Rating: 
If there’s one thing that I’ve learned from playing The Walking Dead it’s that I’m fairly certain I would do very, very poorly in a zombie infested apocalypse. I just can’t imagine myself murdering someone while Clemy, (it’s what I call Clementine, don’t judge me) is watching. I constantly feel compelled to try and save what sense of morality and hope that she clings onto in a world filled with terror. Needless to say, I’d probably get us all killed.
Yet, this is exactly why The Walking Dead is so much fun. It isn’t fast paced. It isn’t needlessly gory, but instead it creates an experience that allows you to explore the human condition in one of its most fragile states, desperation.
This is the entire premise of Episode 2 “Starved For Help”, and it executes it to damn near perfection.
Three months after the events of the first episode, the group is quite literally starving for help. The game begins with Lee having a conversation with a brand new character, Mark, as they venture into the wilderness surrounding the Motel to hunt.
While it’s easy to feel lost, the game does a great job of filling in the gaps through the well-crafted dialogue. The conversation reveals that Lee and the others found Mark barricaded in safety, with enough food for the entire group. With this information in hand it’s easy to see that his inclusion wasn’t necessarily let’s help everyone, but more of a let’s help ourselves type situation.
As with nearly any event in The Walking Dead their hunting trip goes horribly wrong. Lee faces an extremely brutal choice to be made that really does a great job of making you feel like the weight of the decision. I made my choice and winded up bringing back more survivors. This is where tensions run high. The strain on the group takes a heavy toll, as rations are now being divided out. Many see the new additions to the group as simply more mouths to feed, and with rations limiting you to feeding 4 out of the 10 survivors, you truly feel the added pressure. Having to choose who needs to eat, and who needs to starve a little longer, is a heavy decision to bear that is surprisingly more difficult than it would appear until you actually make the call.
Yet, my innermost paternal instincts had me saying, “Here Clemy, have this apple. Shut up Larry, I don’t care if you’re hungry.”
After Clemy was fed, I tip-toed away from feeding Duck…who names their kid Duck anyways? I hope the writers throw in a scene where someone has to call out to Duck to…duck, and lets all see how great of a name it is then. I’m looking at you Kenny.
Once the tough decisions are made, two survivors show up offering to trade gas for food. Lee and a small group follow the man, Andrew St. John, to his family’s dairy farm. What they find is a dairy farm that with any luck is a beacon of hope in a sea of death. However, in the world of The Walking Dead, nothing is ever what it seems.
This is definitely one of those times.
Starved For Help can feel slow at times for fans that are looking for a full-blown zombie slaughtering title, and if that’s you, be sure to look elsewhere. The events of the game are all an enormous build up to a disturbing conclusion. The game snatches up themes from the comic, and does an excellent job of conveying the dangers within the world. No one is safe, ever. This world is a much deadlier place to live in. Not because of the Walkers, but the survivors in it. We definitely get our “taste” of that in Starved For Help.
Playing through The Walking Dead is like writing your own issue of Kirman’s excellent comic series. It’s impressive that Telltale has captured the essence of the series so well. However, the game is weighed down slightly by animation issues, sound drop-out, and laggy transitions between scenes. Luckily, these won’t significantly hurt your experience, but they do prevent the game from fully immersing you into the story and world. With any luck Telltale can hammer out these issues before the next issue launches.
The Walking Dead continues to excel at presenting the danger that comes from living in a world filled with Walkers. You never know what will be waiting around the corner. The weight of decisions that can increase tension, or the split-second decisions where a person’s life is in your hands create a tension that isn’t found in many games. You feel that for a short-while you are living in the terrifying world of The Walking Dead, and it’s a great experience to have from the safety of your air conditioning and sofa.
Starved For Help relays the sense of desperation facing the survivors with well-tuned writing, difficult choices, and an array of conflict. Telltale Games continues to capture the essence of the comics, and the instinct that continues to drive humanity in times of hopelessness, survival.
| The Walking Dead Episode 2: Starved For Help XBox 360 Scoring | |
|---|---|
| Gameplay |   |
| Telltale Games has found the perfect combination of click-and-point adventuring, quicktime events, and dialogue trees. While the game offers limited control of how you interact with the world, it excels at providing you with the choices to impact the world. The Walking Dead is all about choices, small or big, and while some fans may not be a fan of the limited control functionality, Telltale has succeeded greatly at making you feel the impact of each decision. | |
| Graphics |  |
| The Walking Dead is presented to you in a beautifully rendered, cel-shaded environment, that captures the essence of the graphic novels. Fans of the comics will appreciate the visuals to the greatest extent. It's as if the panels have come to life. | |
| Sound | |
| Voice actors nail their performances, and help to provide a convincing drama for fans. Music throughout nails the tension on the head, but frequently cut out, pulling you out of the drama for quick moments throughout. | |
| Replay Value | |
| What sets The Walking Dead apart from other zombie titles is the sheer focus on the human narrative. A reflection on action and consequence that can always be traced back to the very first episode. Playing through Episode 2 again, just to see a different course of action, is something that many will surly be doing very often. | |
| Presentation | |
| Between the beautiful environments, brutally gory moments, and emotionally charged split-second decision making, Telltale Games has provided an amazing interactive experience that reflects the human condition in a time of struggle. Desperation can change any human being, and this game reflects what it means to be human. Unfortunately, minor animation issues bring you out of the experience, but these won't ruin your time with the game. | |
| Overall | |
| If you were a fan of the first Episode, or a fan of the comics, you should be downloading this one right now. Whether you wait for all five episodes at once or play them individually, missing out on this series would be a serious mistake. | |
The Walking Dead is available now for download on Xbox 360, and will be available on PS3 and PC this Friday.
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16 Comments
Do you not feel as though you’re just playing through a pre-determined story? That’s how it feels to me. Nothing you do has any real consequence or makes any real difference to the way the story progresses. The only thing your actions effect are the way the other characters view you.
I can see what you mean, but I have to disagree. Your actions very much have consequences, such as saving Character A vs. Character B. It alters the course of events by having someone entirely different standing next to you in your playthrough.
I can see where you’re coming from with the affect of how they view you, but I think that this is just a part of the game. The impact of your actions and their consequences will be much more visible once all of the chapters are out, and we can play through them one after the other. Since their are only two chapters out so far, it seems that it’s really hard to see just how the story will branch out over 5 episodes.
But that’s just my opinion.
The only really big decision so far has been choosing to save either Doug or Carley. I saved Carley, but as far as Episode 2 goes, apparently saving Doug doesn’t change the story whatsoever. He just assumes Carley’s place in the storyline, albeit with a few very minor changes in dialogue and what not.
I realise it’d probably quite difficult for there to be drastic story-altering choices all over the place. But maybe one or two decisions that really effect the story in each episode would be nice. For instance in Episode 2, there could have been a choice about whether you went to the Dairy or not. Deciding to go could’ve lead to the storyline that actually panned out, whereas deciding not to could’ve branched into a completely different one. That would’ve been the one big decision for episode 2. After that i’d be fine with minor character-altering decisions.
Aside from this, I have enjoyed both episodes thus far. Hopefully these decisions we’ve made in these early episodes will have more consequence as we continue into the later episodes.
I definitely understand what you’re saying a little bit more clearer. I would have to agree with you that the first two chapters should have introduced more decisions that alter the story. And even with the decision of whether to go with the St. Johns or not, you can decide not to go, but I doubt it truly alters the decision in the end.
Surely, the game will lead you to the same place one way or another.I can definitely see that.
Maybe we can hope that somehow they manage to up the ante in the last 3 episodes. But I definitely get what you’re saying Ben.
I went back to play through with your idea in mind, and I was thinking…DAMNIT BEN! Lol.
I would have to agree with you on this one.
Only two chapters out so far? Please, let’s not pretend like we’re sitting in just the first month of major league baseball. Almost half of the five episodes are out. The story isn’t THAT big.
Aside from that, I really enjoyed the first episode, and eagerly await my playing time with Starved For Help next week when I have time away from work.
You’ll definitely enjoy the second then. I’m not saying it’s going to be an EPIC or anything, but there will certainly be a greater idea of just how things can be different later on.
Can’t wait to play this episode when it’s released as the first was pure class! The time having to wait for this has been a bit of a nuisance though. When’s the release date for ps3 players in the U.K?
Telltale hasn’t released the official date for the U.K yet, but hopefully it won’t be too long! As soon as we get info we’ll be sure to post! Until then, you can semi-monitor http://www.telltalegames.com/walkingdead, they usually post up release date info quickly.
Hope that helps a little bit!
Great review; reflects my opinion on the episode exactly. Really enjoyed this chapter as it’s getting quickly to that ‘it’s not the zombies we’ve really got to worry about’ tone from the comics quickly. Oh and I think I ruined Clemmy’s innocence on the way but I felt the choice I made was a neccesary in order to prevent future incidents (hopefully I avoided spoilers!). Isn’t that the beauty of a game like this though? Everyone’s Lee is slightly different.
Thanks! It’s great seeing the different choices people made by percentages at the end too. Always makes me go, “Okay I wasn’t alone on that one.”
I think Telltale is capturing the essence of the comics to near perfection. Screw zombies, I’m worried about the creepy guy standing next to me yanno?
PS: Poor, poor, Clemmy
Actually there are absoltely NO choices in this “game”. When you are allowed to select and option generally as A or B and they end you up in exactly the same position then it was never an actual choice. Saving person A or B and them having no impact on how events unfold then you are basically saying they were never a value at all. If you save Doug you still end up in the same position later. Nothing changes at all. There are no changes so it’s just an illusion of choice. It only gets worse later on because you are faced with chosing a side but regardless of which side you chose the exact same things happen. You can piss off Kenny all you want but he will always invite you and like you.
I’m half way through this chapter and I think it’s awesome!! I’m loving this game. The gameplay is very much like the old point and click adventure games and it would be great to see developers use this style to resurrect that once popular genre.
I’m amazed how much I care what happens to this group. Also, the dialogue and voice acting is superb.
Hmmm … out of interest how many of you killed Larry? I was surprised by the percentage figures when I completed the game. Felt kinda like a bad man, lol
Lol, I didn’t kill him, but only because Kenny was starting to annoy me and I was like c’mon man if it was your kid you wouldn’t be saying all that jazz.
And then BAM! Well we know what happened.
I didn’t want Larry to die. I know he was an asshole but he was a good character and it was nice to have an older person in the group. I also liked how him and lee played against each other. Still, it was an awesome death that came out of the blue for me, I was left shouting NOOOOOOOO at the TV. Great game.
He really was a great character for the series. When it happened I’m pretty sure my jaw dropped. I was thinkin’, “Holy crap, did he really just do that?”
Lol.
Definitely took me by surprise. I really can’t wait to see what they do with Episode 3. Who knows maybe they’ll put a bigger weight on our shoulders!