The Walking Dead: Season Two Episode 1 - All That Remains Reviews
If you thought the second season of The Walking Dead was going to be more lighthearted, then prepare to be disappointed. All That Remains sees a more mature Clementine battling to survive by herself. As first episodes go, this one definitely gets the job done. The hard part is waiting for the second episode.
It may not be the best episode of The Walking Dead, but it still has some good moments in it. Hopefully the glitches will be worked on and the setups established will have some payoffs. If you're a fan of The Walking Dead and enjoyed what you played of the first season, chances are you need to pick this episode up. Just keep in mind; it may not be as polished as the previous outings.
Upon reflection of what transpired in All That Remains, I'm feeling equal parts eagerness and dread with the continuation of Clementine's journey. The dread comes from knowing that things have started off pretty rough for her, and I don't anticipate them getting any better.
As young as she is, Clementine has grown to be a very complex character who is definitely the product of the people who have taken care of her. But she's no longer the scared girl in the treehouse. She's a survivor. And we can't wait to see where the next four episodes take her.
All That Remains is a fine way to kick off the second season of The Walking Dead. Telltale made some interesting design decisions putting players in the role of Clementine, and most of their choices—but not all—work out nicely.
While obviously there are still four more episodes to go and we're just playing the start of Clementine's journey, Episode 1 of The Walking Dead: Season Two gets the new season off to a thrilling start that proves the wait was well worth it.
Despite some problems with its length and conclusion, All That Remains is a dark, harrowing, and effective experience that is worthy of the Walking Dead name.
Although the first episode of The Walking Dead Season 2 is a bit slow to get going, the groundwork is there for another amazing game.
The focus on action for the first half of the episode takes away from what makes this series great, but the exceptional tone, and excellent storytelling still deliver. Clementine promises to be a unique and compelling protagonist, and Telltale has the potential here to make the most important game in the zombie sub-genre. [THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS]
If you liked Season 1, give Telltale more of your money.
How long do I have to wait for Episode 2?
While there's an intriguing setup here, 'All That Remains' starts the new season off slowly and fails to deliver a sensible and concrete outlook at the future. There are notably fewer meaningful choices to be found and the action scenes are without much suspense as Clementine is far too susceptible to be grabbed by a walker.
First episodes are always going to be hard to evaluate to see where the season is going to go, but as an opening episode for Season Two of The Walking Dead, I feel that it gives a strong first impression.
In the end, Episode One: All That Remains does a decent job of setting up the season. . . . The future remains unwritten for Clementine in Season Two, but it's certainly off to a strong start.
We won't know for sure just how effective the set-up here was until the full season is complete sometime next year, but as it stands right now, we're totally on board.
Despite its flaws, The Walking Dead: season 2: Episode 1 is still an outstanding game. It still makes you feel for its characters in ways no other game on the market does. It's still one of the best examples of games as art our industry has to offer. In fact, this is perhaps the best piece of zombie fiction available right now. Yes, better than World War Z. Yes, better than Night of the Living Dead. If you are a fan of zombie fiction in general, you owe it to yourself to play this game.
Whilst not quite in the same league as the previous season's episodes, All That Remains offers a potentially intriguing character arc for Clem, which helps paper over shortcomings in the overall storyline.
It was perhaps too much to ask of Telltale that they blow our minds in the very first episode, but I still feel a little let-down with how "setty-uppy" All That Remains felt, with a mostly predictable storyline and few really significant or interesting choices to make. It's also short of course, taking me a straight 98 minutes to finish. Nevertheless there were surprises, plenty of tragic moments and at least one section that nearly made me pass out, so overall I consider this first episode of The Walking Dead's second season a success. Now that the setting up is done however I demand nothing less than excellence from the next episode, A House Divided. No pressure, guys.
Never a huge fan of the episodic give you bits and pieces of the game over months and months is almost too excruciating. TellTale Games is just lucky that they do the source material proud. The wait is worth it, just not easy.
And talking of superior versions, once again the PC reins supreme. The stuttering and freezing issues that have always plagued the console versions are entirely absent from the Steam game, and the game looks gorgeous at a crisp 1080p – its expressive faces and soft colours doing wonders to mask a presumably modest budget. What more can be said? The benchmark narrative game of the last generation has come back just as strong and just as skilfully as before. You should already be playing it.