Review: Telltale’s The Walking Dead: The final season

Anyone who ever followed the show, back in the day, might remember my profound love for Telltale’s The Walking Dead. Season after season, it left me in awe and with me longing for more.

It doesn’t come to a surprise that the series is officially coming to an end, and the first episode of the last season just hit the digital shelves. As painful and shocking as it sounds, I completely understand the decision. Leave on a high note with people wanting for more.

The series launched back in 2012, and in six years it spanned across four season and two spin offs, all of which were bloody remarkable. The momentum this game has single-handedly built has given way to the massive success of the Telltale universe and has built the strong and unrelenting basis for episodical narrative driven titles we all have become accustomed to.

The fact of the matter is, that, there isn’t a single game that managed to build such a strong character bond accompanied by such an immersive narrative. With every single season, you get to rekindle with those emotions and everything just comes rushing back.

The last season of The Walking Dead follows the events of A New Frontier. Clementine has grown, both physically and in maturity. The game is reminiscent of the first season, with Clementine taking on Lee’s role of parent and protector figure (something which has been hinted in the cover-art).

The visuals are gorgeous, and, the level of detail they put in the game has come a long way. There a new tint/colour cast on the screen which gave the game is a new feel to it and really brings out the feel of the game.

As per previous reviews, I will not go into the story line. I will purely speak about the experience. The mechanics have been tweaked and new elements of game-play and combat have been added. The only issue I have is with the combat mechanics. They get really old, really fast. If you have a wave of walkers, one after the other, they will need to be taken down in the same manner, with the same sequence and mini-cut scene. This negative aspects simply ruins the combat dynamic and turns excitement and immersion into monotony.

That being said, they have introduced trap elements, better designed QTEs, and rewards for scavenging (in the form of collectibles). The level of immersion is just as amazing as the rest of the games, and picking up were you left off after a year, you get a sense of belonging. It is a familiar environment, one which you have seen and helped evolve through the years.

I could go on and on with this jizz-fest, but I won’t. I will also keep my final review till the very last episode. This title has been toying with the player’s emotions ever since it’s launch, and it is still an amazing piece of entertainment. I will be binging the series in its entirety once all episodes have hit the shelf and I sincerely suggest anyone into games, comics and TV to immerse themselves in this masterpiece.

Episode Rating: 8.5/10