SPOILERS NOTE: The general plot is discussed, but the fates of individual characters are not.
Picking up where the first episode left off, the second episode (and second part of the Ties That Bind premiere) is a breathless and exhausting affair that’s only let down by how brisk it is. So much happens in such a short amount of time that when the traditional twist at the end occurs, the hour of playtime has been and gone without you even realising it.
After the events of the last episode, Clem and Javi have a body to bury. Despite this character having little screen time, the connection between they and Javi means that their death and his eulogy is going to cause a few trembling lips. Whereas the TV show treats death like a punishment to its audience (who have been going through a lot of that lately), death in Telltale’s universe feels like a closing of a book, a resolution reached thanks to some of the most effective writing you will find in the industry.
A lot has been said about this season’s focus on Javi over Clem, and while it’s easy to empathise with them to a point, Clem’s story has already been told over two seasons. She’s probably going to be the constant throughout coming seasons, so having a new hero to get behind does a lot to further expand on the universe. It doesn’t hurt that Javi is a pretty fantastic addition to the canon so far, a man guided by principles and family.
Arriving back at Prescott, Javi is again thrust into a difficult situation, made even worse by how positive things were looking just five minutes before the end of the first episode. Some may think it was too abrupt and a little bit cheap, but this is The Walking Dead after all – tragedy is its currency. Without the death of Lee in its first season, would Telltale’s series still have the same legacy?
The New Frontier show up and predictably cause some issues. The dangerous group haven’t really been fleshed out to this point, which will probably come in later episodes, but for now, they’re ultimately just a bunch of scallywags with guns. They use said guns to besiege PRescott and unleash havoc, ultimately bringing down its gates and causing the protagonists to flee. This creates one of the best scenes in Telltale history, a cinematic and heart-stopping attack from The New Frontier and the walkers, fought valiantly but in vain by Prescott’s citizens.
On the road again, Javi, Clem, and the rest of the survivors are desperate for help. A member of their party is suffering from a gunshot wound and Richmond, another settlement, is their only choice. The way there is blocked by cars, which leads Javi to try to move them out of the way despite the reservations of Tripp that it’s a trap, and you can guess what happens next.
Eleanor and Kate are separated from the rest of the group after a herd attacks, leaving everyone else to escape to a rooftop. Even though it’s really just a case of pressing a few buttons in QTEs, trying to avoid the clutches of the walkers and reach safety is a pulsating affair and it’s helped by just how smooth everything is. A trend is becoming apparent within the third season of Telltale’s The Walking Dead: it’s probably their best optimised game to date. While there is the odd technical hiccup, this season shows that Telltale are listening to one of the most constant criticisms of their games and working on fixing it. There are still three episodes to go, so hopefully they’re all up to the same standard – nobody wants another Batman.
After meeting up with Jesus, a fan favourite in Skybound’s series, the group then makes their way to an old train tunnel to escape the herd. Another (admittedly pretty expendable) member of the party dies after a revelation from Clementine which may surprise some players – she seems to have forgotten the advice Lee gave her all those years ago.
Out of the tunnel and back on the road, the group arrive at Richmond only to be confronted by the very same people that attacked them. With one of their members in dire need of help, the player’s given a choice of how to deal with The New Frontier’s demands before a shocking twist that should really have been obvious, but will still probably leave you slack-jawed.
The second episode of the third season of Telltale’s The Walking Dead keeps up the quality established by the first episode thanks to some stellar writing and a plot that hates standing still. Despite this, it feels even shorter than the first episode, coming in at roughly an hour long, which includes time spent searching around. It’s disappointing to be brought back into this captivating world and leave it again so soon, but these are establishing episodes designed to introduce new characters, so here’s hoping the rest of the season has much more depth.
READ MORE: Episode One Review
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Episode Three Review
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