trivard676
There’s an over-arching theme in The Walking Dead: Season 2. Actually, it’s an over-arching theme in the entire The Walking Dead universe. What has set it apart from other horror dramas, or whatever you could classify The Walking Dead as, is that it’s not about the zombies. The zombies are a backdrop, an ever-looming threat that is never quite far off. The Walking Dead is, and has always been about people.
And people are terrible.
Editor’s Note: You wouldn’t be reading this review if you didn’t already play through the other episodes of the series. Wait—you are? There’s other TWD reviews for you to look at – an entire two seasons’ worth! Proceed at your own risk!
Once again, the cards were stacked against our group of survivors at the end of the last episode. Rebecca’s baby was born healthy, but after the birth, Rebecca was clearly not. It didn’t take long for her to succumb to her just had a baby injuries and a decision needed to be made. Save the helpless baby, or keep the peace during the middle of a stand-off with one of the more unbelievable moments of The Walking Dead.
Thankfully (and surprisingly) the group manages to squeak away from their altercation in what must have been Lee looking down and giving their aggressors a giant, heavenly middle finger. However they’re still left in the same predicament they were in before – no food, no shelter, a baby, a man broken, and a snow storm. If it weren’t so terrifying, it’d almost be funny. But together, they trudge along to their next destination, with the glimmer of hope that better days lie ahead, over the horizon a few more times.
It’s a shame about the amount of character revelation in the final episode. What happened in this episode felt like it should have happened in the first or second, but its inclusion doesn’t feel forced or out of place. You notice this a lot because compared to other episodes, there was not a lot of action. Navigating tense situations where the group was at each other’s throats, reminiscing on times long past with old friends and trying to keep everyone from killing one another is tricky business, though. It would have been nicer to have a little more action, but the intensity of the human interactions makes up for not having a gun in your hand all the time. It’s disappointing that the shoot zombies in the leg to hobble them didn’t seem to be brought through to this episode, though.
I didn’t experience any major control or audio issues while playing on the PC, but depending on your console of choice, your results may vary. Telltale games don’t seem to do very well on consoles unfortunately, but they’re (mostly) great on PCs. There were a few audio glitches, where people would talk, but I would interrupt them in a way by making a selection, but it was only once or twice. I also had the misfortune of some of the voices being muddied or sounding hollow, but it was so minor an issue that I rarely noticed.
This being the last episode, you have to expect that not everyone is going to make it through to the end. However, in a stark contrast to previous episodes, the notable deaths felt as if those characters earned their passage. Sure, it was heart-breaking, but it didn’t feel cheap, and that’s all you can really ask for in a game where people are an expendable commodity. People still relied on Clementine, but their reasoning for asking for her help was growing more and more sound and believable with each episode, not just an effort to keep the game from being boring.
This episode told me everything that I needed to know about myself playing this game. Behind Clementine is the brain of an adult woman who is trying so desperately for people to get along, to keep the group together, and it just didn’t work (you can substitute your own stats here) no matter how much I tried. I was so stubborn in my refusal to accept that the survivors I had been loyal to and relied upon were…human, that I missed all of the terrible things that they were capable of doing. And if The Walking Dead shows us anything, it’s that people are monsters.
They steal from each other, sabotage one another, they argue and fight one another, are deceptive and manipulative, they will even go so far as to eat one another if it serves them (or if they’re already dead, in which case they really can’t help that); they will kill and maim and enslave one another for power, even pride.
But worst of all? They’re not all like that. Sometimes they’re good. They will care for you and help you and come to be everything that you rely on and you will gladly do the same for them. You will love them and trust them, get to know them and understand their emotions. And then they will leave you, and the leaving is the worst part.
So you move on to new people, substantially different than the people you were with before. Because being with people is always better than being alone, especially in a world where everyone wants you dead or manipulated to serve their needs. And again, the process repeats itself. Some of them love you, some of them betray you. No matter how hard you try to be a good person, to make things right, to make the world a better place, even if only just a little bit. The cycle continues, and you will always let it.
Because people are terrible.
(9 / 10)
Amazing
(9 / 10)
