The Walking Dead: A New Frontier - Episodes 1 & 2 - Ties That Bind Reviews
A partially successful soft reboot, with some of Telltale’s best storytelling – even if many of your decisions still make precious little difference.
Maybe we can expect wonders from the third season of Walking Dead. The first two episodes have great characters and a very impressive plot.
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The Walking Dead Season 3 Ties that Bind is a step in the right direction for this franchise. Not only does it deliver the iconic decision system but the refreshing pacing made thrilling moments more frequent.
The Walking Dead: A New Frontier – Episode 1: Ties That Bind (Part One)'s title may appear to promise something wholly original, but this is the same old episodic adventure that you're already familiar with. That's no bad thing, though, as Telltale appears to be on top form with this third series, setting up a compelling new cast of characters while re-introducing the most important of them all: Clementine. The same old quirks remain, but you should know by now whether the engine issues or lack of player agency will affect your enjoyment. If you're comfortable with the usual shortcomings, then this is a strong start to what promises to be another compelling season.
A worthy flagbearer.
It’s still a little disconcerting to still not have a clear idea where the season as a whole will be heading, but moment-to-moment, Season 3 of Telltale’s Walking Dead continues to deliver some of the impressive world-building and characterization that made me love the series when it first premiered. I feel a part of Javi and Clementine’s plight, and though I hope the rest of the season can avoid some of the familiar Telltale and Walking Dead formula trappings that Episode 2 fell into and to keep surprising me, I’m still invested in finding out what’s next. Especially with a little more context for the New Frontier revealed, Telltale is starting to better lay out all the logs it has to build a cabin. I just hope the rest of the structure is as strong as the foundation.
A promising, assured start, and a welcome return to form for Telltale.
The New Frontier is off to a great start, and its troubled cast's harrowing journey is just getting started.
The conclusion to The Ties That Bind is a gut-wrenching, gory masterpiece up there with the very best episodes of The Walking Dead.
Yes, I think this is absolutely something you should buy, but that comes with a huge caveat. I thought the story and situations were great. I think the engine needs to go. Yesterday. Were it not for the technical side, this would have been rated much higher.
The Walking Dead Season 3 makes two very strong starts. Splitting the first episode into a two-parter means fans are treated to a double-whammy of excellent storytelling and get to spend more time with these immediately engaging and relatable characters.
I don’t have a clear sense of where the season as a whole aims to go just yet, but “Ties That Bind Part I” is one of Telltale’s strongest openers in recent memory. Scenes feel carefully constructed in their camera direction and editing, and Telltale avoids the pitfalls of its most egregious past issues — only one environmental exploration sequence temporarily slows things down — but for the most part the episode moves along at an exceptional clip. But that’s not just thanks to Part I’s style. Smart characterization and writing for Javi and his family, plus the return of Clementine, add weight to a largely unfamiliar but already engaging new frontier that I can’t wait to continue to explore.
Walking Dead fans looking to jump back into Clementine's story with this new game should temper their expectations. The player only takes control of her in flashback chapters that do not affect the overall arc of the story or any relationship with a character in it. Her retrospectives are nonetheless harrowing.
A New Frontier is shaping up to be a brilliant season, and I can’t wait to see how Episode 3 pans out.
The first episode had decent pacing and while Javier was likable it didn't seem to really get things off to an amazing start, but just re-introduced the universe.
Ties That Bind is a fantastic introduction to The Walking Dead: A New Frontier. The story is incredibly well created, still managing to feel fresh despite the amount of baggage its carrying from two previous seasons of diverging narrative.
Whether you’re a returning fan, a lapsed player or a complete newcomer, The Walking Dead: A New Frontier gets off to a good and welcoming start, with more than a few twists and turns packed into the two-part episode. While it’s not perfect, that extra time has given Telltale room to breathe life into a new and interesting cast of admittedly flawed characters, build new relationships and present them with new and immediate dangers, always with the threat of zombies in the background.
The Ties That Bind Parts One and Two are the best episodes in the series to date. Whether you’re a returning fan or brand new to The Walking Dead: The Telltale series, I highly recommend that you play this game today!
The two-episode opener does its job at getting your interest back into the series and kindling your curiosity