The Walking Dead: The Final Season - Episode 1 Reviews

The Walking Dead: The Final Season - Episode 1 is ranked in the 75th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
IGN
Top Critic
6.5 / 10.0
Aug 13, 2018

Clementine's arc is setting up for a spectacular finish in this final season of Telltale's The Walking Dead. Even as we've watched her grow and evolve over the course of three seasons, her interactions with other characters and continued development in this nightmare world consistently allows us to learn new things about her in every new installment. Her relationship with AJ works on multiple levels, both as a callback to her relationship to her original father figure and a mirror image of her own struggle to adapt to her violent world. While some of the exposition-heavy conversations drone on longer than they should, it ends on a powerful note foreshadowing some difficult lessons Clementine has yet to learn about what it means to grow up and lead in a post-society world.

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7 / 10.0
Aug 13, 2018

With predictable moments and repetitive storylines, the season premiere isn't all that exciting. Hopefully, future episodes have more surprises and intriguing developments in store

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9 / 10.0
Aug 13, 2018

Combined with genuinely shocking moments that I would have the heart to spoil here, The Walking Dead: The Final Season is already off to an incredibly promising start, even when I know that its ending will surely be hard to swallow. The Clementine that I know and loved from The Walking Dead's first season is very different now, and I can't wait to see how her story ends.

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7 / 10
Aug 13, 2018

It's practically impossible to make any firm conclusions about The Walking Dead: The Final Season in its first episode, but the engine improvements have really helped step up the storytelling, while the new cast of characters seem interesting at this early stage. While we could take or leave the gameplay tweaks, particularly in the combat department, it's already clear that the stakes are going to be much higher in this concluding season than the series' previous disappointing outing – and for now, that's enough for us.

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7 / 10
Aug 13, 2018

That's what we can call a pretty good start for the last season with a lot of promises based on what a grown Clementine is now for Alvin Junior. A few things have changed and we hope what 's coming next will be good enough so that we can leave one of the best video games characters without any regrets.

Review in French | Read full review

6 / 10.0
Aug 13, 2018

Now a young woman, wise and self-sufficient beyond her years, Clementine has reached the end of her story where, alongside AJ - a young boy she rescued during previous seasons - she will finally face her fate.

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Daily Dot
Top Critic
Aug 13, 2018

While only one episode in, I feel fully invested in where The Walking Dead goes from here.

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9 / 10.0
Aug 13, 2018

The debut episode of The Walking Dead: The Final Season is one of Telltale Games' best efforts in quite some time. It builds its cast of likeable new characters with uncommon skill, lets you feel a glimmer of hope, and then tears it all down in devastating fashion. I'm afraid of what might come next for Clementine and AJ, but I can't look away…The Final Season has already sunk its teeth into me.

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Aug 13, 2018

The Walking Dead: The Final Season - Episode 1 is a near-perfect opener for this latest series. It lives up to the lofty expectations set by its predecessors, while also evolving the formula that had grown stale as of late.

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88 / 100
Aug 13, 2018

In "Done Running," Telltale gives us the Walking Dead game we fell in love with back in Season One, but with noticeable upgrades in gameplay and visuals.

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9 / 10.0
Aug 13, 2018

I'll be the first to admit, the last couple of seasons of The Walking Dead weren't nearly as strong as the first. Finally, it seems, Telltale Games has figured out how to send the series off with a bang. It's still in the early days, but this first episode will have fans chomping at the bit to see how their choices affect others, and of course if Clementine and AJ will make it out alive. The Walking Dead: The Final Season is a great start, and is hopefully a sign that fans will receive the finale the series deserves.

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USgamer
Top Critic
Aug 13, 2018

If this is a return to form for Telltale's The Walking Dead, it's ironically come at the beginning of the end. Combat is still a drag in this game, even with the improved freedom of movement. We've got precious little time left with both Clementine and A.J., but this opening episode of the final season of The Walking Dead neatly gives our characters hope, motivation, and some true friends, all in merely a few hours.

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VG247
Top Critic
Unscored
Aug 13, 2018

The first episode of The Walking Dead's final season is an excellent start, but that's usually the case.

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Unscored
Aug 13, 2018

The Final Season managed to surprise me multiple times already, and if anyone deserves a satisfying finale it's Clementine. Six years of build-up desperately need some sort of catharsis, even if it's a tearjerker.

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Aug 13, 2018

The Walking Dead: The Final Season Episode One's endearing characters and lovely cliffhanger ending have me eagerly anticipating what's coming next, like any good Telltale game of old. But its better camera, updated presentation, and deeper gameplay mechanics have me interested in whatever new things the studio is cooking up after it puts Clementine's story to rest.

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Aug 13, 2018

As it turns out, episode one of The Walking Dead: The Final Season is very much a slow burn. While it fails to maintain the pacing of previous seasons, and seemingly ignores much of what took place in A New Frontier, the game is indeed heading towards something special for the finale.

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Aug 13, 2018

All in all, though, "Done Running" is a good starting point for the title.

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Metro GameCentral
GameCentral
Top Critic
6 / 10
Aug 14, 2018

An uninspiring beginning to Clementine's final story but there's enough potential in the plot, and the more cinematic visuals, to leave hope that it'll end better than it started.

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85 / 100
Aug 14, 2018

Since its debut, Telltale's The Walking Dead has captivated audiences with its incredible writing, consequential system, and complicated characters. The Walking Dead: The Final Season opens strong by providing a new set of characters and focusing on setting up a premise instead of providing polarizing choices. After a shocking finale Done Running has started off Clementine's final adventure with something that will delight newcomers and shock veterans.

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8 / 10.0
Aug 14, 2018

The fist episode of this season of The Walking Dead delivers some good moments, some tweaks on the gameplay and pleasant graphics. Still, there are no traces of the characters of the third season, and some reactions of the new characters left us a bit blown away.

Review in Italian | Read full review