The Walking Dead Season 3 Review

Episode 1 and 2 - Ties That Bind Part 1 and 2

The Walking Dead's Telltale series has recently released its third season. Previously, the first two seasons have paved the way for a modernised point and click adventure that brings fans of the zombie apocalypse to a place where you need to make choices with little time that can alter the overall outcome of your game.

For the first time in the The Walking Dead Telltale series, season three has launched with two episodes available to play right off the bat, with three more episodes that are listed as "coming soon". Before we go too far, allow me to clarify the full title of this game. The Walking Dead: A Telltale Series - A New Frontier...or season three for short.

Please note that this game is episodic in nature and this review will start off with covering the first two episodes which are currently available at the time of writing. This review will be updated as the following episodes are released.

Season three opens up with scenes which are from what appears to be before the initial outbreak. We are introduced to new characters, and our new main protagonist, Javier Garcia. Javier is a celebrity of sorts and has been spending a lot of time away from his family. His father is ill and his family are disappointed with Javier that he has not been around for his father's final days. This opening sequence draws you back into the world of The Walking Dead with eerie scenes that will reset the tone for the new season.

The game moves forward into a time where the outbreak has set in and is in full swing. Hordes of walkers are a massive threat, but a treat for the viewer as the visuals showing large groups of the dead are a sight to see. Javier is in company with Kate (his sister-in-law) and her two children Mariana and Gabe. The group likes to keep moving on the highways but they need to make a stop to scavenge for food and just about everything else they can find. Javier pulls their van over at a seemingly abandoned junkyard to look for some petrol and supplies.

This is where things take a turn for this group of survivors and in comes the game's antagonists Max and Badger. Members of a group known as The New Frontier. This is where I'll get a little vaguer to avoid story spoilers for those keen to play themselves. 

The group gets split up and Javier starts his mission to get back to his family. There's no surprises here that you're going to inevitably meet up with veteran character of the series, Clementine. For those who haven't played the previous seasons, Clem is one of the only characters to have returned for all three seasons and she's pictured in the screen shots here and in the game's many trailers.

Clem is a little more grown up now and she is harder and more shaped by the land than her previous appearances. Clem's appearance from the beginning shows someone hardened by life experiences with her slightly more mature voice, and her ability to wield a large shotgun with confidence. Clem and Javier cross paths and use each other in order to achieve their own agendas. 

While you play through the game predominantly as Javier, there are portions where Clem is playable through the medium of flashbacks. These flashbacks serve to explain in a slow piece by piece nature where Clem has come from and how she has been shaped into the young woman that she is in present time. Clem is shown in scenes where she appears to be a mother figure for a small boy named Alvin Jr., whom fans of season two may remember as the child of the deceased Rebecca and Alvin. In present time, Clem isn't with Alvin Jr. so it will be interesting to see how they became to be separated.

Episodes one and two will introduce new characters, enemies and establishments. There is definitely no shortage of unexpected deaths and uncalled for violence within the game which is a staple for the series. Even though there has only been a short time so far with these characters, the story's direction already helped make it easy to bond with the new faces which made it sad when those unexpected moments rear their ugly heads.

For fans of The Walking Dead television series, if you're up to date with the show there will be at least one character cross over that you will likely recognise before you're given the character's actual name. You'll also learn more about this character than you have from the television show. This kind of appearance from the television series is similar to the one that we had in season one, where we met Hershel on his farm.

The Walking Dead: Season three has delivered another strong entry into the franchise with two episodes being available from the start. It was a little disappointing to see that those two episodes only held a total of three hours of gameplay which is about an hour short of what you would normally get from a Telltale game. In saying that, the time is well spent in the game and it's quite enjoyable. I only hope that the following episodes will be released within a reasonable time frame this time around.

Remember, this review will be updated when the following episodes are released. Unfortunately we don't know when that is due to their release dates being listed as "Coming Soon". Follow us on the Aussie Gamers Express Facebook page for updates on this review.

Lucas Aurelius

Aussie Gamers Express

26th December 2016

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