The Walking Dead: Season Two Episode 2 - A House Divided Reviews
It may go by a little too fast, but Season 2 Episode 2 is a fine continuation to the series that makes up for the lackluster first episode.
An episode full of setup, A House Divided trades in its intensity for a bit more action, and a touch of intrigue.
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."
With constant rising tension culminating in a spectacular last act, A House Divided finds itself a place among The Walking Dead's high points.
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.
The Walking Dead: A House Divided is definitely the most disappointing entry in this series to date, which is to say that it's quite good but unremarkable. The biggest problem with it is that it feels less like a full episode with its own arc and more like a placeholder to set things up for when the story really kicks in.
If you liked Season 1, give Telltale more of your money.
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.
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.
Whether it's through conversation or through action, A House Divided will make you feel.
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.
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….
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.
[SPOILER WARNING: This review contains spoilers.] If you're invested in this story, your nerves may not survive the constant stakes-raising.
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.
The Walking Dead Season 2 Episode 2: A House Divided is one of the strongest chapters yet in terms of story. Unfortunately, true gameplay sequences are a bit scarce, although some of the dialog scenes are certainly intense enough to make up for it in some regard.
'A House Divided' is another great episode for Season 2 that focuses on the relationship between characters and helps in explaining the background for some of them. It also sets up the ground for a great Episode 3 with its end of episode teaser.
[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.
As much as I harp on the topic of autonomy and linearity, I still find it extremely difficult to fault the game in my final calculation. 'The Walking Dead' as a whole and this latest episode are doing amazing things for storytelling in games. Clementine is an all-time great character, this season solidifying her as a unique and compelling protagonist, and William Carver might just be the series' best villain. He may not even be a villain in the coming episodes, and it's exactly that kind of ambiguity that keeps me on my toes. It keeps me wanting more. 'A House Divided' fleshed out the group and offered up some moments of sincere tension and, for some of us, regret.
A House Divided is more of a standalone Walking Dead episode than the first one was, drawing inspirations from the first game without being too reliant and mimicking, while also looking ahead to what's really in store for Clementine. It harkens back to what made the first game so special: the way seemingly small things have huge reverberations. While the first episode served as a loose prelude, the second episode serves as the real introduction. It's full, fleshed-out, and ultimately everything you would want in a Walking Dead episode.
