The Walking Dead: The Final Season Review
Played on Xbox One (base)
Developed by Telltale Games, Skybound Entertainment
Released 14th August 2018
Marking the end of many eras, Telltale's final season with The Walking Dead faced many trials and tribulations throughout its development. The Walking Dead: The Final Season was to act as the complementary closure for the character of Clementine after A New Frontier faced backlash for casting her to the sidelines. Telltale wanted this season to be the perfect send-off to the character, so much so that they fully dedicated the whole year to developing the 4-episode season rather than periodically pumping out several episodes of varying IPs like they did in the years prior. However, the biggest move that shows the dedication that the "Still Not Bitten" Team have to finish this project is how, despite having a lack of long-term job security, they stayed with the then-crippling Telltale to deliver the experience they wanted, while Telltale was slowly transitioning to Skybound Games, after their devasting bankruptcy.
Story
The story of this finale to a great franchise serves as a great closure for the player while still delivering an experience that finally delves back into the world of fans' favourite Clementine. This game is essentially the Magnus Opus of the Telltale and The Walking Dead series. It presents realistic survival issues like the original season, a well-flown story structure like the second season and an intense battle like New Frontier offered. This nice blend of walker-slaying and emotional cuts is the smoothie that the series deserves as an end to its greatness. The game presents 4 episodes this time, each between 2-3 hours long, and yet still offers smooth pacing throughout, equivalent to that of Season 1, however, the pacing gets troublesome during the final episode as it feels abrupt yet slow, however, that overall doesn't affect the narrative's quality as a whole.
Gameplay
The gameplay is an interesting re-work that works in every way. The point'n'click aspect for everyday items has a much more fascinating approach as your interactions teach young AJ about the world he wasn't able to live through all while being able to amass a library of collectibles that breathe life into your room which almost acts like a safe zone. The point'n'click has advanced so far that it introduces a completely new step forward into combat as you'll be able to stun walkers, split them apart from the herd, and kill them in fashion with either a close-range knife or a bow that does wonders against flaming walkers. All of these are just some of the new ways to do an action that doesn't revolve around QTEs (Quick Time Events) and I love it.
Speaking of QTEs, they have very much improved from Michonne's journey and not just in the format of a cleaner HUD or sharper responses but also in cinematic glory. The camera work and the flow in between actions, perspective and more, are so gratifying and the best Telltale has ever done. The choices in this game matter more than in any Telltale project. Each choice and action is a lesson taught to AJ, similar to what Season 1 attempted with Clementine. While it once again doesn't affect how the narrative ultimately plays out, it does affect who survives in the end, how some scenes play out, what kind of attitude characters have for you, etc. The judgemental weight, which I adored in the first season, couldn't be any heavier as its effect is spread across all the player’s actions. Dialogue shapes AJ - both in his language and what deed he commits - while the larger choices will ruin at least someone's life, however, for better or worse, it doesn't change the ending depending on what you have done. This is the most technologically advanced that The Walking Dead has been.
Characters
The characters are the biggest downfall in the game. This, however, doesn't mean they're god-awful. While Clementine and her relationship with AJ are flawless and reminiscent of Lee and Clementine, the other characters don't manage the same effect. Each character is unique and internally troubled which manages to nearly rival the same sorrow Clementine has gathered over the years. This human development is most present in important characters like joke-cracking Louis and self-isolated Violet and more. However, while these characters blossom in the spotlight, the lesser characters don't present much depth and this is slightly disappointing to see as the original 2 seasons managed to add intriguing attributes to all whereas this game doesn't. It gets to the point that some characters feel like filler dialogue to exchange, yet either way, the words spoken by every character are heartwarming, skin-tightening and emotionally challenging.
Atmosphere
The atmosphere is the best in the series. The game is so goddamn beautiful: the great blend of comic art style and the graphical ecstasy is amazing due to Telltale utilising their newly found rendering style of "Graphic Black". The soundtrack is fantastic and while it doesn't present the same sentimental chord strikes of Seasons 1 & 2, it still is pretty damn good. The lighting through cracks and crevices adds the seasoning to the already great visuals, however, for some reason the shadows are the direct opposite, being quite awkward when entering them. The audio is somewhat troublesome as it would cut off when killing walkers and doesn't deliver quite the impact it should. Other than this and the extremely long loading screens, the game delivers an amazing atmosphere.
Story- 8.5/10
Gameplay- 9/10
Characters- 8/10
Atmosphere- 9.5/10
Great
Clementine's story ends as beautifully as any player would have wanted it to.
