No more waiting! It’s arrived. All the navel gazing style dissection of the trailer no longer has to suffice to feed our appetite. The Walking Dead Telltale game, season 2, episode one, is here. And all is good in game land, for it is, like, awesome and stuff.
The Walking Dead franchise has been a major boon for the creative explorations of the interactive fan base crowd. Elsewhere on this site, we’ve looked at the booming role of the Walking Dead fanfiction . The Telltale game provides another, more structured, but still interactive experience with the world that Robert Kirkman created.
Fans of season one will certainly remember Clementine. She was kind of the object of the first season. The subject, if you will, the acting protagonist, Lee, was largely driven by his desire to protect her. However, as such fans will know, Lee is gone, and now Clementine has to fend for herself. Thus she has graduated to protagonist of season two. When we meet back up with her in season two, we already see how she has had to grow up, forced to make the hard decisions to survive the zombie apocalypse.
This great game continues to breathe new life into the adventure game genre. In the process, its winning season one strategy, that avoids lapsing into pedantic puzzle solving, continues with the emphasis being upon dynamic of interactive story telling. And these aren’t empty choices.
The character’s decisions about what to do, and even what to say, lead to real, often surprising and sometimes tragic outcomes. Furthermore, the game keeps track of decisions, many of which come back to haunt our main character - Lee last season, Clementine this season - from episode to episode. Indeed, it appears choices from last season can still have an impact in this new season.
All this is not to say that there are no changes in season two. And most of them are definitely improvements. The technical improvements are particularly noteworthy. I found the graphics much improved in the second season; they are more richly detailed. Frame rates are also improved, being more stable. Clementine walks about at a much advanced clip, now. A welcomed addition, when gripped in on-the-edge-of-your-seat suspense.
My one complaint isn’t a huge thing, but it does annoy me a little. And it is worth mentioning considering how much of the game’s cache and value arises from its interactivity. The dialogue choices frequently struck me as excessively bi-polar. It seems I have to play Clementine as either a waif or a badass. She’s either batting her eyes or spoiling for a throw-down. I think these options are too limited and don’t get the most out of the story. I’ll be watching that development going forward.
On the flip side of the coin, though, playing a young girl does provide for some interesting options that weren’t available by playing Lee. Clementine can be coyly manipulative. This is a new and interesting option - especially for those of us who have never been young girls!
I am happy to report, though, that Telltale’s greatest strength is still well on display in season one of The Walking Dead. I’m referring here to the moral ambiguity and dilemmas the player must navigate in finding the protagonist’s way in the game world. For instance, are you prepared to make Clementine a killer right from the beginning?
Many early players have done just that: often to their surprise and ambivalence. What will be the consequences? Not to be too pun-ish about it, but only future episodes will tell the tale. This confrontation with the morally challenging, I believe, explains the great success of the Walking Dead Telltale games. I suspect the challenges are even going to become greater as we go on. It’s a bright future for gamers everywhere. At least, provided you’re not actually inside of the zombie apocalypse…and all that.
The Walking Dead franchise has been a major boon for the creative explorations of the interactive fan base crowd. Elsewhere on this site, we’ve looked at the booming role of the Walking Dead fanfiction . The Telltale game provides another, more structured, but still interactive experience with the world that Robert Kirkman created.
Fans of season one will certainly remember Clementine. She was kind of the object of the first season. The subject, if you will, the acting protagonist, Lee, was largely driven by his desire to protect her. However, as such fans will know, Lee is gone, and now Clementine has to fend for herself. Thus she has graduated to protagonist of season two. When we meet back up with her in season two, we already see how she has had to grow up, forced to make the hard decisions to survive the zombie apocalypse.
This great game continues to breathe new life into the adventure game genre. In the process, its winning season one strategy, that avoids lapsing into pedantic puzzle solving, continues with the emphasis being upon dynamic of interactive story telling. And these aren’t empty choices.
The character’s decisions about what to do, and even what to say, lead to real, often surprising and sometimes tragic outcomes. Furthermore, the game keeps track of decisions, many of which come back to haunt our main character - Lee last season, Clementine this season - from episode to episode. Indeed, it appears choices from last season can still have an impact in this new season.
All this is not to say that there are no changes in season two. And most of them are definitely improvements. The technical improvements are particularly noteworthy. I found the graphics much improved in the second season; they are more richly detailed. Frame rates are also improved, being more stable. Clementine walks about at a much advanced clip, now. A welcomed addition, when gripped in on-the-edge-of-your-seat suspense.
My one complaint isn’t a huge thing, but it does annoy me a little. And it is worth mentioning considering how much of the game’s cache and value arises from its interactivity. The dialogue choices frequently struck me as excessively bi-polar. It seems I have to play Clementine as either a waif or a badass. She’s either batting her eyes or spoiling for a throw-down. I think these options are too limited and don’t get the most out of the story. I’ll be watching that development going forward.
On the flip side of the coin, though, playing a young girl does provide for some interesting options that weren’t available by playing Lee. Clementine can be coyly manipulative. This is a new and interesting option - especially for those of us who have never been young girls!
I am happy to report, though, that Telltale’s greatest strength is still well on display in season one of The Walking Dead. I’m referring here to the moral ambiguity and dilemmas the player must navigate in finding the protagonist’s way in the game world. For instance, are you prepared to make Clementine a killer right from the beginning?
Many early players have done just that: often to their surprise and ambivalence. What will be the consequences? Not to be too pun-ish about it, but only future episodes will tell the tale. This confrontation with the morally challenging, I believe, explains the great success of the Walking Dead Telltale games. I suspect the challenges are even going to become greater as we go on. It’s a bright future for gamers everywhere. At least, provided you’re not actually inside of the zombie apocalypse…and all that.
About the Author:
If you’re keen to have the scoop on all the Walking Dead news , you should be following Mickey Jhonny’s posts at the Pretty Much Dead Alhave a look aty blog. Gaming fans will want to have a look at his piece on the best games for PC that is entirely free!
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Clementine's Story: The Next Phase Of The Walking Dead Telltale Game Clementine's Story: The Next Phase Of The Walking Dead Telltale Game
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