The Walking Dead Season Two: All That Remains is the first episode in the season, and a follow up to Telltale Games’ sleeper hit The Walking Dead Season One, which began early 2012. Telltale Games’ series became known for its emotional and deep stories alongside hard and incredibly important choices.
All That Remains starts two years after the events of Season One, and stars one of its supporting characters, Clementine. As Clementine, the player must pick up pieces after the concluding events of the first game and the downloadable expansion 400 Days.
All the player’s choices in Season One and 400 Days can affect different aspects of All That Remains, as well as other areas of Season Two as it progresses. Though choices from the previous games do come into play at certain points, it almost feels as if many of them don’t matter by the end of All That Remains. It seems Telltale may even have wanted to eliminate the choices of all players to start fresh later on.
The series is called an “interactive adventure,” and that continues to help All That Remains feel fun, although the puzzles feel fairly rudimentary and can get a little tedious. Though the player does get to interact with almost everything in the environment, the puzzles can be as simple as bringing a certain item to a particular character or location.
As in interactive adventure, All That Remains doesn’t have a lot of true gameplay. Players shouldn’t expect much gameplay past walking around, examining objects, talking to characters and pressing buttons quickly to complete scenes.
However, what puzzles the player completes and what choices are made in the story affect how the group views Clementine. Oftentimes, the puzzles do a good job of showing Clementine’s motivations, or allowing the player to pick what should motivate her.
Quick time events require the player to press the correct button rapidly during a scene. These events continue to work in the series’ favor, and failing to complete a quick time event means death. The immediacy of the button pressing and the situation of the game create a feeling of surprise and importance. Oftentimes, these sequences are used to fight off zombies or scavenge humans, and they can create frantic battles.
All That Remains begins Season Two with a slightly weak story. The direction of the story remains a mystery, and Clementine’s feelings, as well as the feelings of the characters around her, are not made clear.
While the story may not go anywhere in the first episode, All That Remains continues to create a sense of dread and, at certain moments, even horror. This game is not for those with weak stomachs, as some scenes are gorier than the first season.
Another weak aspect of the story is the suspicion the group has of Clementine. Because everyone questions her, the player never really learns what the other characters want. He or she only sees what Clementine wants from the group.
Some of the more interesting characters in the game include Pete, who seems like a father figure, and another young girl that Clementine meets, who seems rather oblivious. Pete’s persona is also reminiscent of a character from the first season.
Like its predecessors, All That Remains does an amazing job of creating a feeling of dread and bleakness during the virtual zombie apocalypse. From the start of the game, the player is assaulted with misfortune after misfortune and is shown scenes that question human nature during trying times.
