The difficult second album. Trying to follow up from something so loved is one of the hardest things to pull off in any medium. The stigma of whether you can continually reach the same level or whether it was just a fluke can be a very scary task. Expectations for Season 2 of Telltale Games' The Walking Dead couldn't be higher after the studio wowed us and picked up numerous awards for its first season in 2012. With a whole year of waiting beforehand, I couldn't wait to dive back into the world to see if lightning could strike twice for the series. And as far as first steps go, this definitely met my expectations so far.

After a quick recap of the first season we are thrown straight back into action however this time we are in control of the little girl we were first tasked with protecting, one little girl named Clementine. Make no mistake, Clementine is the star of the show here and Telltale know this. Putting her front and centre makes perfect sense after we established such a strong connection with the character and as soon as you start playing this episode you will remember all the struggles you went through previously.

The series is famous for it's gut wrenching, shocking moments and this episode certainly has its fair share of them. From the get go you will be tested mentally and will once again have to make difficult decisions under immense pressure. This is what the game is built upon and is still as powerful and meaningful as ever before.

There was however one section which I didn't feel had the same level of emotion as the rest. It involves Clementine coming across an animal and from the start it's inevitable which direction this storyline is heading. I felt it was cheap as its much easier to develop relationships with animals rather than humans in a short period of time and I felt it only served to give us yet another gut punch which was unjustified in the grand scheme of things.

Overall the game is incredibly tense at times and the sound design is excellent. It sets the tone perfectly and nails the setting of the universe. The episode features some action sequences which were very hit and miss previously but are definitely more fun to play this time around. They control similar to the combat scenes in Beyond: Two Souls, where you push the stick a certain direction to dodge that direction which works very intuitively.

I played through the game on Xbox 360 which is where I played all the previous content and my save file with all my previous decisions loaded fine. The game is still slightly laggy at times which was my biggest complaint with the last season which is slightly disappointing. It isn't immersion breaking but it can occasionally take you out of the experience. I hope it gets fixed in the upcoming episodes but considering its always been present I guess it's just something you have to deal with.

Towards the end of the episode there is a stealth section where you must sneak around a house to acquire different materials you are after. You can approach them in any order you like and the whole thing feels very tense as you crept past open doors as Clementine, worried you will be caught at any second. This is a completely new element to the series and I like that Telltale aren't afraid to try new things and adapt the series over time which help keeps the series fresh and exciting.

Visually the art style is unchanged and still looks as fantastic as it ever has. New character models and the subtle changes to Clementine are great and overall it is one of the most visually distinctive games on the market. Voice overs are excellent, with some lesser characters maybe less fleshed out than others, but most of the new characters are very well constructed and after a short period of time with them you immediately start to form opinions, be it good or bad.

One section which is bound to stand out is when Clementine has to make herself better after a rough encounter and is not for the faint hearted indeed. It seems to go on forever which I think is intentional and really is an unsympathetic, bleak scene which once again characterises this series perfectly. The end of the world is not a fun place to be and perhaps this series proves that point more than anyone else.

Overall the episode really feels like the aftermath of the first season, even the title says as much as Clementine is left completely alone in a scary world. The events that we previously went through meant something and we are now seeing the consequences, learning to survive without Lee for the first time whilst still using the techniques that he taught her. It really feels like the only way to connect the two seasons and with an interesting ending that forces you to make another split second difficult decision, it sets up the rest of season two incredibly well. Episode 2 can't come soon enough.

As much as I loved this episode, I am still more eagerly awaiting the next episode of "The wolf among us". That seems like forever ago, even if it wasn't.

I enoyed both this and Wolf Among Us. Telltale is definitely getting better at this, which probably means Game of Thrones is better off being the last thing in their current release schedule.

I agree. Its a great episode but it differently feels more like a bridge between season 1 and season 2 proper.

I don't know. The dog thing may have been cheap but it was extremely effective. I kind of just sat there for a minute or two after it happened with my hand over my face with a really sick feeling in my stomach. I got a soft spot for puppies, what can I say?

I wouldn't be surprised if GoT doesn't come out until both these have concluded (WD & TWAU)

I thought this episode was wack, personally.

At no point throughout the episode did I ever feel like anything good was ever going to happen, and so when bad things did happen, it really didn't effect me at all. Just nothing. Of course the dog died. Of course Omid died. Of course we had to burn the picture or the photo. Sadness and happiness works a hell of a lot better when there's something to juxtapose themselves. Everything just felt really flat for me, like the gaming equivalence of being unemployed or something.

There was one really telling line when you're playing with the dog that summed it up for me, something like: 'yeah, we shouldn't have wasted the energy anyway.' Apparently we shouldn't be bothered with being happy, which whilst I understand that's essentially the theme of the game, when you want your audience to get invested in your story and the character's plight, you need to do the exact opposite.

It's the same with the voice acting, Clem just seems really bored and depressed which I know would be totally realistic but if you're main character is bored and doesn't want to be in the game, why should I want to keep playing?

It may just because I'm way more invested in the craft of a story, rather than just the story itself though.

@biggiedubs said:

... No you didn't? There's a log right beside the campfire.

I refuse to play the games until all episodes are out, but from the stuff I've seen, I'm much more interested in Fables than TWD Season 2. Maybe because I had enough of TWD, and I feel like most zombie apocalypse tropes have been played out already (Except the animal), there's really little for TT to do to subvert our expectations again.

I'm recently playing through Borderlands 2 for the first time and unlike Jeff, I'm enjoying the writing (a lot) so far. I must be one of the few who actually looks forward to the TT Borderlands game? Short Change Hero is awesome.

@oldirtybearon said:

Really? I had minimalist view on so nothing was showing up, and I thought I scoped out the area pretty thoroughly. Was it pretty prominent if you had it on standard view?

Oh well. Why would you put a log there though? Why wouldn't you throw that log on there?

I really don't like how that situation was handled. When I looked through the bag and have to look at the photo and the picture, and then the lighter it just felt like a cheap emotional punch. Which was why I said 'of course.'

Why not give her the lighter first, then have the player scope around for stuff? Maybe have her try and burn some wet leaves, or something. Then you can have some dread and feel hopeless that you have to burn your precious memories. For me it just played out like, 'here's stuff to light, here's a lighter, go do it,' instead of a 'I really wish I could burn something else,' situation.

Don't play on Minimalist then. I play on Standard because I don't want to miss stuff and through taking five steps to the right of the screen I was rewarded with a log.

If they had in any way hid the log from view I could understand your complaint; but they didn't. It's literally right there.

Minimalist view is pretty much garbage. I like the idea of it but it turns the game into a lame pixel hunt in practice, and that breaks my immersion instead of increasing it. :[

@oldirtybearon I don't really have problem with missing the log, if anything that's what Minimalism mode is for, but just because you can burn the log instead of Clem's picture of photo doesn't really save the situation in my eyes. If anything, it makes it worse.

The only thing I can think that's worse than an needlessly cruel, arbitrary choice that doesn't go anywhere is one that the game doesn't even force you to make.

I guess you could see it as a reward, but I'm not sure why the game, or even if it should, reward someone for walking five feet as the theme for the rest of the episode at least was that bad things always happen to everyone. And even if it is a reward, why is that the one situation in the episode where you can avoid something bad happening?

I don't know. Stupid log.

@benluke The section that was the worst on Minimalist mode was trying to find where the other dead bodies were, where you have to look at a specific point on the other bank. Straight up impossible on minimalist. I never liked seeing the 'xx remembered that' thing, though! I guess the PC version has a mode to help you see stuff whilst you're on minimalist mode? So jealous.

@biggiedubs: Season 1 on PC had the option to turn off "Character will remember that" while keeping all interactions visible and vise versa. That doesn't seem to be an option here or in The Wolf Among Us, which is pretty lame.

I was not very happy when I found out Clem was the playable character, but after playing the first episode my opinion has completely flipped. I enjoyed this episode very much.

Can't wait to see where this season goes.

Really enjoyed this episode, was a very promising start to the season. As someone who was a little skeptical about Clementine being the playable character, my opinion has flipped after playing this episode.

Seriously? You didn't bat an eye when the dog you threw a frisbey at minutes before tried to rip clem's arm off?

I thought it was good and now I'm exctited for the rest. Or maybe I'm just not a cynical asshole.

this felt like it should have been 400 days, its the bridge between the seasons. in any case it wasnt very good, I will wait to by the other parts.

I just really hope there isn't a 3+ month gap between episodes now. Hopefully 1 episode a month, alternating between Wolf and TWD.

I can't wait for the "Scumbag Clem" videos to start cropping up

I was disappointed in this episode. The things that happen seemed a bit corny, only there to make Clem suffer, foregoing all realism.

The Wolf Among Us Episode 1 is now free on Xbox Live. Glad I waited now.

It was excellent. The ending was a shitty cliff-hanger.

Agreed with everything except for the part about the dog. Yes it was kind of predictable that the dog would die. However, it was completely justified due to the bite, which not only surprised me but was also the driving force for over half of the episode. I think the writers wanted Clementine to be injured in some way and be suspected to be infected. Coming across the dog in a camp doesn't seem that far fetched and was a perfectly fine enough way to get the story moving in the intended direction, with the added benefit of tugging on some heartstrings.

I personally loved the entire thing. It seems Telltale still knows what they are doing with their version of The Walking Dead, and I can't wait for the second episode!

@schmollian: I'm with you, the tension of the bite's origin was terrifying and super awesome to deal with. I also did not expect the dog to attack Clem at all, it was so friendly at first. I have high hopes for the season.