Review: The Walking Dead: All That Remains

Game Reviews
Review: The Walking Dead: All That Remains
By Sean Booker
December 28, 2013 - 10:58

Studios: Telltale Games
Rating: M (Mature)
Genre: Adventure
Platform: Xbox 360, PS3, PC, iOS
Players: 1

The second season of Telltale Games' The Walking Dead series starts off with a great and truly disgusting first episode with All That Remains. The same dark and difficult choices return as we now control the young girl Clementine a couple years after the events of the first season. Almost to a fault this game is pretty much exactly what you would expect but that ensures that it’s still a fun/tense ride throughout.

All That Remains has us take control of the character we fought so hard to protect the first time around. It’s a great decision since it gives us a new perspective on how to relate to our character and exist in this horrible wasteland. Clementine is a softer and more innocent human than Lee was and that can definitely work its way into how the player might react to a situation or progress through dialogue trees. It’s a good change of pace without feeling completely foreign.

It’s worth noting that you could start on this episode if you missed the first season. There are a number of references to past events at the beginning but it moves on pretty soon after. I would recommend going back to season one though, still, since it easily holds up. Telltale Games has gone forward to say that decisions from the first season will carry over to this one but this episode doesn’t seem to incorporate any of that specific content.

This season definitely throws you in the deep end as you work your way through it in a number of cases. Not only are the branching pathways that we loved from the first season still here but there’s a far greater emphasis on truly disgusting moments. There was two specific sections that had me wincing and wanting to close my eyes. Along with these are a really great moment that pokes fun with player expectations when it comes to other post-apocalyptic fiction. It’s an engaging and interesting episode for sure.

The same visual style is also present that we now come to expect from the current Telltale Games. It’s basically the same as the last season as opposed to the various differing stylistic elements we saw in The Wolf Among Us. The music also seems to be more prevalent throughout this episode than anything I can remember from season one. Instead of a simple ominous background score it seems to be more upfront with the specific tunes. It’s definitely a welcomed choice since there are a number of emotional moments in All That Remains that are empowered by the audio.

If I were to knock the episode down at all it would be a minor grievance with how similar it is. There isn’t anything mechanically new to this season so it’s the continuing story that is the real draw. If you enjoyed what you’ve seen in the first season and in The Wolf Among Us then this game will definitely be for you. This isn’t to say this game isn’t fun but it is starting to feel a little formulaic.

This is a good start to season two of such a critically acclaimed series. Fans of The Walking Dead will definitely be in for the continuing misadventures of Clementine. It’s also nice to see that there isn’t a huge emphasis (so far) on what happened before hand. If you’re looking for something different from this developer then you’re out of luck but if you’re wanting more bad situations and gross scenarios to put yourself through then this easily fits the bill.

Rating: 8/10