The Walking Dead: Season Two Episode 2 - A House Divided Reviews
All in all, A House Divided provides a more exciting installment of The Walking Dead adventure game and lets us see just how much Clementine has grown while taking us on an exciting venture out into the woods to escape a dangerous man. It's also deceptively quick because of the many changes in setting, leading you to believe that it's shorter than it is.
With constant rising tension culminating in a spectacular last act, A House Divided finds itself a place among The Walking Dead's high points.
Cigarette in one hand, and now a whisky in the other, I watch as the credits roll. The climax of the episode is a big one, masterfully presented to ensure the maximum emotional impact and lots of awful regrets. "I've made a terrible mistake," I say as the credits fade. "I'm going to pay for it in the next episode."
If you liked Season 1, give Telltale more of your money.
Clementine's characterisation and her interactions with adults are strong as ever in this fraught episode. Two-fifths of the way through the story is still too early to judge how other themes, characters and plot strands will pay off, but the build-up suggests it'll be worthwhile.
An episode full of setup, A House Divided trades in its intensity for a bit more action, and a touch of intrigue.
Featuring unnerving tension, unremitting cruelty and a disarming level of brutality, The Walking Dead series has become a vanguard for narrative shocks and rollicking set-pieces.
The table setting seems to be all in place now for the feast still to come, and even at its most meandering The Walking Dead is still capable of telling an intriguing, frightening story about humanity's worst impulses.
If Telltale can keep pushing the boundaries like this for the rest of the season then it'll be at the very least as good as the superb first season. Until next time….
A lot of people complained that Episode 1 didn't stand alone as its own story, and Episode 2 still doesn't But frankly, it doesn't matter. There are still unanswered questions, cliffhanger endings, and lack of any real resolution to any character's conflicts, but it's still a phenomenal story. Very much unlike Season 1, which had five episodes each sort of telling a micro story about a band of survivors, Season 2 is very much a continuous narrative, and that's what makes it great! There's no reason to skip The Walking Dead: Season 2: Episode 2: A House Divided. Heck, there's more reason to go back and purchase Season 1, and play it start to finish, just so that Season 2, has its full effect.
Whether it's through conversation or through action, A House Divided will make you feel.
The first episode of The Walking Dead: Season Two was undoubtedly great, but definitely had its flaws - partially due to being a pilot episode, and partially due to the writing being, though damn good, not quite up to the par of sheer excellence that Telltale have set themselves. The same can't be said of Episode Two: A House Divided - this is some of the studio's finest work.
You'll not leave this episode happy, but the very nature of this series is to challenge and provoke; Telltale continue to refine and polish their craft to such an extent that even the misery of the narrative can't hold us back from wanting more - this second episode is a triumph.
[T]he slow start and uneven technical performance don't stop "A House Divided" from adding new life to Telltale's The Walking Dead. The gripping, uncompromising episode expertly blends potent character moments with gut-wrenching loss, presenting enough narrative progression in this two-hour trip for two full episodes.
Episode Two of The Walking Dead hits all the right narrative notes, but also hits a rough patch when controls are given to the player to do more than just pick what to say.
Telltale continues to shine as A House Divided is the best episode of any Telltale game yet.
The Walking Dead: Episode Two rushes into a tense and nicely orchestrated climax, and although your interaction is limited to a couple of moral decisions, it's still a nail-biting finale. If you didn't like the cliffhanger finish to the first episode, you'll like the second episode's conclusion even less. And after that mighty wait, we feel a little shortchanged with the not-quite-one-and-a-half-hours of playtime. Let's just hope that Episode 3: In Harm's Way comes along a little quicker, and the story can hold up to this promising beginning.
[SPOILER WARNING: This review contains spoilers.] If you're invested in this story, your nerves may not survive the constant stakes-raising.
Despite a slight dip in the overall Walking Dead experience, A House Divided is just as integral an addition to the opus as any other episode. Desperate decisions in the heat of the moment and QTE battles with walkers and the living are kept to a minimum, making gameplay suffer but allows more scope for the story to expand.
This is probably one of the best episodes of The Walking Dead so far. Pretty much everything was done right in this episode, the character building, the tough choices, the impact of choices, the remarkable scenes featuring Carver and the tense action scenes. There are some technical issues that don't seem to impact the overall enjoyment of the game. What are you waiting for? Play this episode now.