darkSpyro

Telltale, you ****ed it up.

Let's get this out of the way first- This episode was the absolute worst in terms of technical issues.

There were numerous times the game stuttered or glitched out. One point the ground faded from beneath me, there was a point where Clint(I think that was his name) showed up in the background in a t-pose, One of the characters had no facial expressions whatsoever and kept a blank face throughout a whole scene, and Tripp showed up walking around in one cutscene despite having him killed last episode. It's appalling to me that Telltale STILL has these issues with every single game they release.

Worst part was my save got corrupted and I had to restart Episode 5, so that definitely didn't help(side note- when this happened I noticed that the rewind option is gone in this game. Why did they take that out?).

Half of the characters are a joke in this episode. Ava(or Tripp if you saved them) gets killed off in what might be the dumbest death scene in the whole series. They get attacked by a walker out of nowhere, fall of a bridge, and die. Javi says like one line of dialogue, and everyone is basically like "Oh well they're dead let's move on" and NEVER bring them up again. The scene I had with Eleanor really pissed me off because she actually had the nerve to blame Tripp's death on me, after she betrayed everyone by exposing the plan in the first place. And this is the last time we see her for the entire season. Way to leave on such an awful note.

At one point, the game gives you two different options. You can either go after David and Gabe after David and Javi get into a fight, or help Kate save Richmond. This is probably the most unfair and biased choice I've seen in the series so far. Either you help Kate and have Gabe and Kate live, or you go after Gabe and Kate dies(David dies either way). The game is so obviously leaning towards the choice that has Gabe and Kate live. Of course I'm going to want both of them to live. This means what should've been the most important choice in the whole game is completely worthless.

All the characters go back and forth with their characterization in this episode. It can happen with Javi, which is at least understandable since you're in control of his actions. But the characters do this too. Specifically Gabe does this. I already was really mixed on his character, but now I don't like him because of how poorly written he is in this episode. He spends the first part of the episode scolding Javi, then later taking his side and hating his dad, to suddenly deciding he has to escape with his dad even after the fight he has with him. This also made me realize that Gabe has had this issue for the whole damn season, but it's just so glaring here because of how pivotal Javi and David's conflict is. Clem does this too when she says David is being a protective father, despite, you know, HATING HIM for the past two episodes for taking AJ from him???

Oh yeah, remember Clementine???? SHE DOESN'T DO ANYTHING in this episode!! You don't even get to play as her in this episode. She has some brief but nice dialogue at the end of the game with Javi, and has a really cool scene after the game's credits, but again, you could take Clementine out of the game and it would affect NOTHING!

And I need to stress again why this is the biggest problem with the game: This is the character that put Telltale on the map. This is the character of the series that has basically become Telltale's mascot of sorts. She's the most well written and fleshed out character the company has ever created, she's easily their most popular character, and she's one of the most popular characters in the whole Walking Dead franchise. She has become regarded as one of the best child characters in gaming and one of the best characters of the 2012 year. And we have spent two masterfully crafted games with her, both from Lee's perspective and her own perspective.

And THIS is how Telltale treats her? Her arc in this game contributes, for the most part, nothing to the story in the grand scheme of things. AND IT ISN'T EVEN FINISHED! The game ends with her walking out of Richmond to go find AJ, and it says "Clementine's story will continue." What the hell is this? After all that, Telltale is going to leave us on a cliffhanger with a character who was already barely in this game to begin with?

"Well Season One and Two had cliffhangers" That's because I gave a **** about what was happening in those games. In this game, in the end, I didn't care about anyone, at least not like I did in the first two seasons.

If anyone actually has been bothering to read my thoughts on this game, you guys have to understand: I adore the first two games. Seasons One and Two are the best adventure games I have ever played and they left a huge impact on me not just as a gamer, but for me personally. It was the first real time I ever cried playing a video game. It made me realize what video games as a medium were capable of, and how they can push the boundaries of what dictates art and storytelling in video games.

This honestly really hurts me personally because of how much of a connection the first two games made to me.

Overall, The Walking Dead: A New Frontier is not a bad game(well, okay, it kind of is in some aspects). If you guys have read my previous posts about each episode, You know what I did like about the game. It's okay at best, and a train wreck at worst.

But this is, hand's down, the most disappointing game I've ever played. And as most people would put it, it's a lot worse to be disappointed than mad. I am mad at this game, but I am more disappointed as I think about how much better it could've been.

Overall, I give it a 4/10.