Rating the Walking Dead Telltale Games

Where to play: Xbox (gamepass & bought)

I’ve known about the Walking Dead franchise for quite some time, but it hasn’t become a hyperfixation until recently. I first came across the show because of my cousin, then I decided to look into it a bit more. I never really finished the show (and can’t due to the Netflix ad plan), but one thing I did know about were the Telltale games.

Background Info

The Walking Dead Telltale is a set of various multi-episode adventure stories that all take place in a world overrun by zombies. The story’s focus on groups trying to survive the walkers (zombies), but also other people. When humanity is threatened, humans are the first to lose it. There are many different games and side stories, but I’ll focus more on the four games which involve the main story line.

*SPOILERS AHEAD FOR ALL FOUR GAMES*

THE WALKING DEAD - 10/10 for father daughter duo

This is the first game in the franchise, released in 2012. The story follows Lee Everet, once a Georgia professor and now a convicted murderer being driven to serve life in prison when the zombie apocalypse happens. The car that Lee was in got into an accident, which is when he saw what happened for the first time. Once he got out of the car (a little injured but he’s fine), he walked to a house where he found a little girl named Clementine surviving by herself. In this new world, Lee now has to focus not only on his survival, but also to protect an eight year old girl against the dangers of walkers and humans alike.

I may be a little biased, but I genuinely love this game so much. It may have been since this was the first game but the story building and atmosphere were incredible. From the moment it started it feels like you get thrown into the world with Lee. Lee’s story itself was probably one of my favorites. He was on his way to jail when the apocalypse hit, and he adopted a daughter not even 10 minutes after it happened. Father Lee was something so unexpected and the fact he had no idea what he was doing but did everything in his power to protect Clemintine was the most heartwarming part of this. Lee and his journey through father hood is probably my favorite story line besides Clems. In my play through, I tried my best to make Lee and Clem the best father daughter duo the world has ever seen.

One thing I don’t like about Telltale games however is how each action you take feels like it changes everything in the story, but in reality, when you choose to save one person over another, the one you saved ends up dying anyways.

The ending broke me for a good few days honestly. After Lee got bit, I couldn’t go even 15 minutes without tearing up because I knew he was going to die eventually. I didn’t have the heart to make my Clem kill Lee. He was the best thing that happened to her, I couldn’t just let her kill someone she loved that much, even if it meant Lee would turn into a walker. I wanted Clem to keep her humanity for as long as possible. The game made it really hard to leave Lee behind, I had to take a week break before starting the second game…

Regardless, this was still an incredibly enjoyable game. Even though the choice mechanics are not the best, I still love this game with all my heart. Its easily a 10/10 for father daughter duo.

The Walking Dead: Season 2 - 8/10 for Kenny and Luke (ft. baby AJ!)

This games follows Clementine’s camp after Lee’s death. She initially stays with Omid and Christa until she inevitably loses them both. Clem is all on her own once again, but she meets a dog! Oh, never mind, the dog attacked her. Trying to leave and find somewhere safe, she gets caught in a herd of walkers. Dehydrated, hungry and bitten (a dog bite), Clem passes out among the walkers.

Something shoots out of the dark. It’s a young man with a bow coming to save Clem. Carrying Clem out of the herd, he introduces himself and the man next to him. His name is Luke and the old man with him is Pete. After walking for a while with Clem still in his arms, Luke finally notices Clem’s bite. Still unconvinced, they decide to take Clem back to their camp.

Might be a bit controversial, but this game was the most forgettable for me. Don’t get me wrong! I loved this game while I was playing it, but after… I honestly forgot everything about it besides Luke, Kenny, and the last scene.

I want to dive deeper into Luke and his character since he’s like the only person I can remember from this game. Luke was the big brother figure for Clementine that she never had. Luke was the one person that I clearly remember standing up for Clem and trusting her so much just like Lee would. I know that Luke had a great impact on Clem but sadly, like every Telltale game, if you save someone once, they die later.

With that out of the way, lets get to KENNY. Kenny popping up out of nowhere was the best thing that could have happened. I was so excited when he showed up that I almost threw my controller. Even though Kenny seemed like the protective funny father he once was, he had gone through so much since we had last seen him. He lost Katjaa and Duck on the same day, then he lost Ben too, Kenny went through so much and I was so happy to see that he still had some part of himself preserved. He was strong enough to find a new love that he genuinely loved and cared for. And he was strong enough to let her go once it was time. The scene when Kenny and Jane (a new member to their group) almost fought to the death was insane, but understandable. Jane had hidden AJ, practically a new born, in a car during the freezing winter. Kenny lost his son and Clementine before, he wasn’t about to lose another child he could protect.

At the end I decided to forgive Kenny, but I stayed at Wellington. It put pressure on the players to take not only into account Clems wellbeing, but also AJ’s. It was probably one of the hardest decisions I had to make in the game. All in all, the game was pretty good, but not good enough where I remember this game as soon as someone mentions The Walking Dead. This gets a solid 8/10 from me.

The Walking Dead: A New Frontier - 9.5/10 For the Latinos and mother Clem

.A New Frontier introduces Javi, a former pro baseball player with a gambling problem, who arrived at his families home after hearing his father was dying. David (Javi’s brother) told him that he was too late and that his father was asking for him until the last moment. After that Javi heads inside where he sees Davids kids, Gabe and Mariana, and Davids wife, Kate. Still mourning his fathers death, Mariana announces that her grandfather was awake. Cautiously, David and Javi made their way to their fathers room where surely enough, he was standing with his back turned to the brothers. What they didn’t expect was that he would bite Javis mom. Javi had to finish him off and ran to take his mother to a hospital. Those that stayed in the house were Javi, Kate, Gabe, and Mariana. To no ones surprise, the ones that left never cam back, so they had to move forward. On one tragic material loot, Javi got kidnapped to keep everyone else safe from raiders. Javi taken in a truck when a tree fell in front and crashed into the truck. Javi got out and spared his kidnapper but once he turned he saw a girl holding a gun to his head, her name is Clementine.

A New Frontier was surprisingly good. As soon as the game started I was so excited for the latino representation and I was not disappointed! Javi and his family have a relationship that seems so natural which is rare for video games since they usually feel so out of place. The fact that they called the zombies “Muertos” instead of walkers made me so happy.

Another thing is how Javi’s character was amazingly developed, he was literally the supportive Tio (uncle) that Gabe and Mariana needed in the absence of their father. He did an incredible job of putting his families needs before his own, and making the hard choices. I had the chance to make Javi a complete a-hole, but I wanted him to behave the way anyone would in the current situation. He changed his methods with everyone, he talked to Gabe with respect so he would understand where Javi was coming from. The way Javi acted with Clem was also like an uncle. He helped her out when she needed it and supported her when she knew she could handle herself. Javi showed Clem how to trust people again after everything she’s been through.

Something else that was touched up on this was David's abuse and how it affected everyone. David was abusive to Kate and to the kids whether he knew it or not, but by the end of the game… it was hard to hate David. I made my Javi forgive David and try to convince him to stay in Richmond, I felt it was only fitting for Javi to want to keep his brother close after being apart for so many years.

Now let me talk about Clem! A New Frontier Clem was an amazing Clem. We got to see how much Clem had changed since we last saw her. She managed to become an amazing mother for AJ until he was taken away from her. She was also a complete girl boss and I was here for it. I know I haven’t talked about the horror aspect much (even though this is technically a horror game) but this one had me on the edge of my seat..

On another note, I hated Kate. I just found her so genuinely annoying. My Javi showed no romantic interest in Kate throughout the ENTIRE SERIES and she still had the nerve to get all upset at him for not reciprocating her feelings. But thats just me, everyone is entitled to their own opinions.

A New Frontier was incredible and I loved every moment of it (except for Kate), this one gets a solid 9.5/10 from me. (bonus points for mentioning Clem and her fears of getting her period)

The Walking Dead: The Final Season - 20/10 Best. Season. Ever.

Clem and AJ have been on the road for approximately 3 years, and Clem has become the best mentor AJ could ask for. Clem teaches AJ what he needs to know to survive, but she also tries her hardest to make sure he still gets to be a kid. On one of their supply runs, they find a bunker with food which seems like a blessing, but in reality it was a curse. It threw a bomb as soon as they tried to reach for the food. Thankfully they got out, but the explosion attracted an entire herd of walkers. While they were trying to escape in a car, they got into a nasty crash. The last thing Clem remembers before passing out was AJ getting dragged out of the car by someone. Clem wakes up in what she learns is Ericson’s Boarding school for troubled youth. Her and AJ were saved by the kids at the school who she gets to know as Marlon (the leader), Louis (the musician), and Violet (the fighter). Now Clem has to defend her new home from threats bigger than walkers, raiders.

I LOVE THIS GAME!! This is easily my favorite one out of the entire game franchise. I love Clementine and her story, but so many things played a part in why this is the best Telltale game. Firstly the relationship between Clem and AJ was adorable. They were more like siblings than mother and son, and I loved that. The creators didn’t try to mature Clem too fast so she would become a mother figure to AJ, but she was a sister that was by his side, guiding him and teaching him how to protect himself but also how to keep his humanity. There were so many lessons that Clem could teach AJ that would drastically affect who he becomes. You can either make AJ a killing machine with no remorse or ounce of humanity, or you could make him someone with a soul who knows right from wrong in this new world. I made my AJ into a person who not only knows how to protect himself, but also someone who knows when to take action and when things are able to be solved without killing.

Enough about AJ and Clem, let me talk about the action in this game. The QTE's in this game were so intense, unexpected, and hard that I accidentally killed my Clem so many times. The main “villans” were raiders (Delta) who kidnap children and turn them into soldiers to fight in a war for them against other surviving cities. In this game if one specific character gets caught, he gets his tongue cut out… I know, gruesome.

Now let me explain how this game is basically a dating simulator (not really). Clementine has the option to romance two different people, Louis and Violet. Louis is this incredibly funny and charming young musician who takes pride in trying to be the light in the dark world. Violet is a charismatic loner who takes time warming up to Clem, but once she does she is incredibly caring and gifted in a fight. For me it wasn’t really a hard choice deciding who I wanted my Clem to go with. I ended up choosing Louis. While many say that he is inexperienced and unreliable in a fight, that's not what Clem needs right now. Clem needs someone to keep her human, she needs someone to remind her that there is still happiness in this world. Louis won my heart as soon as he played “Oh My Darling, Clementine” on the piano upon their first meeting. Louis proved that he was caring and capable of making hard decisions when he needed to, but most importantly he was able to show Clem what home meant again.

On another note, a character (a terrible monster) from Clem's past in season 1 popped up again. I honestly thought we were done with season 1 cameos until Lilly showed up. The way they wrote Lilly was terrifying in the best way possible. She was a cold blooded manipulator who had no care for anyone but herself. My Clem tried to forgive her and give her a second chance, but after she killed one of Clem’s friend (James) that was the last straw, I was ready to end her the second chance I got, sadly, I didn’t get another chance.

The Final Season is my favorite game no discussion. I don’t even know how to explain why, but it just was. I had so much fun playing as a teenage Clem who finally got to meet other teenagers who lived through as much as she did. I loved the fact we finally got to see Clem be a teenager for once instead of a killing machine whose only goal was making it through the day. And I loved how AJ managed to stay human regardless of everything he went through. I love this game with all of my heart, an easy 20/10.