The Walking Dead: Season Two

The Walking Dead: Season Two
Developer(s)	Telltale Games
Publisher(s)	Telltale Games
Distributor(s)	Skybound Entertainment
Director(s)	Dennis Lenart Eric Parsons Graham Ross Jason Latino Sean Ainsworth
Producer(s)	Sara Guinness Kirsten Kennedy
Designer(s)	Mark Darin Sean Ainsworth Stephen McManus Harrison G. Pink
Writer(s)	Nick Breckon[1] Andrew Grant Pierre Shorette JT Perry Eric Stirpe
Composer(s)	Jared Emerson-Johnson
Series	The Walking Dead
Engine	Telltale Tool
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, iOS, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Ouya, Android
Release date(s)	Episode 1 Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X WW December 17, 2013[2] PlayStation 3 NA December 17, 2013[2] EU December 18, 2013[3] Xbox 360, iOS WW December 18, 2013[4][5] PlayStation Vita WW April 22, 2014[6] Episode 2 Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X WW March 4, 2014[7] PlayStation 3 NA March 4, 2014[7] EU March 12, 2014[8] Xbox 360 WW March 5, 2014[9] iOS WW March 6, 2014[9] PlaysStation Vita WW April 22, 2014[6] Episode 3 Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X WW May 13, 2014[10] PlayStation 3 NA May 13, 2014[10] EU May 14, 2014[11] Xbox 360 WW May 14, 2014[10] iOS WW May 15, 2014[10] Episode 4 Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X WW July 22, 2014[12] PlayStation 3 NA July 22, 2014[12] EU July 23, 2014[12] Xbox 360 WW July 23, 2014[12] iOS WW July 24, 2014[12] Episode 5 Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X WW August 26, 2014[13] PlayStation 3 NA August 26, 2014[13] EU August 27, 2014[13] Xbox 360 WW August 27, 2014[13] iOS WW August 28, 2014[13] Retail version Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 & Xbox 360 NA 20141014October 14, 2014 AUS 20141031October 31, 2014 EU 20141024October 24, 2014 PlayStation Vita WW November 4, 2014 PlayStation 4, Xbox One NA October 21, 2014 EU October 31, 2014 Ouya WW TBA 2015
Genre(s)	Graphic adventure Interactive movie
Mode(s)	Single-player
Distribution	Download, optical disk

The Walking Dead: Season Two is an episodic interactive drama graphic adventure based on Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead comic book series developed by Telltale Games. It is the sequel to The Walking Dead, with the episodes released between December 2013 and August 2014, and a retail collector's disc edition planned at the conclusion of the season.^[14][15][16] The game employs the same narrative structure as the first season, where player choice in one episode will have a permanent impact on future story elements. The player choices recorded in save files from the first season and the additional episode 400 Days carry over into the second season.^[17] Clementine, who was the player's companion during the first season, is the player-character in Season Two.^[18]

Skybound has announced that a third season is being developed.^[19]

Gameplay

Similar to the previous season, The Walking Dead: Season Two is a point-and-click adventure game. The player, in control of Clementine, can direct the character around the environment, examine and interact with various scenery elements and collect and use objects to advance the story. The player can also initiate conversations with non-player characters via conversation trees. Certain replies from other characters may offer the player multiple choices to select from, including the option to stay silent, with a limited amount of time to make the selection; if the player does not select an option, the conversation will continue as if they had stayed quiet. Such choices can affect how the other characters will later react to Clementine which can influence later events in the story. Other scenes are more action-oriented, requiring the player to complete quick time events to avoid Clementine or her allies from getting killed. If the player fails these events, the game will restart at the start of such scenes. Such action scenes may also require the player to make a key decision within a limited time frame, such as which of two characters to save from attacking walkers.

The player's choices and actions will impact story elements in later episodes; for example, a character that the player does not choose to be saved will not appear in later scenes. Season Two also incorporates the player's choices from the first season and the DLC 400 Days, via the saved game file from these games, to influence the story and events in these episodes.

Synopsis

Setting

The Walking Dead: Season Two follows on the first game, and coincides with events of the comic, in which a zombie apocalypse has occurred, turning humans that are bitten or die into zombies, or "walkers"; the only way to stop this conversion is to damage the brain. The game is mostly set more than a year following its predecessor. While the game starts in Georgia, the setting moves to more northern locales as the survivors head towards Michigan, believing there is a large survivor camp there.

The second season follows Clementine (Melissa Hutchison), a young girl who has been able to survive the walkers thanks to the help of Lee Everett (Dave Fennoy). At the start of the apocalypse, Lee helps to protect Clementine and offers to help her find her parents who had gone to Savannah; they join several survivors in their journey. When Clementine is captured, a bitten Lee rescues her, but both realize her parents have become walkers. She is forced to choose between shooting him or leaving him to reanimate, before venturing off on her own.

The second season features several new characters, as well as others returning from the first season. Clementine initially accompanies Omid (Owen Thomas) and Christa (Mara Junot), a couple who are the last known survivors of Clementine's previous group. She then encounters a cabin that shelters several survivors: Luke (Scott Porter), a survivalist who quickly befriends Clementine; Luke's friend Nick (Brian Bremer), and his uncle Pete (Brian Sommer), a hunter; doctor Carlos (Kid Beyond), who is protective over his teenage daughter Sarah (Louisa Mackintosh); and Alvin (Dorian Lockett) and his wife Rebecca (Shay Moore), who are expecting a child. The cabin group has fled from William Carver (Michael Madsen) a charismatic yet dictatorial leader. They later encounter another batch of survivors, consisting of Kenny (Gavin Hammon), Clementine's friend who was believed to be killed by walkers; Sarita (Julia Farmer), Kenny's new girlfriend; and partners Walter (Kiff VandenHeuvel) and Matthew (Wylie Herman). Both factions encounter Carver and his men, whose community includes Bonnie (Erin Yvette) and other survivors that were previously introduced in the 400 Days add-on content from the first season; Jane (Christine Lakin), a loner who had lost her sister to walkers; and Mike (Dan White), a cranky yet humorous survivor. The latter part of the season introduces Arvo (Michael Ark), a young Russian man with a leg brace that speaks in broken English, later shown to be part of a larger group of other Russian survivors.

Plot

Certain decisions made by the player during both this game and the preceding Season One and its add-on "400 Days" alter specific details. Therefore, this is only a broad overview of the plot.

Several months after the events of the Season One, Clementine has regrouped with Omid and Christa, who is now visibly pregnant. However, during a brief rest stop, Omid is killed by a scavenger who attempts to rob Clementine, after which the story flashes forward sixteen months to find Christa has lost her child and Clementine's relationship with her has become strained when they are separated by a band of scavengers.

After a run-in with a stray dog leaves her with a serious bite, Clementine is saved from walkers by Pete and Luke, who take her back to their group at a nearby cabin. Unsure about her bite, the group—consisting of Luke, Pete and his nephew Nick, a married couple named Alvin and Rebecca, and a doctor named Carlos and his daughter Sarah—decide to confine Clementine in a shed overnight to see if she develops further symptoms. Instead, Clementine escapes, acquires her own supplies, and sutures her own arm before fending off a walker, after which she is allowed into the cabin and fed.

The next day, Clementine accompanies Pete and Nick to the river, where they find several fresh bodies that Pete blames on a someone named Carver. During their investigation, they are set upon by walkers and Clementine is forced to choose whom to help, though Pete dies regardless. After a night besieged by walkers, Clementine returns to the cabin and is left alone with Sarah while the others go to recall the search party. During their absence, a stranger enters the cabin and questions Clementine, obviously seeking the cabin group, before eventually departing peacefully. When the group returns, they conclude that the intruder was William Carver, the man they are fleeing (who is particularly interested in Rebecca since he believes she is carrying his child). Panicked, the group abandons the cabin to journey north towards the rumored settlement called "Wellington", where they believe it will be safer since they have heard walkers move slower in the cold.

Five days later, while scouting a bridge, Clementine and Luke encounter a man with a rifle who offers them food, but Nick comes up and shoots him, mistaking him for a threat despite Luke and Clementine's protests. The group then climbs to a nearby ski lodge occupied by Walter, Sarita, and Kenny, whom Clementine is elated to see after presuming him killed in Savannah. The two groups settle in together, but tensions are aggravated when the man Nick shot turns out to be Walter's partner Matthew. Soon after, a horde of walkers attracted by the nearby windmill attacks the lodge and Nick is either saved or left to die by Walter. The overwhelmed survivors are only saved by the arrival of an armed group led by Carver, who captures everyone except Luke and Kenny and possibly Clementine, prompting a standoff in which Carver kills Walter and possibly Alvin to make Kenny surrender, then forcibly returns the rest to his camp, a fortified mall centered on a hardware store.

Carver puts the group to work maintaining the camp, allowing them to connect with fellow dissidents Mike and Jane. While running an errand, Clementine is also contacted by Luke, who has caught up to them with word of an insurmountable herd of walkers bearing down on the mall. The group's first attempt at escape is quickly foiled by Carver, resulting in Luke's capture and Kenny losing his left eye to a savage beating, but this brutality convinces another dissident named Bonnie (from "400 Days") to join the group in a second attempt that night by calling in the herd with the PA system and pushing through the horde in the confusion using gore to disguise themselves from the walkers. During this escape, Alvin (if alive) is killed and Carver is surprised by Clementine attempting to stop the group and beaten to death with a crowbar by Kenny.

As the group passes through the herd, Carlos is killed by a stray bullet and devoured, causing Sarah to panic. In the ensuing chaos, Sarita is bitten, forcing the others to euthanize her, and the group is separated but everyone except Luke, Sarah, and Nick (if alive) regroup at the nearby Civil War museum. With Kenny distraught by Sarita's death and Rebecca going into labor, Clementine and Jane find Luke and Sarah besieged by walkers in a trailer park and possibly Nick's undead form. Traumatized by her father's death, Sarah has become catatonic which the player must deal with or be forced to leave her behind as walkers overwhelm the trailer.

Returning to the historic site, they discover Rebecca is in increasing pain and Clementine must coax Kenny (the only one with any experience regarding birth) out a nearby tent to assist. While looking for shelter and supplies, Clementine accompanies Jane to the observation deck overlooking the old battlefield, where they encounter and disarm a Russian scavenger with a leg brace named Arvo, who is attempting to cache a bag of medical supplies the player has the option of stealing before sending him away.

With Rebecca's screams attracting a herd of walkers, the group moves to the upper floor of the observation deck, which they struggle to defend as Kenny delivers Rebecca's son. While shifting a display to block the door, the deck collapses, resulting in Sarah's death (if alive) and possibly Jane's separation from the group, though she opts to leave the group that night regardless.

Although Rebecca is still recovering from the harsh birth, the group decides they must soon continue on. During a short rest as the first snow falls, the group is approached by Arvo and realize too late they have walked into an ambush by his fellow Russian survivors. In the midst of the standoff, Clementine notices that Rebecca has died and is beginning to resurrect, with her newborn still in her arms. Shooting Rebecca to save the child provokes a gunfight in which Luke is wounded and all the Russians except Arvo are killed when Jane returns in time to win the battle. Enraged, Kenny forces a grieving Arvo to lead them toward the promise of shelter.

Arvo leads them to an unfinished house, but the way leads across a frozen lake. As they cross, walkers attempt to follow them, causing extra weight that causes Luke and possibly Bonnie to break through and drown. Blaming Arvo, Ken beats the boy severely, which frightens and offends several of the group and leads Jane to warn Clementine that Kenny has become dangerous. Meanwhile, Kenny repairs a nearby truck, but the group is split over whether to continue north to Wellington, return to Carver's mall, or possibly head further south. That night, Clementine wakes to find Mike, Arvo, and Bonnie (if alive) attempting to steal the truck to escape Kenny. Clementine attempts to stop them, but Arvo panics and stupidly shoots Clementine in the shoulder, leaving her unconscious, during which she has a flashback of Lee from Season One.

Waking up in the truck with Kenny, Jane, and the baby (who has been named AJ, Alvin Junior), Clementine is told the others ran off after she was shot. Kenny and Jane are soon arguing whether to continue looking for Wellington or return to Carver's camp, during which Jane accuses Kenny of being feared even by his loved ones. Finding the road blocked and the snowstorm worsening, Kenny goes in search of fuel while Jane attempts to convince Clementine to abandon Kenny. When walkers appear, Clementine crashes the truck attempting to flee and becomes separated from Jane and AJ before finding Kenny at the rest stop. Soon after, Jane arrives without AJ. Assuming the worst, Kenny accuses her of purposely abandoning the baby and a brutal deathmatch ensues, forcing Clementine to make a heartbreaking decision.

At this point, the story diverges based on the player's decisions. The player can save Jane by shooting Kenny only to learn she purposely hid AJ in a nearby car to prove how dangerous Kenny was. Thereafter, the player can forgive Jane and return with her to Carver's abandoned camp and choose whether or not to take in a family of three. Alternatively, the player can let Kenny kill Jane, after which they find AJ hidden in the car and continue on to Wellington where overpopulation forces the player to choose whether to enter Wellington with AJ or remain with Kenny. Regardless of who is killed, the player also has the option to abandon the survivor and set off alone with AJ, passing through a herd of walkers disguised in gore.

Episodes

The game is to be separated into five episodes, similar to the first season.

Chapter	Episode Release Date
Episode 1 - "All That Remains"	December 17, 2013[2]
Notes: More than a year after the events of "No Time Left", Clementine and Christa get separated after they are ambushed by bandits in the woods. While attempting to survive on her own, Clementine comes across a new group of survivors hiding out in an old cabin.
Episode 2 - "A House Divided"	March 4, 2014[7]
Notes: The group is forced to flee into the woods after the cabin is visited by Carver, who threatens to harm them. While searching for shelter, Clementine finds someone from her past.
Episode 3 - "In Harm's Way"	May 13, 2014[10]
Notes: When the group is captured by Carver, Clementine must go to drastic measures to escape from his grasp.
Episode 4 - "Amid the Ruins"	July 22, 2014[12]
Notes: After managing to escape from Carver's compound, Clementine works to reunite the separated group and ensure the safety of Rebecca's child.
Episode 5 - "No Going Back"	August 26, 2014[20]
Notes: In the aftermath of the shootout, the group continues to search for sanctuary while their increasing internal conflict comes to a boiling point.

Development

When Telltale Games acquired the right to make video games based on The Walking Dead comics, they signed a contract for a "multi-year, multi-platform, multi-title" license.^[21] This license went into effect after the success of the first season of The Walking Dead, when Telltale commissioned a second series of games based on the franchise.^[22] The first season was considered highly successful, helping to revitalize the adventure game genre which had been in decline since the mid-1990s,^[23][24] with Telltale being recognized as one of the top development studios in 2012.^[25]

During an interview on IGN's Up at Noon, writer Gary Whitta teased more The Walking Dead from Telltale sooner than later. "You won't have to wait for season two to play more Walking Dead", he claimed. "I can tell you what you already know, which is season two is coming. There's not much to say because it really is very early... it's a way off", said Whitta. "But, knowing that it's a way off, and knowing that people are hungry for more Walking Dead there may very well be more Walking Dead from Telltale before season two. We may have a little something extra for you between season one and two". Whitta continued to tease that something is in the works right now "that will make the wait for season two slightly less agonizing".^[26] This was revealed at the 2013 Electronic Entertainment Expo in June 2013 to be an additional episode called The Walking Dead: 400 Days that is available as downloadable content for the first season. It introduces five new characters that journalists expect to carry into Season Two. 400 Days will use data about the player's decisions in season one, and decisions made in 400 Days will carry into Season Two.^[27]

Writing for Season Two was done to contrast the work they had completed in the first season. At the start of the writing cycle for the second season, they had debated who their primary character would be including introducing new group of survivors that they could use to flesh out the backstories of characters from the first season, or with a new "protector" for Clementine.^[28] They eventually agreed to use Clementine as the main character as they felt her story needed to be continued.^[28] By changing the player's perspective from that of Lee to Clementine, they wanted to create a "different sort of agency" that the player will experience. Instead of the player, as Lee, looking to help Clementine and others, the player as Clementine would now have to determine who to trust to help her. They also emphasize this new perspective by using several camera angles from a low perspective, to emphasize that Clementine is a child compared to others she meets.^[29] The developers also recognized that they needed to avoid making Clementine feel like a "carbon copy" of the character from the first season and instead something crafted by the player's decisions. To resolve this they created the first scenario of the game that would separate her from the familiar characters and to make it feel a result of the player's actions, so that the player would directly connect with Clementine's situation.^[30] The concept they kept in mind to write for Season Two was "[Clementine is] eleven years old and the world doesn't care."^[28]

As with the previous season, Telltale plans to release Season Two for Microsoft Windows and OS X computers, on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation Vita, and on iOS devices.^[31] Telltale is currently working to bring the first season and its DLC to the Ouya console, and is planning on releasing the second season for Ouya as well.^[32] Releases for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles were announced in May 2014 with release at a later date, along with retail versions of the game for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles.^[33]

The season was formally announced in late October 2013. The announcement showcased Clementine as the playable character for the game, set sometime after the events of the first series. Telltale's CEO Dan Conners stated that this will put "players in the shoes of a lead role that will challenge their expectations of how to survive in a world where no one can be trusted".^[34] The first episode was released in the fourth quarter of 2013, with subsequent episodes released four to six weeks apart. A collector's disc was announced to purchase at the end of the season, with those who pre-order the game (from the Telltale Games Store) receiving it for just the shipping and handling cost.^[34]

Reception

Aggregate review scores

Game	GameRankings	Metacritic
Episode 1 – All That Remains	(PS3) 81.29%[35] (PC) 78.76%[36] (X360) 77.50%[37]	(PS3) 82[38] (X360) 80[39] (PC) 78[40]
Episode 2 – A House Divided	(PS3) 87.29%[41] (PC) 81.39%[42] (X360) 79.44%[43]	(PS3) 82[44] (PC) 81[45] (X360) 80[46]
Episode 3 – In Harm's Way	(PS3) 82.43%[47] (X360) 82.25%[48] (PC) 82.22%[49]	(X360) 82[50] (PC) 81[51] (PS3) 80[52]
Episode 4 – Amid the Ruins	(PS3) 79.22%[53] (PC) 78.58%[54] (X360) 72.00%[55]	(PS3) 78[56] (PC) 78[57] (X360) 71[58]
Episode 5 – No Going Back	(PS3) 81.67%[59] (PC) 79.19%[60] (X360) 77.00%[61]	(PS3) 87[62] (X360) 84[63] (PC) 78[64]

The Walking Dead: Season Two overall gained very positive reviews from critics with many praising the story, atmosphere, and main character but also criticizing the short episode lengths, lack of hubs, and graphical glitches often found in Telltale's work. However, many fans consider it inferior to its predecessor due to a lack of an adult replacement for Lee from the first game and it's tragedy.

Episode 1 – All That Remains

Episode 1 – All That Remains received positive reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the PlayStation 3 version 81.29% and 82/100,^[35][38] the PC version 78.76% and 78/100^[36][40] and the Xbox 360 version 77.50% and 80/100.^[37][39] Matt Liebl from GameZone gave the episode an 8.5/10, stating that it "...is just a taste of what's to come -- a mere setup for the horror that awaits us in the final four episodes."^[65]

Episode 2 – A House Divided

Episode 2 - A House Divided received critical acclaim. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the PlayStation 3 version 87.29% and 82/100,^[41][44] the PC version 81.39% and 81/100^[42][45] and the Xbox 360 version 79.44% and 80/100.^[43][46] Mitch Dyer from IGN gave the episode a 9.5/10, saying it is one of the best episodes Telltale Games has ever made.^[66]

Episode 3 – In Harm's Way

Episode 3 - In Harm's Way received positive reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the PlayStation 3 version 82.43% and 80/100,^[47][52] the Xbox 360 version 82.25% and 82/100^[48][50] and the PC version 82.22% and 81/100.^[49][51]

Episode 4 – Amid the Ruins

Episode 4 - Amid the Ruins received mixed to positive reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the PlayStation 3 version 79.22% and 78/100,^[53][56] the PC version 78.58% and 78/100^[54][57] and the Xbox 360 version 72.00% and 71/100. Many critics praised Clementine's development while most criticisms were focused on some of the characters' cheap deaths and lazy writing compared to the episode's predecessors.^[55][58]

Episode 5 – No Going Back

Episode 5 – No Going Back received positive reviews, higher than its predecessor. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the PlayStation 3 version 81.67% and 87/100,^[59][62] the PC version 79.19% and 78/100^[60][64] and the Xbox 360 version 77.00% and 84/100.^[61][63] Mitch Dyer of IGN gave the episode a 9.5/10 saying that the finale is "an impressive and intelligent episode, and among Telltale Games' finest stories."^[67]

References

External links

• Official website

The Walking Dead Robert Kirkman Tony Moore Charlie Adlard Comic books The Walking Dead Television series The Walking Dead Episodes Season 1 2 3 4 5 Accolades Soundtrack Vol. 1 2 Talking Dead Fear the Walking Dead Video games The Walking Dead Season One Two Survival Instinct Novels Rise of the Governor The Road to Woodbury The Fall of the Governor Characters Lists Comic book series Television series Video game series Aaron Allen Amy Jessie Anderson Andrea Andrew Axel Ben Tara Chambler Clementine Randall Culver Daryl Dixon Merle Dixon Rosita Espinosa Lee Everett Abraham Ford Gareth The Governor Beth Greene Hershel Greene Maggie Greene Carl Grimes Lori Grimes Rick Grimes Dale Horvath Jacqui Jim Jimmy Morgan Jones Karen Dawn Lerner Lilly Milton Mamet Caesar Martinez Deanna Monroe Spencer Monroe Michonne Negan Noah Oscar Otis Patricia Carol Peletier Sophia Peletier Eugene Porter Glenn Rhee Lizzie and Mika Samuels Sasha Gabriel Stokes Bob Stookey T-Dog Tyreese Shane Walsh Category

The Walking Dead video game episodes Season One "A New Day" "Starved for Help" "Long Road Ahead" "Around Every Corner" "No Time Left" "400 Days" (DLC) Season Two "All That Remains" "A House Divided" "In Harm's Way" "Amid the Ruins" "No Going Back" Category

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