Fuck Lily. Bitch killed my favorite character. And i feel bad, because she wanted to talk for a minute at the beginning of the episode, but i decided to be Captain Detective with Duck right away.. so I left her.

The Duck scene got to me too. Watching Katjaa go off into the woods and then hearing the subsequent gunshot resonated inside... like I had done something wrong. When i discovered Katjaa had killed herself my stomach sank.

I should've just done it myself.

Oh... and the rage. the RAGE when that fucker ben told me he set up the deal with the bandits. I clicked the button to threaten him without hesitation. I want him dead. Now.

The emotional response this game pulls out of me is unmatched.. it's almost surprising. Between this and Journey this year, my mind has been blown at how a game can do this to an individual... wow.

O__O

O__O

@joetom said:

When I had to get Kenny to stop the train, I ended up fighting him, but never hit back. It results in him beating the shit out of you until he breaks down and stops the train. Pretty powerful moment for me.

I did exactly the same thing. Way to go, you pacifist you!

@RecSpec said:

@eug said:

O__O

Motherfucking Game of the Year.

Did anyone discover this before they mentioned it in the interview? I'm looking through youtube and I can't find anything.

EDIT: Didn't find it on youtube, but did find talk about it on telltale forums.

I think thats the longest Giantbomb article ever.

@RecSpec said:

@eug said:

O__O

Motherfucking Game of the Year.

Holy hot hell that's amazing.

I really didn't like the way Doug (carley for others) went out.... kind of made me not want to play anymore.

@Encephalon said:

@joetom said:

When I had to get Kenny to stop the train, I ended up fighting him, but never hit back. It results in him beating the shit out of you until he breaks down and stops the train. Pretty powerful moment for me.

I did exactly the same thing. Way to go, you pacifist you!

Same here. In the moment I remember exactly what I was thinking; "His son is dying, he needs this". I hate Kenny with a mighty fury, but when I found myself in a fight in that situation, I gave him a break.

But I swear to god...Kenny will get his.

I distinctly remember thinking I could save the girl, in the opening scene. I shot one zombie in the head, and one in the chest, but then the game game cut to the scene where the zombies take her down. The game then treated me as if I left her to die. It's the only moment, so far, where I've felt like the game didn't like my third option.

Also, I've never been as furious at a video game character as I was when Lily shot Doug. I wanted to tell that bitch that I was glad her father was dead!

I am disappointed by the lack of Vanaman, last thumbs episode made it sound like he was stressing over the final two episodes. I hope it all goes well for the Telltale guys, they're doing something that games have never really attempted before.

I actually liked Duck. The game made me feel like you had to comfort these kids, so I gave them food and tried to be a positive as possible around them. It really broke me down having to put the poor kid down. Now I'm afraid that I have turned Kenny into a alcoholic.

@Dtat: Same for me. It was quite easy to kill Duck. Really enjoying the game.

Just reading the comments makes you realise how amazing this game is.

When the reticule came up I was like "Please cut away, please cut away when I pull it..." thank god they did, although it probably would have been more devastating if the camera stayed close.

I hope they have the balls at the end to piss off some of the players for making "wrong" decisions.

@Spiritof said:

I distinctly remember thinking I could save the girl, in the opening scene. I shot one zombie in the head, and one in the chest, but then the game game cut to the scene where the zombies take her down. The game then treated me as if I left her to die. It's the only moment, so far, where I've felt like the game didn't like my third option.

Also, I've never been as furious at a video game character as I was when Lily shot Doug. I wanted to tell that bitch that I was glad her father was dead!

The thing is that there was no "saving her" because she was bit. She was yelling and drawing out more and more zombies and your choice was to either kill her and draw attention to yourself or take no shot and leave her as bait. You couldn't just stand there and snipe every zombie that was coming out.

Kind of disappointed that the devs thought in such gamey terms about the woman in the opening that it should be a pavlovian response of shooting when there is a crosshair versus a game telling you not to do it. And that their expectation was that most people who would shoot her would do so because that's what they are used to doing.

My choice had nothing at all to do with such an assumption. I shot the woman because it was a humane thing to do, even at an extra risk to ourselves, period. Neither Kenny nor being presented with crosshairs had any effect on the decision.

The one beef I had with episode itself was by the time Carley gets shot out of nowhere and then then if you don't abandon Lilly she steals the car it was like a game screaming at me: we have to trim down the choices you made, so we are zeroing them out. So that part of the story felt like it was done for the sake of mechanics and prevention of exponential workload of branching choices rather than actual natural flow of the story. A game basically nullifying previous choices one after another, the entire episode. It happened in previous episodes mind you but not in such a rapid succession. It's simply became blindingly obvious in this one.

I made this decision, then that decision, then i chose to do something else. Dead, dead, separated. Almost everyone who is affected by your decisions no longer exists or is a factor. Even Kenny is now a moot point, as his sons death takes precedence (+booze) and I have a very strong feeling he will also cease to be a factor soon enough.

It's fast becoming apparent that the only constant character whom your choices might potentially affect in the end is Clementine. And that is yet to be truly delivered on.

Still, best episode yet!

Clearly the best part of episode 3 was getting the Hobo to play Freebird.

http://www.twitch.tv/the_bikest_of_men/b/332208476

And stealing Kenny's family.

http://www.twitch.tv/the_bikest_of_men/b/331809258

@Milkman said:

Carley's death was the angriest I've ever been at a video game. And I love this game for that.

Very well said. I hate how this game makes me feel at times but I love it's capacity for that.

@patrickklepek

This can't be right.

"know if Clementine is going to whip around and show me Clementine again"

Duck was dead as soon as he was bitten. Shooting him afterwards was a big deal after that. I felt sorry when I saw the bite.

Yeah, Lily was quite unstable. Will be fun to see how she returns.

Why havent they announced release date for part 4? Its october but when?

i was thinking of playing this, but now the plot is sort of ruined

@thbsppsbht: Well, both the video and the article had spoiler warnings... Just sayin'.

I too was extremely pissed at Lily for shooting Carley....just before that it seemed that Lee and Carely were going somewhere and Lee is an awesome guy so I wanted him to get his and brighten up the dark times a little, but NO! that bitch shot her!!

i instantly without hesitation left Lily there on the side of the road because of two things in my mind at the time. 1.) That bitch just shot Carley and 2.) That bitch is unstable and who knows who she might snap on next and kill, i'll be damned if she touches Clemintine!

but for some weird reason as soon as we drove off I felt bad for leaving her...like maybe she could have changed and become more stable after realizing what she had done

but nope! she just steals the van....crazy bitch

@adam1808 said:

I am disappointed by the lack of Vanaman, last thumbs episode made it sound like he was stressing over the final two episodes. I hope it all goes well for the Telltale guys, they're doing something that games have never really attempted before.

We'll get him back for the next article, hopefully! They're crunching.

@Tennmuerti said:

Kind of disappointed that the devs thought in such gamey terms about the woman in the opening that it should be a pavlovian response of shooting when there is a crosshair versus a game telling you not to do it. And that their expectation was that most people who would shoot her would do so because that's what they are used to doing.

While you and me may be approaching the game this way, not everyone does. In the beginning of episode two, for example, they're pretty sure most people would not have chopped off the leg if the reticule hadn't been RIGHT OVER THE LEG when the scene kicked off. Unfortunately, it's something they didn't realize until after it shipped. Had it been moved a few inches to the right...

@patrickklepek said:

@Tennmuerti said:

Kind of disappointed that the devs thought in such gamey terms about the woman in the opening that it should be a pavlovian response of shooting when there is a crosshair versus a game telling you not to do it. And that their expectation was that most people who would shoot her would do so because that's what they are used to doing.

While you and me may be approaching the game this way, not everyone does. In the beginning of episode two, for example, they're pretty sure most people would not have chopped off the leg if the reticule hadn't been RIGHT OVER THE LEG when the scene kicked off. Unfortunately, it's something they didn't realize until after it shipped. Had it been moved a few inches to the right...

Interesting you should mention this, I actually had a similar natural reaction towards the leg situation as i did to the woman. I examined it instead of going for it straight away and it quickly became the last resort in my in my mind (chopping off the leg) as I also started hastily examining other options, stopped eventually on the chain then started whacking at it with the axe, sadly until it was too late.

My guess is however that mouse controls played some part in my own approach. I move the mouse in a much twitchier fashion then a gamepad, so it's easier for the gamepad to stay in neutral (for me anyway), in this case on the leg. But as soon as control was given I started moving the mouse around so the leg did not register as the "default" option the scene started at. Making it easier to believe that maybe another method would work.

Proud savoir of Doug, right here!

Lily was a loose cannon, she couldn't handle the pressure of leadership and that made her crazy. Part of me feels bad leaving her on the side of the road but the other part thinks she got what she deserved.

I will probably get it when it's very cheap on sale, even though i hear nothing but good things about it

The one real issue I had with episode 3 was that I didn't even notice Omid, the camera pans over so quickly and the lingers on Christa.

A lot of my decisions were in the minority. the only regret i had was not telling Kenny about my past. I was going to do it but the story moved forward.

I'm really looking forward to the last two episodes of the game, as well as the last few of these articles (for this season, hopefully both will continue though). I really love that @patrickklepek asks all of the questions I would personally want to ask the devs - thanks for that Patrick, this series of articles really is one of the best on the site.

This game had better be in the running for GOTY 2012 talks, and I really mean the GOTY category. It's definitely one of the most amazing experiences available for a long time =)

Edit: Also, Patrick I have a quick question. Do you think that once all the episodes have been released, you guys will put up a review of the entire season?

I trust Kenny, he has a reasonable mindset but sometimes it takes someone to hold him back to shake him to reality

I guess I'm relatively alone in all of this, but reading this whole thing just kind of confirms that I don't want to play this game. This sort of dramatic story telling isn't really what I want from Telltale and I'm honestly kind of worried if they'll do anything light hearted and fun after this, given its success.

I don't know, it just doesn't feel right. You guys have fun though.

Fuck Lilly.

Yeah, Lily was quite unstable. Will be fun to see how she returns.

Why havent they announced release date for part 4? Its october but when?

Awesome read, really enjoying reading these

The scene with Duck was the first time a videogame has ever made my tear up. Man, such an emotional roller coaster. I think I felt worse for Katjaa, she was such a strong and good person. :(

I don't like the idea of them doing things like saying "we couldn't let players off the hook by letting Duck turn."

If it's a game, and decisions matter, they as the developers shouldn't be conspiring to manipulate events the way they see fit. If the reasonable effect of the rules of the world are that a sick person will turn into a zombie, they should let the player play in that world the way they choose to.

I haven't really been following how the community reacted to Episode 3, but they lost me after that episode. I know that losing a bunch of the crew is supposed to make it hit home that nobody is safe and that you (Lee or the player) shouldn't be getting comfortable, but I thought it just made my choices in the previous episodes completely meaningless. It's the most blatant case of "the diamond" branching storyline converging that I can think of off the top of my head.

I was completely in The Walking Dead's corner before episode 3, but it completely lost me after it. I don't even think I'll finish the game--the whole experience just feels soured now.

I just caught up in the episodes and reading these and want to say these are some of the best articles about video games ever. I would have loved to read something like this about all of Mass Effect but I doubt those guys are willing to divulge info like this.

I still want it!

@Zippedbinders said:

You guys have fun though.

We will and we are.

Depressing fun.

Anyway, I actually had more tension at the start of episode 3 when I had to cut the dude's leg off. I stalled as long as I could, trying to break the chains free. When it came to putting Duck out of his misery, however, I knew what had to be done. I wasn't happy to do it or anything, but it wasn't this hard decision. I didn't want Kenny to have to do it and I dunno...just seemed like the right thing to do. The whole, "YOU CAN'T KILL KIDS IN VIDEO GAMES" thing is kind of stupid and at the end of the day it just stifles the creative process.

I had been on Lilly's side the whole time but when that bitch shot Doug, her fate was sealed.

This episode contained no suprises to me, it's like a Mafia film, after the first few times everything goes as poorly as possible you just expect it from then on.
New scene, something really bad just happened but we're past it, time to talk about it and what's coming up which will go wrong, then it goes wrong, hmm in what ways could this go even worse, then it gets worse, ugh.
I find myself caring less about the choices i make because i don't feel like i have any power to change anything. Maybe i'm just not into genres of infinite doom and despair.

@Random45 said:

@OleMarthin said:

why would anyone bring Lily along after what she did, people are crazy:P can't wait for ep 4!

I had Doug, and she doesn't intentionally kill him like she did Carley. Doug pushed Ben out of the way and got shot instead. Pissed me off, but not enough for me to boot one of the remaining useful members of the group. Wish Ben was the one who got shot though, Doug was one of the few people left I really trusted at all.

I had Doug with me too. At that point in Episode 3, I was already getting sick and tired of Lily, and the way she was handling the situation with Ben was driving me nuts. Then she shot one of my favourite characters, and I was pissed. I left her there on the side of the road, and had no remorse at the time. Once the camper got to the train though, I had to call it quits for the night. The next day when I picked the game back up, it suddenly sunk in of, "holy crap, I just left probably one of the more resourceful members of the group to die". Don't regret leaving her there though, the way she handled the situation with Ben just made me want her gone.

Honestly, I was trying to play Lee as having more of a romantic interest in Lilly than in Carley, so the kiss and Katjaa's dialogue at the train were a little bit weird. It didn't make the murder any more shocking, though. I just saw Lee as being torn up for a totally different, chilling reason. Especially after he took her on the RV anyway.

Also, I called Ben being the traitor almost immediately. He was the weak link in the group, determinedly speaking.

This episode was the worst. I kinda saw every turn in it coming. The only one that surprised me was Carley dying, although it was so typical to kill off the romantic interest. Then it was so blegh to have the mother commit suicide instead of killing her son. I havent played 4 and 5 yet, but i think 3 was my least favorite episode because everything seemed so cliche. It was just zombie movie trope after zombie movie trope.

Carly was destined to die from the moment in which Doug died in episone one. And Doug was destined to die from the moment in which Carly died in episode one too. The designers simply had a "problem" since episode one, because they had to design situations in that Carly/Doug would fit equally. They couldn't keep designing two versions of the same scenes every time, and I'm sure this is the reason why Carly/Doug went back to the motel with Ben in most part of episode two. Carly/Doug couldn't be made important anymore, since they could be dead from episode one. The death of one of them in episode one in fact sets the grim fate of the surviving other later, and Telltale tried its best to postpone the inevitable moment as long as they could.