mrstrangerjones Review of The Walking Dead: A New Frontier

The Walking Dead: A New Frontier (2016 Video Game)

Lacks The Emotion Of The Previous Entries

[5/10 · 28 June 2018]

"The Walking Dead: A Telltale Games Series" is one of my favorite games of all time. It is one of the most emotional games that I have ever played. "The Walking Dead: Season Two" was about on par with the original. It isn't really as memorable as the first, but that was improved by a great antagonist and some truly emotional scenes.

Unfortunately, "The Walking Dead: A New Frontier" lacks the emotion that made me love the first two games so much.

PROS:

• The protagonist Javier is an interesting character, and I was pretty invested in his story arc. He wasn't just some moron who spends the whole game cowering. Instead, he was a very dependable character in the game.
• The game attempts to be as emotional as the first two. It doesn't succeed, but it at least tries.

CONS:

• 8 year-old Clementine was the emotional focus and moral core of the first game. After the death of the first game's protagonist, Clementine (now 11) becomes the main character. The end of the Season Two left me craving to play as Clementine again. However, she's moved to a secondary character, which was very disappointing, despite the fact that Javier is still interesting to play as.
• Telltale made a bold move when making the end of the second game. While the first game had only two different endings, Season Two had FIVE. They were all incredibly different and seemed to shape the events of the next game. However, Telltale decided to ultimately not care about the endings of the previous game. In the end of Season Two, you have to choose between killing Jane or Kenny (or both); then you have to decide to either go with them or survive on your own. Also, there is a certain choice that has to be made in Kenny's ending. When Clementine, AJ, and Kenny make it to Wellington, they're told that only the kids (Clementine and AJ) are allowed in. You have to decide to take refuge in Wellington or traverse the harsh wastelands with Kenny.

Instead of addressing any of this, the beginning of Clementine's story in "A New Frontier" shows Kenny or Jane (if either were alive at the end of Season Two) getting unceremoniously killed. This felt extremely cheap, and I wish that Telltale actually decided to address these endings further.

• This game is significantly shorter than the first two games. The first game was 28 hours long, while Season Two was 23. This game is only 5 hours long.

Overall, I do recommend this game, but only so that you can get to "The Walking Dead: The Final Season".