After going on a week long Walking Dead binge,
It is clear that the final entry to Telltale’s The Walking Dead is serviceable. As a series close to the hearts of many, several felt let down by its end, including myself. But, the final season manages to still have characters that are a three-dimensional showcased by a harder artstyle ending with a halfway decent finale to the end of an rollercoaster of a series.
You start off as Clementine, protecting Aj after retrieving him from his old home near Richmond, you are starting to run out of food, and options. After scavenging for who knows how long you come upon a train station.
Here, the two manage to find a stockpile of food, however, a trap causes an explosion — and attracts a horde along with it. From here, Clem and Aj run into a group of children holed in a school for delinquents.
Without too much detail, there are some very interesting figures this season. There are interesting scenes as well, including a flashback sequence at the end of the game that connects the third season to the final season, and despite the hate for flashbacks,the content of that particular sequence is worthwhile.
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There are some very interesting figures this season... James, who comes in later, has an overlooked backstory that relates to the Whisperers
All of the titular cast of previous seasons makes appearances. Kenny, Jane, Lee, and even other familiar characters make a comeback through flashbacks this season. The nice thing about characters this season is that they all feel extremely distinct and all have their own little quirks based around their backstories.
For instance, James, who comes in later, has an overlooked backstory that relates to the Whisperers, a group known in Walking Dead lore to hide among walker herds, guiding them and using them as cover. The leader of one of the main antagonistic groups is a familiar character whose return shocked many fans. However, many characters feel like they are caricatures of people, exaggerated and too rough around the edges.
The graphics in this season are a little too smooth in comparison to the first and second seasons, but the lighting and use of color both in environmental design and models are at least better than the standard. Level design, also, is better than previous iterations due to the adjustments to gameplay and camera angles.
This comes with two main issues. One is that the original “cinematic movie” feel of earlier iterations is lost, and that could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on the player.
Secondly, the level design makes some sections of gameplay hard to maneuver around. Other than that, the new gameplay, level design, and graphics are an improvement on the original games.
The ending depends on your decisions regarding Aj specifically. As such, you can end the game with a few different outcomes. Without giving spoilers, the ending really reminds me of season one’s ending. However, it comes across as deserving of such an emotional end as the pacing just drastically changes. Besides form this, pacing is not much of an issue, the only times it really becomes odd is when flashbacks are concerned.
Overall, the final entry in the series is an alright one, and frankly that is surprising due to the shoes that it had to fill from the first two seasons, and I would say it almost redeems season three. Almost. A solid experience with a new barebones gameplay system, good storytelling, serviceable artstyle, and interesting characters. None of it was particularly great, but still, to achieve a halfway satisfying ending to such a complex and winding story is still surprising. A decent experience and worthy of a 6/10.
Written by former news writer Colby Deal
