5
Episode 3: 8
Episode 4: 7
Episode 5: 4.5

[Vainamoinen]

I have my fair share of quarrels going on with this game, and you name quite a few valid ones concerning the story. But the lack of multiple endings wasn't one of mine. I welcomed the ending as the only possible one. The single ending speaks clearly about the topic of hope - different endings might have treated it differently, fitting the genre and franchise less.

Originally Posted by Sabiancym

Then the radiator scene...I'm fine with an ending that doesn't have everyone riding off into the sunset, but you can't do it in such an anti-climactic way. The hero of the game is first saved by a 9 year old twice, only to die next to a radiator a few minutes later. People will justify it in any number of "artistic" ways. He starts the game in handcuffs, and ends in handcuffs...so what. This is a game, not an indie film.

I'm not sure where the comparison leads here. The artistic and rock solid storytelling principles - including a circular narrative structure - have been part of Telltale's games for quite some time. You can criticize the execution here, but not the application in general. TWD game is pretty much a movie; a bit of artistic sophistication in the genre is the absolute minimum. You will not only find this in "indie" films - the most prized of Hollywood's flicks have always been heavy with this kind of stuff.

[crayzeedee]

I give it a 7. The game was indeed enjoyable with some surprising and memorable moments, however, right from the release of the 2nd episode (steam user) I have had technical issues with choices not carrying over properly from one episode to the next. Each episode I played seemed to want to generate random choices for me even though there was no option for this when i started the episode, it just began.

When i thought i finally had the issue fixed, all of my save files no longer appear in the screen and now the system wants me to start the whole game over complete from scratch even though i have several save files in my documents folder as well as the pref.prop file. This has been my most dissapointing moment of this series. It's just too damn buggy.

2ndly, choice does infact NOT matter. Nothing u do will affect the outcome which was my understanding with "Choice Matters". The only thing choice did was influence Clementine, mold or shape her. But then you don't get to see how these choices are carried forward for clementine.

So, in the end the game was enjoyable, however several aspects of the story just don't add up, such as clementine dragging a 180 pound adult through a horde of walkers to saftey. 1 of many things i found that just don't make sense.