The Walking Dead: The Final Season Ep. 3 Review

After the news of Telltale closing fans of The Walking Dead was left wondering would the story come to an end or if we witnessed the biggest cliffhanger in gaming history. As episode two completed, the raiders had taken a handful of survivors back to their camp. With that, the abrupt shutdown felt like every gamer that bought the season pass was snatched away as well. However, Skybound Games stepped up to complete the Final Season of Clementine’s story, also returning a few Telltale employees to see the project to the end. This is Episiode 3: “Broken Toys.”

Clementine, AJ and what’s left of the survivors are in the fight of their lives as they plan to rescue the kidnapped kids, based on your decisions in the previous episode. And for the record it’s a tough pill to swallow knowing there’s only one final episode after this.

Lilly, an old acquaintance of Clem is recruiting (by force) children and brainwashing them into thinking life is now a haven. Her and her crew, known as Delta have a true battle on their hands however as Clementine seeks the help of James, his mask and his Walkers.  It also helps that Abel, one of the raiders, was left behind giving the students a chance to learn of their friend’s whereabouts.

There’s plenty of intense moments throughout episode three, just not as many as some may expect. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing as the story focus a bit more on character development, specifically around James and AJ. For AJ it’s still about finding himself and learning how to live in a world where you can only depend on yourself. So many times, seeing Clem and AJ bonding took me back to the beginning of it all began with her and Lee. I can see Lee teaching her the necessities to survive; Every choice matter.

Connecting with James teaches you a new perspective with how he manages day to day with the walkers. Spoiler free, Skybound takes you through an experience never seen before, and meant to be a redefining moment of how walkers can respond in more ways than one.

The Final Season looks just as polished as the previous chapters. For whatever reason, there were random hints that appeared that seemed meaningless, especially since The Walking Dead is more about how those around remember your actions and what you say to them. The other unfortunate problem here is the long, drawn out story. The survivors decided to throw a party the following night to celebrate attacking the raiders the next evening. It felt weird and unrealistic, giving the circumstances.

Either way, we fell in love with Clem and look to see how the story will conclude. The cliffhanger in episode three was breathtaking as I made a split decision, not caring about the consequences of my actions. These moments reminded me about what drew players in years ago.