The Walking Dead: A New Frontier - Episode 5 - From the Gallows Reviews
Eager for Season 4!
"From the Gallows" would be great as mid-season episode of The Walking Dead, but as a grand finale, it leaves one disappointed.
Review in Polish | Read full review
I was worried that this final episode was going to let down the whole season (based on gameplay from previous episodes). Instead it was able to redeem itself and provide us with what was lacking before – engagement. It also also paved the way for the next season where hopefully we will see more of Clementine's story (which will make a lot of Clementine fans happy).
All of the cliches, none of the heart.
A good season finale with lots of emotional scenes and different endings. Still, the epilogue makes you wonder if this was an interim season, and what is the real role of Clementine, for a narrative not so clear.
Review in Italian | Read full review
A New Frontier rebounds in its final episode, but it can't stop the fact that the series has delivered its weakest season to date.
The episode, and the game in general, is not bad.
A poor ending to the weakest season to date, bogged down with inconsistent characterisation and a plot that ignores or discards many key threads.
What really makes From the Gallows stand out as one of the better episodes this season is that in and among all the action and drama, there are some really touching moments of laughter and love.
A New Frontier tells two tales, one of a battle-hardened teenager and the other of a brother who is trying to keep his family together while struggling with his emotions. It's powerful and steps away from the aesthetics of a melodrama but my dear reader, A New Frontier sets the bar high for its excellent narrative, storytelling and politics of society. You will drown in the world of New Richmond only to be awakened by a Walker nearby.
A New Frontier doesn't just refer to a part in the story - it works just as well as a metaphor to what the season eventually settles into. Coming into these five episodes, it was hard to imagine that it could live up to the quality that the first two seasons dished out, but it ends up as something far more ambitious and special than anyone would have imagined.
Between ups and downs, we arrive at the end of the third season of The Walking Dead: A New Frontier. 'From the gallows' is an episode that provides constant fear for the life of each character, which will be put in critical situations. The Garc'a family has a closure in their journey; however, the game ends with a loose end that will upset some players. It's obvious the story will continue, either by an epilogue DLC or as a beginning to a fourth season.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
This new season has had a bumpy ride, launching off from a promising start, but stuttering along the way. Despite all its issues, though, a great story has been told. It's just not within a great game. The technical issues have too huge an impact to ignore. There is even less actual playable game time than normal for a Telltale title, and even this finale ends up feeling a little disappointing. From the beginning, this felt like it would be Javi's complete story, and anything that came after would be around Clem again, but instead of wrapping up loose threads and delivering a complete start-to-end story, it feels like it's setting up a second season for Javi. There's far too much of this in today's media; writing with the sequel in mind instead of just telling a complete story.
From the Gallows is a disappointing ending for A New Frontier and only because of this episode, you should consider skipping A New Frontier at all.
Review in Persian | Read full review
An engaging yet flawed chapter satisfyingly closes off the season and sets the stage for Clementine's next adventure.
The final episode of The Walking Dead: A New Frontier ends the season on a low note. It's lack of interactive elements, frequent bugs, and substandard writing will have fans of the series looking to the TV show or comic to get their walker fix.
Compared to the earlier entries, The Walking Dead: A New Frontier wasn't the best season. There were more than enough characters who were unsympathetic, and some of the recycled plot devices didn't do anything to wipe away that sense of déjà vu. The final episode, From the Gallows, brought a satisfying emotional resolution to earlier actions and events, and the end report listing the overall relationship outcomes between Javi and all of the major characters made you feel like there was actually some agency in a Telltale title, even if that doesn't really occur. Though uneven, this turned out to be a good season if you were willing to stick with it.
Despite a fairly strong lead in from Thicker Than Water, Episode 5: From the Gallows is unable to craft a wholly satisfying conclusion to A New Frontier's story. In many respects, this finale is exemplary of Telltale at its absolute worst: uneven character focus, forced cameos, rushed pacing, meaningless choices, and uninspired plotting. Although A New Frontier comes out thematically cohesive, that means little when the final product found itself unable to fully develop its cast before the finale while also refusing to commit to either Javi or Clem as the protagonist. As From the Gallows comes to a close, it feels as it season three still had more story to tell.
After all that’s said and done, Telltale delivered a game that has a nice story but not compelling enough to be part of the mainstream season. Sure it was a game that had lots of surprises and twists but at the end of the day it was not the game I was really hoping for. I still have high hopes for next season and hopefully we get a season that we finally deserve.
For all the lack of shock this season might lack, it builds some strong foundations for stories to be told and this gruelling, maturing story as we prepare for season four