The Walking Dead Season 2 - Episode 2: A House Divided Review

Posted by Mark Goninon on

RUN CLEMENTINE! RUN!

  • Developer: Telltale Games
  • Publisher: Telltale Games
  • Release Date: 4 March 2014
  • Time played: 2 hours

Episode 2 for The Walking Dead Season 2 was released this month and it turns out to be a real cracker. If this review seems to look similar to the Episode 1 review that's because it is - but what would you expect considering only the plot changes between episodes? Well at least that's what you'd expect.

Plot (5/5)
In the second episode, you continue shortly after the events of episode 1 and the start of the episode changes depending on who you decided to approach at the end of the previous episode. Clementine and her new "family" start to realise the house isn't safe anymore and set off on foot to the north. Along the way Clementine meets a couple of characters from Season 1 and 400 Days.

I really like this second episode, in fact moreso than the first one. Unfortunately, I can't give it any higher a mark since I can't go above 100% and to be honest, episode 1 was still damn good. What I like most about this episode is the fact you're starting to see the consequences of your actions and things are starting to get political so I guess the episode name, "A House Divided", is particularly apt. When you consider that Clementine is somewhat vulnerable herself as a child (physically, not mentally - this girl has seen a lot already) it makes it all the more tense. I also like how there are returning characters in this episode so you get to at least discover the fate of two previous characters.

Gameplay (3/5)
For those that have played The Walking Dead: Season One, you know the drill. Gameplay is pretty light, with simple puzzles and the game feels more like a visual novel. The game is mainly conversation driven and focuses more on your relationships with characters more than anything else. You'll occasionally have some Quick Time Events (QTEs) during action sequences but that's about it.

Nick doesn't seem too perturbed about the zombies outside the shed

Sound (4/5)
Voice acting is great but that's to be expected from veteran voice actors – the only issue I had was that the audio was sometimes too loud or too soft.

Music (4/5)
The game has a suitably atmospheric music soundtrack; while there are no memorable themes it is effective in setting the sombre, depressing mood to the game.

Graphics (4/5)
The graphics are similar to The Walking Dead Season One (as you'd expect) and are the best I've seen in a Telltale game yet adopting a thick edges, comic-book style (a similar style is adopted in The Wolf Among Us). The only thing that annoyed me was the fact the framerate tended to jump all over the place at times.

Replay (3/5)
Just like Season One, the ending you receive depends on the choices you make in the game, so there is some attraction there to replay the episode (and indeed, the whole game once it is released). Also like Season One, achievements are still very easy to acquire (i.e. proceed to a certain point in the story) and there's not enough variety to encourage multiple playthroughs.

Polish (4/5)
Unfortunately, as it's a Telltale game, it uses the most recent Telltale Tool so the interface is a very console-friendly one, not a simple point ‘n' click adventure. The game also has the annoying Type 1 save system where progress is autosaved but you never know when the next save point is.

Score – 8/10

The intrigue, returning characters and finally seeing some of the consequences of your actions makes "A House Divided" a great follow-up to the first episode. It will have your undivided attention (sorry for the pun).

If you want to get the game, you can get it on Steam.

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[LINK: Official The Walking Dead website]

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