In particular the dynamic carefully nurtured between Dave Fennoy’s Lee Everett and Melissa Hutchinson’s Clementine builds a crucial emotional core that the rest of the story relies on. Once again, all the actors contributing to the game do a fantastic job of pulling engaging performances out of these characters. This episode really ups the ante for all the characters and by the end of it, one of the great highlights for narrative in gaming has entered the books, with the kind of water cooler moments that bear discussion with other fans. Robert Kirkman crafted a series in which humans are a far greater threat than zombies, and no character no matter how likable, is safe from a random, brutal death. I’m not going to venture into spoiler territory since what happens next is the heart and soul of this episode, but I will say that if you’re at all familiar with the source material, then what transpires in episode 3 isn’t a complete shocker. It’s just about all Telltale can do without the design challenge of introducing new mechanics, but fortunately this episode’s writer, Sean Vanaman, is up to the task. So what Telltale does is put the screws to these characters you’ve already spent two episodes getting to know and care about. Players know there are timed dialog responses, that certain “action” sequences require a steady hand, and there will be some puzzle solving and inventory management, though not to the heights of twisted logic the genre normally loves to dabble in. The mechanics of The Walking Dead’s particular spin on the adventure game genre are well established now. That’s pretty much what happens here, as much out of design necessity as out of any natural sequence of events. In the classic narrative arc, “the middle” is usually the good part, where established characters now get into conflicts, stakes are raised the proverbial fecal waste impacts at great velocity on the thermantidote. Unless you’re the sort that loves to jump into well-established situations and characters with little clue as to the subtle and significant ties of everything around you, it’s not advised. This is a “serial” episodic game in that what you play now has all of its meaning and context derived from decisions made in the past two games. For anyone that is jumping into the series now, I have some absolutely essential advice don’t do it unless you’re willing to play through the previous two episodes. So, here we are at the third episode of the Telltale take on Robert Kirkman’s Walking Dead series.
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