The Walking Dead: Season 2

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May 2016

This is the sequel to the Walking Dead: Season 1 (obviously), a game I played on the PS Vita and wrote about here. Spoiler alert: I loved the first game and cried big manly tears. So I had pretty high hopes for the sequel. The second game was pretty great but not as good as the first one. I think that part of the reason for this was simply part of the story dynamics (more on this later), and also that the decisions in the sequel just don't feel as meaningful. In the first game your decisions felt truly open and varied with tons of outcomes available, whereas it felt like Season 2 was more or less going in a certain direction whether I wanted to go there or not.

I said that the story dynamics impacted this game when compared to the first game. What I mean is that I think there was something very powerful about playing as an adult tasked with protecting a young child, which is what you are doing in Season One. There is a sense of parenthood and responsibility that was very engaging. Not to mention that protecting a ten year old child tends to bring out a lot of our own emotional issues that we developed at that age, and thus we feel more emotionally attached to protecting a child like that. You'll want to protect her not only physically, but also psychologically and emotionally from the harsh new zombie-ridden world. In Season Two you play as a young child, and while as a player I wanted her to be protected, it just wasn't the same as playing as someone in that universe trying to protect her.

Like in Season One, The Walking Dead features making a variety of decisions that impact the direction of the game and the lives of those around you. These are well thought-out decisions and are (usually) much more complex than "Do you kill this person or give him food?" Since the game was released in five separate episodes, the game designers were forced to include strong plot points and decisions in each episode, so the game moves at a good pace. Even though I didn't like the story as much as in Season One, I'd say that it is probably better than a lot of the seasons of the TV show (I liked season one, thought two was slow and a bit lame, thought three was excellent, and with the exception of a few episodes I think the rest of the seasons have not been as good as three). I think that even if you're not a Walking Dead fan there is still a lot in this game series for you, especially if you start with Episode One.

	A brief flashback from the first game.	Using a real bathroom.
Someone comes in to raid her stuff.
Press X or die!
Being a little girl alone in the zombie filled wilderness would be pretty intense.	I need something that this zombie has. . .
Either way you're a monster. You monster!		Without sharing too much, Clem has an injury that was not caused by a zombie bite, but everyone else thinks that it is. She denies it but they are too scared that she'll turn into a zombie and kill them all.
So they lock her in a shed for the night.	Sneaking around the house and hiding in the shower.
Treating your own wound because none of the adults will.	She's come a long way since hiding in that tree house. . .
Each decision has to be made in a certain amount of time, or you can choose to remain silent.
		This girl is Clem's age and has been shielded from the horrors of the new world. Perhaps a bit too shielded.


You luckily find a group of nice people.
	Seems friendly.	That guy's a big doo doo head face butt.
For awhile you are imprisoned. This part is so good that I often remember it as part of the TV show, but nope! It's from the game.
People have different opinions about whether or not to escape, and how to do it.
		Oh man, he is such a jerk.
Covering themselves with zombie goo so they can't be detected by zombies. This is the worst part of the universe to me - not because it isn't cool (it is) but because a good strategy for avoiding death would be to constantly cake yourself in zombie guts. But in neither the TV show nor the games does anyone do this for very long. It's so obviously a good idea!	This pampered and protected kid is nervous to smother herself in human entrails.

	Careful, careful, don't even think because he can read your thoughts . . .	This gentleman is quite depressed.
	In search of supplies.
A former friend.

What could be going on with this pregnant lady?!
		This is where the game gets really bleak and depressing. Maybe even too depressing.


The group decides to take a chance and cross a frozen lake.
		A person you like is unstable and some group members want to leave in order to stay safe.
Another flashback to get through a tough time.		This is quite the blizzard.
	!