Telltale's "The Walking Dead: The New Frontier"

[MrSaxon]

Having had a blast with Telltale Games' Batman over the last few weeks, it was a no-brainer for me to pick this up too. Here's where I am with the first two seasons of Telltale's Walking Dead games:

I think the first is an outright classic. I think a lot of this is down to the ending because

having Lee ultimately ask Clementine to put a bullet in him was one of the saddest endings I've come across in a video game.

Therefore the second game never quite lived up to it, in my opinion. Maybe it was down to the ending I ultimately received where

Clementine and the young baby, AJ, entered Wellington without Kenny

but I doubt any ending could have lived up to the first.

Anyway, so here we are with The New Frontier. I've only played the first episode so far but I like it, and Javier seems like hes going to be an interesting character to play (even if he is saddled with a cliched annoying teenager amongst his family unit).

Here are my choices for the first episode:

I was kind of surprised by the third choice which apparently pertains to what happened "after the shooting". I guess this means the shooting of the dealer by Clementine where I chose to tell the truth about what had happened rather than lie. Seems odd to be one of only 5% but maybe this has something to do with my responses to Tripp earlier where I promised to be straight with him?

Apparently I was also in the minority at the end where I chose to stay with Kate rather than Clementine. I guess, having already lost my family once, I didn't want to abandon them again. Maybe that'll come back to bite me. I've already pissed off Clementine a few times.

How Game Of Thronesy was that final death, by the way? I figured I wouldn't be able to keep all of my family alive but didn't see that bullet coming at all!

All in all, it seems like a solid start. I'll give episode two a go tomorrow.

[The Dark Shape]

I have to wait until my trip home for Christmas to play this and it's killing me.

I got the same ending for Season 2 as you did, Saxon, but it slayed me.  The moment Kenny said, "Take the kid!", I knew how it had to play out and I wept.  It was such a great ending that I never had to see any of these characters again.

But I'm so glad to have Clem back.

[MrSaxon]

It'll be interesting to see if they can take her all the way up to adulthood. I much prefer her here as a supporting character again, especially as Javi has - in two episodes - become a character I like just as much as Lee (who is one of my favorite Telltale protagonists).

Also, the second episode's ending actually made me say "Oh my God" out loud. Telltale, you magnificent bastards.

Here are my choices for the second episode:

Yup, I surrendered to The New Frontier in order to save Conrad's girlfriend (or wife?) - not that it did me much good. Conrad still hated me, even when everything went wrong. I had no qualms about shooting him either. Clementine had saved my life three times and the piece of shit had a gun at my nephew's head. Fuck him.

There was also no way I wasn't going to do everything to save Kate. Sure, they could have shot me but I've become too invested in the Kate - Javi relationship to let her die on me. At the time, I thought it was a smart idea to hold onto Kate's hand during the first scene, even though David saw me do it.

That ending, though, made me instantly regret that decision. I'm pretty sure most people assumed David had died during the outbreak. I know I certainly did. Now I'm worried about Gabe being influenced by his asshole father. Great twist ending, though (as well as the revelation that Clem was once a member too). Really looking forward to what happens next.

Massively enjoyed this episode. I think The New Frontier will end up eclipsing the second season for me, if it continues as it is.

[The Dark Shape]

I just finished The Ties That Bind - Part 1.  That was tense!  I absolutely love Clementine being an NPC again.  It's like the ultimate judgment of how we raised her over the first two seasons.

My choices:

[MrSaxon]

I was watching a Let's Play to see the outcome of different choices and, at the end, the Youtuber pointed out that the reason that the third and fifth choices were so high in one direction was because of peoples' attachments to Clementine. God knows what happened with me because I went in the other direction with both!

[The Dark Shape]

The third choice was due to my attachment to Clementine, but the fifth (which I agonized over - that meter damn near ran out) was a strategy decision.  I felt we had a better chance of getting out of there with cover fire than without it.

[MrSaxon]

Makes me a tiny bit sad that nobody else seems to have given this one a go. It's real good, guys!

[The Dark Shape]

Short, though.  I think Episodes 1 and 2 combined are shorter than Long Road Ahead in Season 1.

[MrSaxon]

I'm really enjoying this. As I mentioned before, Javi has really grown on me as a lead character and I like the difference between him and Lee from the first game. Javi's ties largely aren't with strangers but with family members, and those ties therefore go back to long before the outbreak occurred. As such, the game uses a nice Lost flashback system to show how the past sometimes informs the present which I like quite a bit. It also asks a question that seems to be popping up quite frequently in the media at the moment; "Which is more important - the family you're born into or the one you create for yourself?"

This isn't to say I don't have some criticisms. The main villain is kind of weak and the character of Gabe falls head-first into the "sulky annoying teenager" stereotype. It would have been better if he'd been handled in a similar fashion to Clementine as I really do enjoy the interactions between Clem and Javi.

[The Dark Shape]

I'm enjoying it, but so much of its attempted emotional power comes from Javi's relationship with David, and David means nothing to me.  For that reason, the game isn't landing in a place that hurts like the first two seasons.

[mongycore]

AFuck Gabe. He's the new Kenny.

[SPOILER=Warning: Spoiler!]Wrapped this up tonight.

Thought I was rid of both of those two shits when they drove away. David died and Gabe brained him after turning. You could have left him out there Clem, that would be fine with me. Just keep driving and find AJ.

For some reason after fucking up the town so bad Jesus says I can stay and make things better. Yeah, that one lady pulled a gun on me and Eleanor can't be trusted. I'd get the fuck out if that option was written.

Take me with you Clem...

[/SPOILER]

Lol, what the hell. I played through this god damned series so I'd have a complete save file going in....um, I don't think it incorporated my save file at all. Was expecting to see some kind of answer to what happened with Kenny and Clem, never happened, so I watched that shit on youtube.