Review – The Walking Dead: Episode 2 (Xbox 360)

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As everyone probably knows at this point, episode one of The Walking Dead video game was released a little over a month ago and was highly revered by many for its storytelling and narrative. At the same time there were multiple issues such as a studdery framerate and overall buggy execution transitioning from cutscene to cutscene. Mainly due to the fact there is a small turnaround time between episodes, those issues were expected to go unresolved. We expected correctly, folks.

Episode 2, entitled Starved for Help, kicks off three months later and immediately you realize you’ve added a new member to your survival squad. The new guys name is Mark and it seems he was added due to the fact he promised the group he could give them more food, but they realized that food won’t last too long. From there, the story picks back up where it left off with a “cut or don’t cut” scene. Quickly followed by more dialogue to further the progression you’ve already established with characters such as Kenny, Clem, and Larry.

This dialogue and story may only last for around two and a half hours but it is something that is worth much more than the five dollar price tag placed upon the game. It’s a storytelling experience you won’t find in any other piece of entertainment and as the tension continues to mount, never does your attention stray away from your screen. The writing for each character and most of all the overall way Tell-Tale and their writers progress the group dynamic is stunningly well done and something every other game studio should immediately take note of.

The adventure game mechanics from the first episode return and are unchanged. They continue to bring a level of approachability that other adventure games fail to have. If there was any change that needed to be made it would be to make the cursor move a bit faster. Even that is such a minor detail, a detail that could probably be fixed simply by adjusting a slider.

The biggest problem found within Starved for Help, and the Walking Dead series in general so far, is the aforementioned buggy transitioning from cutscene to cutscene. What exactly happens is typically upon having to either transition from cutscene to dialogue or vice versa, the game locks up for a solid few seconds which can obviously kill the entire mood the game has set up. This issue was prevalent in the first episode but seems to have gotten worse in the newest installment, maybe due to having less time to work on this episode though that seems unlikely. Whatever the issue is, it must be resolved in the future as the impressive storytelling I raved about is getting strongly diminished by this disappointing but unrelenting problem.

The Walking Dead Episode 1’s unique art style garnered significant praise but also a bit of distaste from critics and gamers alike. Some found the cell shaded, imperfect drawings of each character to be a welcome new style while others found the imperfectness distracting. The newer characters introduced maintain the same direction while the characters we know and love remain unchanged as well, with the only changes being different clothes for a few characters.

The Walking Dead Episode 1 was a fantastic piece of content; it delivered on its promises but, like every game, had its own little problem or two. These problems are still prevalent in the newest episode while the successful promises are built upon and made even more enjoyable. If you liked the first episode there’s no doubt you’ll love this one as the story begins to ramp up even more and leads you into a very promising episode 3.

Graphics 85   Audio 80   Gameplay 95 Creativity 85   Execution 95   Offset 90

8.8

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