Developer – Telltale Games

Release date – August 14, 2018

Platforms – Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC, Nintendo Switch

Since Telltale’s first season of The Walking Dead going back to 2012, fans of both the comic series and the studio were eager to see what was in-store for them once they got a controller in their hands. Each season following Clementine either in her shoes or from another perspective, from when Lee first found her to Clementine looking out for herself all by herself, Clementine was always present. And now coming up to the last season of the videogame adaptation, we will see how this post-apocalyptic world has morphed her instincts as now she is in Lee’s shoes with Alvin Jr.

Episode One, Done Running, has Clementine with an older A.J. by her side. Since the end of Season 3, Clementine was left with the responsibility to take care of the boy on her own and to do what’s best for someone who’s been born into this madness. Using all she learned from the events prior to better the choices A.J. makes so he doesn’t repeat the same mistakes that Clementine and others have done.

Introducing a new cast of characters along with the fully maximized Telltale Tool Engine, the developer is going out with a bang for this Final Season of their biggest series. Pushing the boundaries of previous seasons as the player discovers how the story ends for Clementine and starts for A.J.. Influenced by the players choices is notorious for Telltale’s games, with this being the last of the series choices won’t be easy to make, but they never really were in the first place.

Years after the events of The New Frontier, both Clementine and A.J. have constantly been on the move as they continue running away from walkers and raiders that live in the zombie infested wasteland. Unable to find somewhere to call home, they take it to the road to survive with a working car as they continue their search for somewhere stable to live. Eventually running into hunger as they’ve been travelling for days, the two find an abandoned train station to search for any rations. Finding a stockpile of food hidden under the floors, but soon after a rigged grenade rolled in front of the two. Escaping the explosion, the two had to return back to the car as a horde of walkers start closing in on the station. With a line of close calls and a few dead zombies, they reached the car and attempted to drive away as the car gets overrun by the walkers.

Unable to fight them off and start the vehicle simultaneously, Clementine put the car in neutral to buy her some time to escape. But in the process the car slammed into a nearby tree. With the rush of adrenaline from the impact, Clementine managed to get the car in motion by reversing back to the road. Then just as they returned back to the road as they put the car into drive, a walker crashes through the driver side window just as the car accelerates away. As Clementine attempts to fight off the emerged walker, the car flips and rolls down the side of the road as the screen goes to black.

Clementine wakes up from the crash to see as someone takes out the remaining walkers from inside the wreck. As well as witnessing a figure take A.J. outside of the totaled car. Blacking out once again, Clementine later comes to her senses inside an unknown room. Sitting up and instantly searches for a way out, she soon picks the lock of the door to wonder the new building. Where she runs into some new characters. Tennessee who was taking care of you and Marlon, the leader of the group who rescued you. To soon find out that this new pack of kids is surviving without any adults at an abandoned school.

Secondary characters like Louis, Violet, Brody, and other children of the school meet Clementine to soon after. Her and A.J. put a hand out to help repay for their rescue with chores and duties that the kids have. Along with that, they also form impressions and later relationships with the kids. And unlike the previous installments of the series, Clementine seems to be more comfortable with this band of children. As she before had to adapt quickly to act more like an adult, being surrounded by people her age shows a different Clementine that we hardly have seen at all throughout her time in the series.

A.J. on the other hand is almost a wild card in this new season. Never experiencing the world before the walkers, had to adapt practically since birth to this new world. Unable to be act as child since his time running with Clementine, interacting with the new cast of kids was something more foreign than the walkers to him. Where his manners and social skills were hardly present for most of the episode. until he began to adapt to people his own age, just like Clementine, is where we begin to learn more of who A.J. really is.

Other ways Telltale was successful in having this last season stand out is the latest version of the Telltale Tool Engine. With true shadow effects, more realistic lighting and reactive objects in the game show the true potential of the 2006 mad engine. Unfortunately this is the last time we will be seeing this engine with all burners on as Telltale has announced months previous that they will be creating all other projects after The final Season using Unity. As many titles that I’ve played prior to this like The Wolf Among Us and Batman The Telltale Series, The Final Season was one of the smoothest experiences with a Telltale game.

Audio was fully in sync, character responded correctly and no long load times or freezes. An issue I’ve expected when it comes to projects from the studio, but was ultimately surprised when I noticed by the end of my 4 hour playthrough of Episode One. Still annoying is being unable to skip an almost minute long animation after dying and having to re-watch it before trying to not make the same mistake again.

Gameplay along with the visuals have also been tinkered with to give a more free experience this time around. Where your choice plays a bigger part in not only the story, but your actions as well. Giving players a choice on how they play compared to games before. Clementine is able to choose between stunning the walker with a swift kick to the knee or killing them on the spot. But even with the fixed animation, the player can get overrun by walkers and will have to be more precise when running into the undead. This also including that there are collectibles and miss-able achievements/trophies for The Final Season offers more to players who want to get the most out of a game. Instead of the regular chapter tiered unlocks, now it has been minimized to acts and with more gameplay interaction to unlock the rest per episode.

Another new feature is the 360 degree camera. Most games having this involved is almost expected, but seeing this in a Telltale title for the first time is a different experience. To really take in the game’s atmosphere and view what’s around you is something minimal you couldn’t truly enjoy until now in a title from Telltale. From closed corridors of the school to the open woods surrounding the schoolyard gave another level of depth to the already layered Walking Dead series. The game overall still plays fairly linear, but this change is enough of an impact to truly enjoy when looking back at previous titles.

In the end, The Walking Dead: The Final Season is truly the start of the end. For there only being four episodes for this last season, each episode will be extra chunky with story and gameplay as we start reaching the deadline of Telltale’s The Walking Dead series. Overall, Done Running gives a good first impression of what is expected for the remaining three episodes this season. With the few hiccups that I ran into for just the first episode is enough to keep me eager for Episode Two,  Suffer The Children.