The Walking Dead: Episode Two “Starved for Help” Review

Game Reviewed: The Walking Dead: The Game Episode Two

Release Date: June 27th, 2012

Developer: Telltale Games

Publisher: Telltale Games

Platform: [Reviewed: Xbox 360], PlayStation 3, PC

Genre: Adventure

Rated: M for Mature

Just when you thought, Walking Dead couldn’t get any better than the last episode, it does. Telltale is back with the second of five episodes entitled Starved For Help.

The realism in the Walking Dead is unprecedented. It’s one of those rare titles, and possibly the only XBLA/PSN that draws you in, forcing you to care about individual characters throughout gameplay. In fact, for a fraction of your time, you’ll literally feel like Lee with Clementine next to you, with you being her only means for living.

Rarely would you see a developer take the risk that Telltale has. In the first episode, “A New Day,” Lee was on his way to jail when all goes to hell. Walkers, better known as zombies, has over run the city. One situation leads to another, bringing you together with a small group trying to survive by any means.

In short, the first episode is all about escaping the Walkers. Starved for Help completely changes direction of story and gameplay as it focuses more on the group.  Surprisingly, the same level of excitement lives in the series.

Starved for Help opens three months after escaping to the hotel. Lee and Mark are out hunting as they’ve come down to their last week of food. While out, they run across two students and their coach who are caught in an altered bear trap out in the woods. Here is where the tough decisions begin.

Your decision then brings you back to your camp where you deal with Lily who again seems to have claimed the leadership position over the group. Kenny and Lily continues to fight about who’s over who, while you’re brought in as the middleman, again with each comment you make factoring in to the story as it progresses.

Hopefully you remember your decisions and responses from the first episode as the may resurface in this particular chapter. The purpose of Starved for help is to build your trust factor and create stronger relationships. The perfect example of this is when Lily makes you pass out the food for the day. It sounds simple, but with ten people in the camp, you only have four rations.

This is how deep the game draws you in. The dramatic score kicks into gear with Lee looking at the group, not knowing who’s receiving their next meal. As the player, you equally relate to the emotion being expressed through a video game.

Later your alliance is truly tested as you catch up with more survivors and the group migrates over to St. John’s Dairy Farm. There’s so many twist and turns, all that is left for you is to make the “smart” decisions.

Telltale has everything well aligned from story to music and voiceovers. There are some noticeable hiccups in this episode, mostly freeze frames.  However, with you pin the $4.99 tag on each episode, The Walking Dead game is a solid gem, worth every red cent, if not more.

The Scores

Gameplay: 4.5/5

Visuals: 4/5

Audio: 5/5

Controls: 4.75/5

Value: 5/5

Overall Rating: 4.75/5

Click Here to Read Episode One: “A New Day” Review