By Graham Osborne
Last week Telltale Games announced that the second series of their acclaimed The Walking Dead game would be arriving some time this autumn. With that in mind, we thought it was time to discuss what we’d like to see happen in the next series based on what happened in the first game. I’ll try to keep spoilers to a minimum, but I can’t promise they won’t appear at all, so if you haven’t played the game yet, do that and then read this article. If you do it the other way around, you’re just ruining your experience of one of the BEST games from last year.
Last week Telltale Games announced that the second series of their acclaimed The Walking Dead game would be arriving some time this autumn. With that in mind, we thought it was time to discuss what we’d like to see happen in the next series based on what happened in the first game. I’ll try to keep spoilers to a minimum, but I can’t promise they won’t appear at all, so if you haven’t played the game yet, do that and then read this article. If you do it the other way around, you’re just ruining your experience of one of the BEST games from last year.
First of all, let’s tie up the stories of the surviving characters from the previous series. Clementine was the exact type of character that you wanted to protect from the horror, but it wasn’t always possible. Following the finale of episode five, it would be interesting to see how Clementine reacts to things now that her main protector is gone. Will she find another person to help look after her? Will she find Omid and Christa again? The final scene leaves a lot to the imagination, and the fact that you got it regardless of what choices you made suggests that we may not find out what happens to everyone, which is a shame, I want some closure for those whom we had to leave behind.
Talking of choices leads neatly to the second point; let the choices have their own set of possible consequences, they shouldn’t be a way to railroad the player to the next set piece. It was a real shame that, when played through a second time, the game didn’t really have many consequences. If you chose to save one secondary character over another at one point in the first episode, you received a different bit of dialogue during the second episode. But by the third episode, whichever character you chose to save died at the same point regardless of your choice.
Talking of choices leads neatly to the second point; let the choices have their own set of possible consequences, they shouldn’t be a way to railroad the player to the next set piece. It was a real shame that, when played through a second time, the game didn’t really have many consequences. If you chose to save one secondary character over another at one point in the first episode, you received a different bit of dialogue during the second episode. But by the third episode, whichever character you chose to save died at the same point regardless of your choice.
There’s a very important scene near the end of episode five that revolves around a decision made in an earlier episode. One of the options (the most popular one when I played through the game) makes a lot of sense in the context of what happens. But the other option feels a bit weak when you’re confronted with it in the finale. Giving a wider range of outcomes would mean that replaying and making different decisions would mean you could see what would happen if you’d chosen to go left instead of right. Also give us the option of trying to and save both characters, not one. It would have to be harder (having the player fail could result in the deaths of both characters instead of just one), but the risk/reward scenario would make it feel really good if the player manages to save both characters instead of just one.
Another thing I would like to happen would be to have the story address any major conflicts within the group. I can’t be the only one who remembers that, at the end of episode one Larry tried to murder Lee by leaving him for the zombies to get him. In the time between episodes one and two, this has been forgotten about by all characters and Larry was still incredibly hostile to everyone, especially Lee. This seems like it could have been an excellent plot point to cover, especially considering the options made possible later in the episode. Covering all conflicts could help make the game feel more as if the characters are arguing, and help develop bonds between certain factions, instead of just letting them fall by the wayside.
Another thing I would like to happen would be to have the story address any major conflicts within the group. I can’t be the only one who remembers that, at the end of episode one Larry tried to murder Lee by leaving him for the zombies to get him. In the time between episodes one and two, this has been forgotten about by all characters and Larry was still incredibly hostile to everyone, especially Lee. This seems like it could have been an excellent plot point to cover, especially considering the options made possible later in the episode. Covering all conflicts could help make the game feel more as if the characters are arguing, and help develop bonds between certain factions, instead of just letting them fall by the wayside.
Let’s also move the series out of Georgia. It’s where the comics and TV series are set, so let’s see what’s happening in other states. How have the zombies reacted to the heat of Texas? Or the cold of Alaska? What about other states where there are pretty extreme weather conditions? (My geographical knowledge of the US isn’t that great, let me know if I’ve got this wrong in the comments). Moving out of one state will help show how badly the rest of America (and by extension, the rest of the world) has been affected. Maybe certain states were able to prepare better than others, so they have fairly large, populated areas that are well protected. Maybe others are a barren wasteland. Let’s see how the rest of the world is dealing with this problem. Or are they unaffected and just watching America to see how it all turns out?
Finally. Regardless of what happens, let’s meet a whole new group of friendly (and not-so friendly) faces for us to bond with, before we inevitably lose them again as they sacrifice themselves for the group. This is almost a certainty a given, but it needs saying nonetheless.
The Walking Dead Game was absolutely brilliant, and certainly one of the best stories told last year. I’m fairly certain that whatever happens, the second series will turn out just as good - provided they can incorporate some of our choices from the first game into the next.
Finally. Regardless of what happens, let’s meet a whole new group of friendly (and not-so friendly) faces for us to bond with, before we inevitably lose them again as they sacrifice themselves for the group. This is almost a certainty a given, but it needs saying nonetheless.
The Walking Dead Game was absolutely brilliant, and certainly one of the best stories told last year. I’m fairly certain that whatever happens, the second series will turn out just as good - provided they can incorporate some of our choices from the first game into the next.
RSS Feed
