The Walking Dead: Season Two Episode 4 - Amid the Ruins Reviews
Amid the Ruins, perhaps later than anticipated for this season, finally brings The Walking Dead to the peak of its own exceptional high-standards.
Episode 4 Amid the Ruins cranks up the tension and character development up a notch and our Clem shows true signs of becoming a leader
Gameplay-wise, I was happy with this episode as a function of my relief. The controller brought me back into the world a number of times, and I found myself thinking for Clementine in the quieter moments, instead of only allowing the game to think for her in the louder ones. On the story side of things, if it's Telltale's intention to replicate within me the frustrations of a zombie apocalypse, then they've recently hired a genius. An evil genius. I was driven to murder at any possible moment I could over the course of 'Amid the Ruins,' but I'm pretty sure it's not a good thing to turn sociopathic during what is supposed to be an emotional journey.
The Walking Dead Season 2 Episode 4: Amid The Ruins is probably the bleakest episode in the new series so far, but this isn't a bad thing. The dialogue and conversations are top-notch and there are lots of decisions that need to be taken by players and Clementine, whether they like it or not. Results appear immediately, but quite a few ones are delayed until the final chapter in the series, called No Going Back.
It's easy to forget that, as with Clementine, there is still more to come. Episode 5 is on the horizon. We just had to sit through something else to get there.
"Amid the Ruins" is a quieter more thoughtful entry in The Walking Dead Season 2 putting it at a stark contrast to other entries in the episode. When they deaths and action come however, it is more impactful despite the player's lack of overall impact on some inevitable fates.
[T]his is another nail-biting instalment that kept us hooked for its 90-minute play time (we completed it in one go, as with the other episodes in Walking Dead Season Two). We found our allegiances changing throughout, which kept us constantly on our toes, and the cliffhanger ending promises a bloody climax come part five.
[SPOILER WARNING: Major spoilers contained in this review] Overall, I was more satisfied with "Amid The Ruins" than "In Harm's Way", but unfortunately I'm no longer hopeful that this season could top the first.
Amid the Ruins is an exhilarating adventure and the best episode thus far. It gives players drastic choices to partake in, not to mention building on the relationships between Clementine and her party.
Season 2 may not be overall better than Season 1 so far in my opinion, but Amid The Ruins is arguably the best episode of the entire series because it embraces story and choice/consequence gameplay better than all the others. And that's no mean feat. Kudos Telltale, now better it with the finale. And bring back that raccoon, he was great.
TellTale are generally great at sticking the landing and nailing the finale, although it's not entirely clear, at this point, where they're going to take us for the last episode.
Once again, I can't stop playing the game now and I wouldn't recommend you do so either. However, Episode 5 will really have to work hard to turn things around and blow me away with a stunning conclusion, or else it might feel that everything I have done so far is for naught. Then again… maybe that is the point.
Despite the usual high production qualities, Amid the Ruins does nothing to curb the meandering nature of the fourth chapter which afflicts their franchises, once again leaving us with the weakest episode of the series to date.
If you liked Season 1, give Telltale more of your money.
It's a rare misstep, however, and despite it, Amid the Ruins is another phenomenal episode, building up to a finale where I can honestly say I don't have a clue what's going to happen. All I do know is that it can't be good. I hadn't noticed it until now, but Clem's journey has been mirroring Lee's from Season 1. And like her adoptive father, she may very well find herself being judged come the finale. I'm not looking forward to it.
Aside from some slight tonal inconsistencies and story deviations, "Amid the Ruins" does still maintain the great quality of The Walking Dead with a number of tense scenes and overall building toward the final outcomes of the season. With some action setpieces that put the group into peril in the face of looming threats like the imminent snow, and leading up to a conclusion with an enormous and devastating cliffhanger, it still manages to put many pieces into play, despite some noticeable shortcomings in terms of its character development.
Amid the Ruins may be the most hard-hitting episode of The Walking Dead: Season Two yet, but it ends up all the better as a result.
So much of The Walking Dead has been about the strong males pushing the narrative in one direction or another, for better of for worse. It's refreshing to see an episode from a female-led perspective.
Ultimately, it feels as if they've stuck a whole bunch of subplots into one episode and nothing really gets us too invested.
Of course, fans of the series still need to pick this episode up, and from looking back at the entire season, this is still a decent addiction to an already great series. Just keep in mind, you can't save everybody, and even if you try, don't be surprised if someone dies anyway. This is The Walking Dead after all.