The Walking Dead: A New Frontier - Episode 4 - Thicker Than Water Reviews
This was a light and weak episode that should have been a strong penultimate for a revolt within the city.
The fourth episode of Telltale's The Walking Dead: A New Frontier is pretty uneventful and borderline monotonous until its climax, which somehow channels the pure evil of a villain like Negan, and finishes the episode off with a bang. Literally.
If last episode was one step forward, this one was unfortunately one or two steps back. The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series - A New Frontier Episode 4: Thicker Than Water is a solid enough offering, with its usual assortment of quality voice actors and gut wrenching moments. That being said, some of the characters wore thin on me really quickly in this particular chapter, and once again it is Clementine to the rescue.
The latest episode in Telltale’s The Walking Dead seemingly came out of left field, and it boasts an ending that really makes you second guess the decisions you made up to this point.
Thicker Than Water serves as an excellent prelude to the carnage that is sure to come in the Season finale.
I just know that the shit is piling up ten-fold and it is waiting to hit that proverbial fan. I can’t wait to see how all this tension comes to its conclusive (and more than likely grisly end) and with that, I truly trust Telltale Games to deliver.
Although I can't wait to see what happens in the next episode. It's leaving me feeling like the game has not moved at all. For the last 2 episodes we've only been introduced to one location, not like what we had for the last 2 seasons where almost each episode takes us to a different place. I hope that this game will still be able to reinvent itself and introduce us to more locations and characters in the future. But right now it seems that they slowed things down and just focused on the characters and not the location.
Although Episode 4: Thicker Than Water once again deprives players of all agency, it's actually handled relatively well in-universe, making for a second-to-last episode that actively marches towards the finale. Characters are finally reaching a point where they feel fully developed, the story has found a suitable emotional centre, and the stakes have been raised high enough where Javi and Clem will naturally find themselves challenged in Episode 5. It isn't as strong as it could have been - in large part due to A New Frontier's overall structure - but Thicker Than Water stands out as the strongest chapter in season three thus far.
Telltale has seriously upped the ante with more action and tougher decisions to make, and Thicker Than Water has definitely been my favourite of the series so far.
Thicker Than Water is the weakest episode so far. It has a major focus on relationships between characters but it lacks logic.
Review in Persian | Read full review
The conclusion of Thicker Than Water is exactly what you'd expect from the series, and that's not a bad thing. For action fans, the setup means that the final episode is sure to be full of gore. For everyone else, though, having to spend so much time with some unlikeable and underdeveloped characters makes the episode feel like a drag, so the end is met with relief rather than longing to see the conclusion. It shouldn't be long before the final episode hits, but here's hoping things end on an upswing.
Telltale's third season of The Walking Dead had a great start, but it's getting worse every new episode. Thicker than Water is the weakest point in the story, bringing an unbalanced and inconsistent narrative. Its climax rests upon Javi's flashback, which reveals more about the relationship with his brother David. Remaining only one more episode to save this season, it's time to question if the series can hold another one, or if Telltale's formula is already saturated.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
The fourth episode of The Walking Dead: A New Frontier is all build up and no payoff. The erratic behavior that occurs when going slightly off-script absolutely shatters any semblance of a cohesive narrative. Here's hoping the next chapter offers a more consistent and well-written story.
With a high-throttle ending leading to a satisfying conclusion for Thicker Than Water, The Walking Dead: A New Frontier finally heads back on track when it comes to finishing up the job. While another cliff-hanger, it's one that feels like it'll actually lead somewhere instead of predictability lingering at the forefront. Things are set up beautifully for the finale, and players will see if all the risks going into this season end up being worth it.
An amazing emotional experience that trips and stumbles, but shows what Telltale is capable off.
Ignoring the graphical issues and the crashing, this is almost a return to form. The story gets back on track and is truly engaging, character development continues to excel, and the choices remain difficult. This is topped off with another superb cliff-hanger that delivers a sequence that will make players want to immediately go back and see the fallout from the other branching option, not to mention eager to get their hands on that final episode. If only it could be bug free...
What should have been an ramp up in excitement for the finale descends into dull, familiar tropes with bizarre characterisation.
“Thicker Than Water” has its moments of enjoyment and incredulity, but the slow build-up and the meandering nature of the episode as a whole turns it into a frustrating chunk of a mostly consistent season. Players who stick through it will be well-rewarded with an intriguing finale setup that will hopefully pay off, but individually, the episode feels more like an obstacle than a continuation.
The fourth chapter looks like a regular episode from the AMC series: a few zombies, a lot of dialogues, characters who act stupidly. Still, the ending is well-structured, and delivers some good moments and decisions. Not as good as the second episode, way better than the third.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Managing to avoid the slower pace and lack of events the last episode presented, Thicker than Water continues the The Walking Dead: A New Frontier with a solid episode leading up to an interesting finale.