The Walking Dead: Season Two Episode 4 - Amid the Ruins Reviews
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.
The second-to-last instalment of the series' sophomore season focuses on a character who suggests our young heroine put herself before anyone else.
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
Amid the Ruins, perhaps later than anticipated for this season, finally brings The Walking Dead to the peak of its own exceptional high-standards.
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.
Ultimately, it feels as if they've stuck a whole bunch of subplots into one episode and nothing really gets us too invested.
Starting off with one of the best openings in the series thus far, The Walking Dead: Season 2 Episode 4 - Amid The Ruins features high paced action while also pushing the main story forward well.
[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.
[Q]uite a lot of 'Amid the Ruins' feels like a breather from the series' relentless onslaught of unhappiness.
Season Two's early promise has consolidated into sporadic flashes of greatness, but the consistent excellence of Clementine's character alone isn't enough to carry the series. It needs the lift of an outstanding final episode.
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.
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.
"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.
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.
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.
The plot remains solid, and Telltale does a great job at exploring different mental states during the apocalypse
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.
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.
Among the Ruins is The Walking Dead doing what The Walking Dead does well, but it's spinning its wheels when it should be racing towards the finale. As far as Clem's story goes, it's hard to fight the feeling that what began as an exciting opportunity for the writers has now become something of a millstone when it comes to plotting. Can the final episode recapture the power and drive of her brutal first episode, as well as plot its way to a send-off as beautifully appropriate as Lee's at the end of the first season? We'll find out in a couple of months, when The Walking Dead: Season Two concludes in "No Going Back".