Let’s face it, Telltale Games and The Walking Dead has really stuck together over the course of 2012. While the player don’t have much of a freedom in terms of places to visit, the story has really made up for this „loss”. Just think of the finale of Season One. Since then, Season Two has come to an end…

In  The Walking Dead Season 2 PS4 Clementine didn’t really seem like an important character back at the beginning of S1. Boy, was I wrong; her character has improved and changed dramatically over the two seasons. I don’t think I’m going to be spoiling much things if I just say that she will stick around through the second „year”. Of course, the staff around her gets killed and changed up… but still, there’s a question to be answered:

Why is this game so successful?

There’s two explanations to explain how Lee’s – and since then, Clem’s story has become a huge hit. First off, you have to consider that the games are an alternative universe compared to the TV series/comics – if you are interested in those characters, you are pretty much screwed, as there’s not much going on for you other than Survival Instinct. Okay, so there’s the license, which by default can grab quite some cash… but it’s not enough in itself to explain why this game is so good.

The reason why it did become a hit is the way how IT AFFECTS THE PLAYER. Whatever mistake we do earlier can either kill or affect us, or it might affect which NPC will survive in an unexpected moment. Sure, this guy might be good towards us in one scene, but one bad turn in the conversation can change up the dynamics between us. This will turn its head when the whole Season (consisting of five episodes) is done in one sitting… and this might happen easily, as I think Season 2 is just as addictive as the first one was.

The gameplay starts get a bit clichéd

I don’t mean the story here, as that still keeps its pace up quite nicely… but I say that about the gameplay. It’s not a big of an issue, but it slowly starts to feel stale. (And don’t forget; Telltale is making Tales from the Borderlands, Game of Thrones and The Wolf Among Us simultaenously, so this might explain what’s going on, right?)

Let’s be honest: the gameplay is not that revolutionary anymore. The story goes on, and if we chat with someone, we get to choose an option from several ones, resulting in the other character’s stance direction towards us, changing the storyline as well. And then, you can take control of Clem, who will need to find the necessary items in order to make the story progress, sometimes interacting with the said stuff having picked them up just a few seconds ago.

The usual quick time events happen when a zombie/an enemy tries to kill us… and basically, that’d be the gameplay’s description for you. Simple, but deadly – however, I think that Season Three should have some new features, otherwise the game might become stale in the end. It shouldn’t happen!

Cel-shades of the past

Combining the cel-shaded graphics and the huge power of the PlayStation 4 isn’t a technically impressive idea, but it’s working well. The game was never meant to look jawdroppingly beautiful, as it was clearly stated since the start – it isn’t a problem -, but there still should have been a bigger graphical jump from the PS3’s Season One. (There was a minimal bug in the first episode, when somehow Clem’s shadow ended up being a character I just met a few minutes ago. It was really weird, thankfully it ended up as a one-time miracle!)

But what about the audio, you might ask… that’s still extraordinary in the second Season: the ambient sounds, the voice actor’s power and the dialogues’ quality are all excellent.

Still worth a buy

The Walking Dead Season 2 PS4 is a great buy. The only thing that might keep you away from it is the minimal gameplay design, but don’t let the ratings fool you: I still firmly recommend getting it. If you had Season One and the 400 Days DLC, then your decisions will change up things here as well – and with that, you can add half a star to my rating. The story still takes Clem and the others on the back to the hills of success (especially because of the possible multiple endings!), but how long will the star of TWD shine? That’s yet to see…

-V-

Editor: Telltale

Developer: Telltale

Genres: Adventure, action

Publication: 2014 October