First up: I’ve kept my review of All That Remains as spoiler-free as possible. That being said, there are some season one spoilers below, so be warned if you haven’t finished it yet. You have finished it though, right? Season one was almost everyone’s favourite title of 2012 (including ours). Get on it!
Damn you, Telltale.
I can’t count how many times I thought or uttered those words throughout the duration of All That Remains. Right from the opening line, hearing our gone (but certainly not never forgotten) friend Lee Everett recap the happenings of the game’s stellar first season, I knew what I was in for: Telltale is on a mission to break all of our hearts yet again (and again… and again). Mission accomplished.
Lee’s not there to save you this time.
All That Remains kicks off some 16 months after season one’s conclusion. We do get to catch up with some of season one’s other prominent characters, but this time, of course, Clem is front and centre. She’s a little older, a little taller, and a lot wiser than she was when we last left her, and this time around, instead of acting as her guardian, she doesn’t have one, and it’s up to you to directly control the character and make every tough decision for her.
And what tough decisions they are. Within a few moments of the game’s opening my jaw was on the floor. Then it happened again, and again, then I cried… you get the picture. It’s tough to describe without ruining it (and The Walking Dead is absolutely a game that you shouldn’t have ruined for you), but All That Remains, largely setup as it is, left me an absolute wreck. Just when you think that Telltale couldn’t have any more surprises in store, just when there couldn’t possibly be a harder choice, just when you think they couldn’t possibly rip your heart out again, just when you think they wouldn’t go there, they go there.
Damn you, Telltale.
As always, the game is relentlessly forcing you into situations that you don’t want to be in, and pushing you into impossible decisions that you don’t want to make. This time though, everything feels different. Playing as a child, making these choices from a kid’s point of view, changes everything. You have options that would have never been options with Lee, as his hardened, bleak perspective on the world is one that Clementine hasn’t fully realized yet. It almost feels as though Clementine has hope, which is something that’s arguably even more heartbreaking than any decision we’ve had to make so far, and especially so knowing how the lives of those connected to her tend to turn out. All That Remains is just the beginning, and I have a feeling that we haven’t seen anything yet. Things are only going to get harder, decisions are only going to get worse, and if Clementine dies in the end, I’m going to freaking explode.
Ah, Omid. It’s great to see a familiar face, isn’t it?
Technically, everything seems vastly improved from last year’s offering. I still experienced that classic Telltale slowdown (again playing on PS3, so I can’t vouch for other platforms), and while annoying, it seemed (mostly) limited to the opening few seconds after every loading screen, a major improvement from season one’s consistent stutter. Character models look much better than last year (and I thought that they looked great before), but the biggest graphical improvements are definitely the game’s environments and backgrounds. Last year’s trees, backdrops, and buildings seemed oddly low resolution at times, with little to no animation even in areas that you would expect to see it. This time around, trees sway in the wind, grass moves when you walk over it, and almost every texture looks substantially higher resolution than those that came before.
All That Remains also boasts a much improved camera system. You still don’t have any control over it (which I’m all for in a title like this), but this year’s version feels much more cinematic. Rather than a largely still shot, with an occasional pan and lots of cuts, the camera in All That Remains seems much more inclined to follow you, tracking smoothly as you move between trees, along porches, or wherever else the game may take you.
Action sequences have taken a note from The Wolf Among Us (which we loved the first episode of) here, and bring a few welcome changes to the table: buttons are larger and easier to see, a very clear radius system lets us know just how close or far away we can be and still activate something, and the action in general seems streamlined, more cinematic, and much more entertaining to be a part of. The developer has also broken up the action with a few simple (essentially fetch quests), but very welcome puzzles that give you just a few moments to catch your breath. Also, the much appreciated faster-walk button from The Wolf Among Us has been included (thank you). There were some painfully slow walking moments in season one, so I’m very happy to see that those moments will not make the jump to season two.
Graphics and animations have both vastly improved from the game’s first season.
Looking back on the evolution of The Walking Dead, it’s easy to see just how much Telltale has grown since the very first episode (A New Day) all the way back in April of 2012. I doubt that the developer could have known the absolute acclaim and dozens (upon dozens) of awards that were in store for them when that first episode went live last year, but it’s clear by the titles now in the works (both Borderlands AND Game of Thrones) just how infatuated the world has become with this little(ish) studio that could. Essentially all of the criticisms (aside from the few technical stutters) that we had with last year’s iterations have been solved and improved upon, and I’m both insatiably excited and incredibly terrified to see what the next episode, A House Divided brings to the table.
We said it last year, and we’re saying it again. Telltale’s The Walking Dead is the definitive version of the franchise. As much as we love the Image comic series, and as great as the AMC series can be (especially this year), the video game is better. Even if you’re not a gamer, if you’re a fan of narrative entertainment, you owe it to yourself to check this out.
The Walking Dead: Season Two, Episode One – All That Remains scores a tear-jerking 4.5/5.