The Walking Dead: Season Two

Gameplay

Similar to the previous season, The Walking Dead: Season Two is a point-and-click adventure game. The player, in control of Clementine, can direct the character around the environment, examine and interact with various scenery elements and collect and use objects to advance the story. The player can also initiate conversations with non-player characters via conversation trees. Certain replies from other characters may offer the player multiple choices to select from, including the option to stay silent, with a limited amount of time to make the selection; if the player does not select an option, the conversation will continue as if they had stayed quiet. Such choices can affect how the other characters will later react to Clementine which can influence later events in the story. Other scenes are more action-oriented, requiring the player to complete quick time events to avoid Clementine or her allies from getting killed. If the player fails these events, the game will restart at the start of such scenes. Such action scenes may also require the player to make a key decision within a limited time frame, such as which of two characters to save from attacking walkers.

The player's choices and actions will impact story elements in later episodes; for example, a character that the player does not choose to be saved will not appear in later scenes. Season Two also incorporates the player's choices from the first season and the DLC 400 Days, via the saved game file from these games, to influence the story and events in these episodes.

Setting

The Walking Dead: Season Two follows on the first game, and coincides with events of the comic, in which a zombie apocalypse has occurred, turning humans that are bitten or die into zombies, or "walkers"; the only way to stop this conversion is to damage the brain. The game is mostly set more than a year following its predecessor. While the game starts in Georgia, the setting moves to more northern locales as the survivors head towards Michigan, believing there is a large survivor camp there.

The second season follows Clementine (Melissa Hutchison), a young girl who has been able to survive the walkers thanks to the help of Lee Everett (Dave Fennoy). At the start of the apocalypse, Lee helps to protect Clementine and offers to help her find her parents who had gone to Savannah; they join several survivors in their journey. When Clementine is captured, a bitten Lee rescues her, but both realize her parents have become walkers. She is forced to choose between shooting him or leaving him to reanimate, before venturing off on her own.

The second season features several new characters, as well as others returning from the first season. Clementine initially accompanies Omid (Owen Thomas) and Christa (Mara Junot), a couple who are the last known survivors of Clementine's previous group. She then encounters a cabin that shelters several survivors: Luke (Scott Porter), a survivalist who quickly befriends Clementine; Luke's friend Nick (Brian Bremer), and his uncle Pete (Brian Sommer), a hunter; doctor Carlos (Kid Beyond), who is protective over his teenage daughter Sarah (Louisa Mackintosh); and Alvin (Dorian Lockett) and his wife Rebecca (Shay Moore), who are expecting a child. The cabin group has fled from William Carver (Michael Madsen), a charismatic yet dangerous dictator who rules a large survivor group in Howe's Hardware. They later encounter another batch of survivors, consisting of Kenny (Gavin Hammon), Clementine's friend who was believed to be killed by walkers; Sarita (Julia Farmer), Kenny's new girlfriend; and Kenny's friend, Walter (Kiff Vanden Heuvel) and his survival student, Matthew (Wylie Herman). Both factions encounter Carver and his men, whose community includes Bonnie (Erin Yvette) and other survivors that were previously introduced in the 400 Days add-on content from the first season; Jane (Christine Lakin), a lone wolf who had lost her sister to walkers; and Mike (Dan White), a cranky yet humorous survivor. The latter part of the season introduces Arvo (Michael Ark), a Russian teenager with a leg brace who speaks in broken English, later shown to be part of a larger group of other Russian survivors.

Plot

Certain decisions made by the player during both this game and the preceding Season One and its add-on "400 Days" alter specific details. Therefore, this is only a broad overview of the plot.

Following Season One, Clementine successfully reunited with Omid and Christa, who now is pregnant, and the trio are trying to make their way to Wellington, Ohio, believing the colder climate will slow the walkers. Clementine's carelessness leads to Omid being killed by a scavenger. Sixteen months later, Christa has lost her child to unknown causes and is dismissive of Clementine. The pair are separated when bandits attack them. Clementine is bitten by a dog while seeking shelter. She comes across a cabin holding a group of survivors, which includes Luke, their leader, Nick, Alvin and his wife Rebecca, and Carlos and his daughter Sarah. Seeing the bite mark, the group locks her in a shed fearing she will turn, but Clementine escapes to obtain medical supplies to treat the bite. The group realize she is not a threat and provide her food and shelter. While Clementine is left alone with Sarah while the others search for supplies, a mysterious man arrives at the cabin searching for the group. When the rest of the group return and learns of this, they agree to abandon the cabin. Clementine learns the group is on the run from William Carver, the tyrannical leader of a nearby community who believes that he is the father of the child that Rebecca carries.

Making their way north, they come upon a mountain with an isolated ski lodge atop it. On the bridge leading to the lodge, Luke encounters with Matthew, a man staying at one of the outbuildings near the base and who offers them shelter, but Nick misinterprets Matthew's actions and kills him. The group continues to the lodge to discover another group of survivors, which include Walter, Sarita, and, to Clementine's surprise, Kenny, whom she believed to have died in Savannah. The two groups, though amicable, remain somewhat distrustful of each other, and secretly Clementine learns that Matthew was Walter's partner. Clementine also finds Kenny to be romantically involved with Sarita, but seems a different person than she remembered.

A stranger named Bonnie arrives asking for supplies. The combined groups argue over handing supplies but Walter provides her with what they have. Some time later, a horde of walkers arrive, and the group has difficulty defending itself until the arrival of a third group of survivors who quickly deals with the walkers. The lodge group is initially relieved until it is revealed that Carver is the leader of this new group, led to the lodge by Bonnie. Carver quickly demands the lodge group to return with him to their base, a fortified strip mall. Kenny shoots one of Carver's men, and Carver retaliates by killing Walter. The rest of the lodge group, save for Luke who had escaped previously, are taken against their will back to Carver's base, a fortified strip mall.

At the mall, they are isolated from the other survivors (including those that appears in the 400 Days content), kept in a secure area with two other resisting survivors, Mike and Jane. Carver forces the group to work to earn their keep, and when they first try to escape, Carver savagely beats up Kenny, permanently damaging one of his eyes. While Clementine is working, she finds Luke waiting nearby, who warns them that a large walker horde is approaching and will easily overwhelm the mall's fortifications. The group devise another escape plan with the help of Bonnie, who also has become disturbed by Carver's violence methods. Clementine sneaks into Carver's office to create play a CD over the mall's intercom to draw the hoard. If Alvin survived the ski lodge attack, he sacrifices himself to buy Clementine some time. The group overwhelms Carver and Kenny savagely beats his face in with a crowbar.

As the group moves through the horde covered in walker blood, Carlos is shot by a stray bullet and devoured by walkers causing Sarah to go have a panic attack. Her shouts draw more walkers towards them, and Sarita is bitten on the wrist forcing the group to euthanize her. The group splits up, and most make it to their planned rendezvous site, a nearby Civil War memorial. With the loss of Sarita, Kenny has become distant from the group and more hostile towards Clementine, but Clementine encourages him to help with Rebecca, whose pregnancy is very near term. Luke, Jane, and Clementine go to scout for supplies at a nearby trailer park. During this, Jane opens up to Clementine and warns her about Kenny being on edge. At the park, they discover Nick has become a walker, and Sarah cowering in one of the trailers. As walkers overwhelm the trailer, Jane tells Clementine that they must leave Sarah behind, a choice left up to the player. Back at the memorial, the group discovers one of the buildings has a secure observation deck they can defend as well as provide a place for Rebecca to give birth. Later that night, as Luke is on guard, he is approached by Jane and the two have sex; a large walker horde arrives at the museum just as Rebecca goes into labor. The group is able to defend the observation deck, though if saved before, Sarah is killed during the attack. Kenny helps Rebecca to give birth to a healthy boy, which they eventually name Alvin Jr. or AJ. As the group rests, Jane goes off on her own.

Some days later, as snow blankets the area, the group realize they must continue traveling despite Rebecca's state. En route, they are met by Avro, a Russian immigrant that they had previously caught trying to cache medical supplies at the memorial, and several other Russian men, who demand they turn over their supplies. The group enters a Mexican standoff, when Clementine notices that Rebecca has succumbed to her illness and is about to turn and is forced to shoot her in order to protect the child provoking a gunfight between the two groups. The group is saved by the timley arrival of Jane with Arvo being the only survivor of his group. Avro promises to lead them to shelter under gunpoint, eventually arriving at a partially-constructed house that sits across a frozen lake. With walkers on their tail, the group tries to cross, but the ice breaks under Clementine, and Luke manages to save her before he dies. Kenny berates and beats Avro for Luke's death causing Jane to warn Clementine about Kenny's mental health. The group finds a truck with fuel parked nearby, and make plans to set off the next day.

That night, Clementine wakes up to find Avro, Mike, and Bonnie (if saved at the lake) attempting to steal the truck to escape from Kenny. A panicked Arvo instinctively shoots and injures Clementine, who falls unconscious, during which she dreams about her time with Lee Everett years earlier. When she regains consciousness, she finds herself in the truck with Jane, Kenny, and AJ, the others having escaped. When the road becomes blocked, Kenny gets out to look for a way around and to possibly siphon some fuel, and Jane tries to convince Clementine to abandon Kenny and come with her. Among the blinding blizzard, a walker horde overwhelms them, and Clementine is split up from Jane and AJ, and finds shelter at a nearby rest stop, where she reunites with Kenny. They are soon joined by Jane with no apparent sign of AJ. Kenny fears the worst and violently attacks Jane, causing a brutal deathmatch between the two. Kenny gains the upper hand and attempts to kill Jane with her own knife, despite limited intervention from Clementine.

At this point, the story diverges based on the player's decisions. The player can save Jane by shooting Kenny, only to learn she hid AJ in a nearby car and faked his death in an attempt to prove to Clementine how unstable Kenny really was. Thereafter, the player can forgive Jane and return with her to Carver's abandoned camp and has the choice whether or not to take in a family of three. Alternatively, the player can let Kenny kill Jane, after which they find AJ hidden in the car and continue on to Wellington, where overpopulation forces the player to choose whether to enter Wellington with AJ or remain with Kenny. Regardless of who is killed, the player also has the option to abandon the survivor, either by Clementine shooting or abandoning Kenny, and set off alone with AJ, passing through a herd of walkers disguised in walker blood.

Episodes

The game is separated into five episodes, like the first season.

Development

When Telltale Games acquired the right to make video games based on The Walking Dead comics, they signed a contract for a "multi-year, multi-platform, multi-title" license. This license went into effect after the success of the first season of The Walking Dead, when Telltale commissioned a second series of games based on the franchise. The first season was considered highly successful, helping to revitalize the adventure game genre which had been in decline since the mid-1990s, with Telltale being recognized as one of the top development studios in 2012.

During an interview on IGN's Up at Noon, writer Gary Whitta teased more The Walking Dead from Telltale sooner than later. "You won't have to wait for season two to play more Walking Dead", he claimed. "I can tell you what you already know, which is season two is coming. There's not much to say because it really is very early... it's a way off", said Whitta. "But, knowing that it's a way off, and knowing that people are hungry for more Walking Dead there may very well be more Walking Dead from Telltale before season two. We may have a little something extra for you between season one and two". Whitta continued to tease that something is in the works right now "that will make the wait for season two slightly less agonizing". This was revealed at the 2013 Electronic Entertainment Expo in June 2013 to be an additional episode called The Walking Dead: 400 Days that is available as downloadable content for the first season. It introduces five new characters that journalists expect to carry into Season Two. 400 Days will use data about the player's decisions in season one, and decisions made in 400 Days will carry into Season Two.

Writing for Season Two was done to contrast the work they had completed in the first season. At the start of the writing cycle for the second season, they had debated who their primary character would be including introducing new group of survivors that they could use to flesh out the backstories of characters from the first season, or with a new "protector" for Clementine. They eventually agreed to use Clementine as the main character as they felt her story needed to be continued. By changing the player's perspective from that of Lee to Clementine, they wanted to create a "different sort of agency" that the player will experience. Instead of the player, as Lee, looking to help Clementine and others, the player as Clementine would now have to determine who to trust to help her. They also emphasize this new perspective by using several camera angles from a low perspective, to emphasize that Clementine is a child compared to others she meets. The developers also recognized that they needed to avoid making Clementine feel like a "carbon copy" of the character from the first season and instead something crafted by the player's decisions. To resolve this they created the first scenario of the game that would separate her from the familiar characters and to make it feel a result of the player's actions, so that the player would directly connect with Clementine's situation. The concept they kept in mind to write for Season Two was "[Clementine is] eleven years old and the world doesn't care."

As with the previous season, Telltale plans to release Season Two for Microsoft Windows and OS X computers, on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation Vita, and on iOS devices. Telltale is currently working to bring the first season and its DLC to the Ouya console, and is planning on releasing the second season for Ouya as well. Releases for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles were announced in May 2014 with release at a later date, along with retail versions of the game for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles.

The season was formally announced in late October 2013. The announcement showcased Clementine as the playable character for the game, set sometime after the events of the first series. Telltale's CEO Dan Conners stated that this will put "players in the shoes of a lead role that will challenge their expectations of how to survive in a world where no one can be trusted". The first episode was released in the fourth quarter of 2013, with subsequent episodes released four to six weeks apart. A collector's disc was announced to purchase at the end of the season, with those who pre-order the game (from the Telltale Games Store) receiving it for just the shipping and handling cost.

Reception

The Walking Dead: Season Two overall received generally positive reviews from critics; with particular praise going to the atmosphere, protagonist, and its sense of tension; however, some have criticized its lack of hub areas and certain aspects of its storytelling and it is often deemed inferior to its predecessor.

Episode 1 – All That Remains

Episode 1 – All That Remains received positive reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the PlayStation 3 version 81.29% and 82/100, the PC version 78.76% and 78/100 and the Xbox 360 version 77.50% and 80/100. Matt Liebl from GameZone gave the episode an 8.5/10, stating that it "...is just a taste of what's to come -- a mere setup for the horror that awaits us in the final four episodes."

Episode 2 – A House Divided

Episode 2 - A House Divided received positive reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the PlayStation 3 version 87.29% and 82/100, the PC version 81.39% and 81/100 and the Xbox 360 version 79.44% and 80/100. Mitch Dyer from IGN gave the episode a 9.5/10, saying it is one of the best episodes Telltale Games has ever made.

Episode 3 – In Harm's Way

Episode 3 - In Harm's Way received positive reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the PlayStation 3 version 82.43% and 80/100, the Xbox 360 version 82.25% and 82/100 and the PC version 82.22% and 81/100.

Episode 4 – Amid the Ruins

Episode 4 - Amid the Ruins received mixed to positive reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the PlayStation 3 version 79.22% and 78/100, the PC version 78.58% and 78/100 and the Xbox 360 version 72.00% and 71/100. Many critics praised Clementine's development while most criticisms were focused on some of the characters' cheap deaths and sub-par writing compared to the episode's predecessors.

Episode 5 – No Going Back

Episode 5 – No Going Back received positive reviews, higher than its predecessor. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the PlayStation 3 version 81.67% and 87/100, the PC version 79.19% and 78/100 and the Xbox 360 version 77.00% and 84/100. Mitch Dyer of IGN gave the episode a 9.5/10 saying that the finale is "an impressive and intelligent episode, and among Telltale Games' finest stories."