The Walking Dead (from Telltale Games) - Catch All

Man, that little girl is going to have some serious nightmares...

Great episode, but I've got to say, it's really jarring when you are in the middle of a tense moment, sweaty palms gripping the controller, heart racing as you try to decide between two life or death options, and then *BOINK* "Thank You For Shopping!" (10 points) pops up as you gain another oh-so-punny achievement. Really destroys the mood.

I got really hung up on:

Spoiler:

The hostage situation with the Dairy Farm mother. I was playing on Xbox, and everytime I crept forward, she shot me point blank before I could get any interaction option to pop up. Finally had to go online to find out I had to move forward very slowly, then when she starts talking, stop moving immediately and ONLY move the right stick around her to get the dialogue option. Something was definitely wonky with the interface there...

Too true about what you put in your spoiler.

Unlike my experience with ep. 1, I had to finish this episode in one day. I think the structure of ep. 1 made it easier for me to put it away for a few days before finishing it. This episode, for me, had some truly shocking moments, particularly the segment before the title as well as

Spoiler:

when Mark crawls down the stairs and through the hallway during the Thyestes-worthy feast.

Great episode. I know I'll be frustrated by the 4+ (more like 6-8) week wait until the next episode. OTOH, the intensity of this episode makes me a little grateful for a cool down period.

Spoiler:
Thyestes-worthy feast

High five!

My goodness. Here comes some hyperbole.

This may be the best thing I've played this year. This episode was so worth the wait. Though, I can't imagine how good it would be to play episode one and two back to back. I'm definitely going to go back and play through everything again once all the episodes are out.

Does anyone here play with an xbox controller on the pc? I've really been enjoying that control scheme. I find it more fluid than mouse and keyboard, and not just because the game was designed for consoles. I think it just makes the most sense in terms of the way the mechanics of the game work. There's a certain kinetic something to the controller that I don't think would be captured with a mouse. But I also get the feeling that people want to play it as a traditional point and click. If that's the way you play, how do you find it?

SortingHat wrote:

Does anyone here play with an xbox controller on the pc? I've really been enjoying that control scheme. I find it more fluid than mouse and keyboard, and not just because the game was designed for consoles. I think it just makes the most sense in terms of the way the mechanics of the game work. There's a certain kinetic something to the controller that I don't think would be captured with a mouse. But I also get the feeling that people want to play it as a traditional point and click. If that's the way you play, how do you find it?

Playing this episode on the Xbox, there were a few times in the combat scenarios when I wished I had the precision of a mouse. I feel like I died once or twice because I just wasn't quite fast enough to inch the reticule over with the thumbstick, where I could have made it easily with my Logitech gaming mouse. But on the other hand, the lack of precision definitely ramps up the tension in those moments!

Especially:

Spoiler:

In the cow stall when you crack open the door and find a rifle pointing directly in your face. A real Yikes! moment...

But for navigation and selecting dialogue choices with the letter buttons, I much prefer the Xbox controller.

chaosmos wrote:

Especially:

Spoiler:

In the cow stall when you crack open the door and find a rifle pointing directly in your face. A real Yikes! moment...

Spoiler:

Yeah, that's the only time I died on the PC version. The issue was that they moved the reticle down and to the side to simulate your hand still being on the door and I didn't realize it.

Good god. I'm just. I dunno.

I haven't been this emotionally upset by a game in a long long time. Maybe ever. I played this through mostly in one sitting. In the dark. Slightly drunk. With my daughter away at sleepaway camp. In a thunderstorm.

I ... I just don't know. I'm all sweaty and shaky, and honestly, I need a f*cking hug from my mother in BROAD f*ckING DAYLIGHT. And maybe some celery. Nice clean celery.

Video games!

So...

Spoiler:

Anyone else feel guilty about about killing the brother in the barn and then immediately hearing Clementine scream? Many video games let you shoot people to death but I think this is the only video game where I ever felt like I was responsible for murdering someone in anger.

Also...

Spoiler:

So the second brother I'm pretty sure they let you beat up as much as you want. How long did you go? I beat him until he was super goofy looking. I spared him because the rest of the survivors looked pretty miserable, but it seemed obvious that he was about to become zombie chow. You can even see his zombie mama shambling towards him, nice touch.

Latrine wrote:

Video games!

Video Games!

I feel guilty...

I find myself trying to play through both episodes again to make different choices to see how things go, but just can't make different choices as the guilt then sets in.

I didn't feel guilty initially about the choices I made in episode 2. But I decided to re-read the Walking Dead comics since they are really good as well. At the end of the first trade, Carl is crying and telling Rick that killing a living person (Shane) was not like killing a "walker," Rick says it never should be. That part made me immediately think of some of my episode 2 choices and how easily I was willing to kill by the end. To me that's a sign that they made a good game.

I've played through Ep. 2 twice now. My second playthrough:

Spoiler:

I tried sparing the first brother's life in the barn, because I felt so guilty when Clem looked at me after killing him in my first playthrough. I also sided with Clem when the group decides to take the supplies from the car at the end. Now I'm questioning those choices, because while I'm setting a 'good' example for Clem according to old world morals I may be setting her up to be too weak to survive in this new world.

I may be playing through a third time...

My favorite part was seeing Famous and Big Bird's names in the opening credits.

I loved Ep1, and now have to buy more SpaceBucks for #2.

rabbit wrote:

I'm all sweaty and shaky, and honestly, I need a f*cking hug from my mother in BROAD f*ckING DAYLIGHT. And maybe some celery. Nice clean celery.

I hear you.

Spoiler:

Oh, I'm on a vegetarian diet for the forseeable future, yesiree.

Oh how I wish my spoilers didn't come up all new member-ish. I really want to discuss. so good.

Who said adventure games were dead? Because this is one of the best games I've played in a while. I'm already sad that it is only 5 episodes long!!

Regarding choices I've made in the game:

Spoiler:

I saved Carley from the zombies in episode 1 and let Doug die. Why? For no reason other than I see her as a potential mate. They are going to be hard to find and the dude didn't seem like he had skills that counter-balanced that. If he was the guy from Survivor Man I would have let the zombies have homegirl and buddied up with him. Of course, if he was Survivor Man, I wouldn't have had to save him.

In episode 2 I fed Clem, but not Duck. Why? I talked to Kenny before deciding who to feed (after Clementine) and he said I was out of the camper because I tried to save Shawn Greene instead of Duck and didn't side with him when everyone thought Duck was bit (even though I did?). So, He's on his own. He cut me and Clem out so his family can fend for themselves for the rest of the story. I fed Carley (see above), Mark (he seemed a handy fellow) and the new kid Ben (just out of spite, really. I thought It'd piss the other survivors off. It did).

I kill people in front of Clementine. I killed both brothers, in fact. There is no law, anymore. No one is going to come by their house and arrest them for killing and eating people. I kill two and may save 10. I don't see it as justice so much as the world is full of monsters, now. If we have any hope of rebuilding society it is best to get rid of all the monsters. All of them. It's not lost on me that each choice I make and life I take robs me of a little humanity and the other survivors may start seeing me as a monster soon enough, but that's just the way it is. Two of the survivors, err one of the survivors, knows I killed someone before, so I'll be seen as a monster when that truth gets out anyway. I figure my days are numbered, so I'll take as much evil down to hell with me as I can.

I think the children shouldn't be shielded from the bad things that are happening. Clementine is my responsibility now. These bad things are going to be common-place in the post-zombie world. She needs to know that these things happen and she may need to do these things to survive until order is restored. The big challenge (and I hope the game deals with this) is letting Clem know the difference between right and wrong. That sometimes wrong must be done to keep an even worse wrong from happening. But, to try to do right when it is possible.

I sided with her about the car full of supplies. We don't know who's supplies those were. It may be another group of well-meaning survivors like us.

I tried to save Lilly's father in the refrigerator. He may have been an asshole, but words only hurt so much. Being a dick is not a death sentence in my apocalypse.

If Kenny kills another innocent person out of fear, I'm taking him out first chance I get. He proved he'll kill anyone out of fear. There was an irrationality in his decision that can't be trusted in survival situations. I wish the game would have let me point out that Larry wanted to do the exact same thing to Duck when he thought the kid was bit. I'd leave him on the side of the road if I could, but I feel the game isn't going to give me that choice.

There's necessary evil and there's unnecessary. I'm walking the line between both, but I'll carry the burden of being evil if it takes that burden off the rest of the survivors that I care about.

Great recap, skeletonframes. This was an excellent episode that was sadly blemished with some questionable decision-tracking and horribly inconsistent frame rates. While the big reveal regarding the dairy farm was entirely predictable, I don't think I could have been more impressed with the way they paced the "slow simmer" leading up to the episode's climax. Really impressive writing, voice acting and stressful decision points.

Spoiler:

I somehow missed the decision about leaving the band teacher behind or attempting to take him back to the motel. It seemed odd for me to hack off his leg with the intent of freeing him, succeeding, then leaving him as zombie fodder. I blame my fiancé who still has a habit of talking at/to me while I am in gaming mode (read: staring intently at the screen, leaning forward).

I took Lily's side in the meat locker and tried to save Jack but in the post-episode summary I was lumped in with the players that allowed Jack to die. This is upsetting to me since this was a key moment in Ep.2

Kenny is an asshole. I have to commend them for toying with my personal sympathy/allegiance meter as I was very much backing up Kenny through out Episode 1. But as Kenny's desperation mounts in Ep.2 it's clear that he's not only a horrible clutch player, he's a poor leader and likes to play the blame game. The meat locker and escape sequence was a real turning point for my allegiance to Kenny. I look forward to the time when he gives me an excuse to screw him over. I also noticed the inconsistency of him accusing me of wanting to abandon Duck in the drugstore but I clearly remember backing him up there. Tsk tsk

I killed the first brother in front of Clementine and my subsequent guilt lead me to spare Andy and take her side when the others looted the supplies from the car.

chaosmos wrote:

I got really hung up on:

Spoiler:

The hostage situation with the Dairy Farm mother. I was playing on Xbox, and everytime I crept forward, she shot me point blank before I could get any interaction option to pop up. Finally had to go online to find out I had to move forward very slowly, then when she starts talking, stop moving immediately and ONLY move the right stick around her to get the dialogue option. Something was definitely wonky with the interface there...

About that:

Spoiler:

I died once not knowing what the heck was going on. I then started to move in between lightening flashes and that worked perfectly. Obviously also not moving when the prompt to talk to mama-cannibal appeared...

Maclintok wrote:

Great recap, skeletonframes. This was an excellent episode that was sadly blemished with some questionable decision-tracking and horribly inconsistent frame rates. While the big reveal regarding the dairy farm was entirely predictable, I don't think I could have been more impressed with the way they paced the "slow simmer" leading up to the episode's climax. Really impressive writing, voice acting and stressful decision points.

Spoiler:

I somehow missed the decision about leaving the band teacher behind or attempting to take him back to the motel. It seemed odd for me to hack off his leg with the intent of freeing him, succeeding, then leaving him as zombie fodder. I blame my fiancé who still has a habit of talking at/to me while I am in gaming mode (read: staring intently at the screen, leaning forward).

I took Lily's side in the meat locker and tried to save Jack but in the post-episode summary I was lumped in with the players that allowed Jack to die. This is upsetting to me since this was a key moment in Ep.2

Kenny is an asshole. I have to commend them for toying with my personal sympathy/allegiance meter as I was very much backing up Kenny through out Episode 1. But as Kenny's desperation mounts in Ep.2 it's clear that he's not only a horrible clutch player, he's a poor leader and likes to play the blame game. The meat locker and escape sequence was a real turning point for my allegiance to Kenny. I look forward to the time when he gives me an excuse to screw him over. I also noticed the inconsistency of him accusing me of wanting to abandon Duck in the drugstore but I clearly remember backing him up there. Tsk tsk

I killed the first brother in front of Clementine and my subsequent guilt lead me to spare Andy and take her side when the others looted the supplies from the car.

Spoiler:

Yeah, I really couldn't kill the second brother after I saw Clementine's reaction after I got rid of the first. I was really torn on the supplies thing, but I ended up taking them.

I played episode 2 last night. Quite possibly the most intense experience I've ever had playing a computer game. Absolute dynamite.

Yeah, episode 2 was pretty amazing. As others have mentioned...

Spoiler:

I sided with Kenny on Duck in the drug store but he brought up at least twice in this episode that I didn't.

Spoiler:

How can you even question the supplies. The car is abandoned, clearly. Try to imagine the situation you'd have to be in to run away from your car, leaving all your supplies in it. I don't see many of those situations that end with you coming back to that car being pissed someone took your groceries. I think the only way you come back to that car is looking for Brains.

I actually found it a ludicrous situation it was so clear to me. I mean, I'm in survival mode, with hungry kids, and I've been being nice to strangers. Heck, I fed the new kid when he showed up. So if I stumble across something that will help me be the good guy, I'm taking it.

In some ways, this game is almost like an acting video game. It's not so much about survival and marshalling resources as it is inhabiting the character that you're playing, and making decisions that best fit his motivations and the overall narrative. I don't think I would have played a game described that way, but it comes together brilliantly.

Also:

Spoiler:

The setup for the next episode was brilliant. Possibly the best thing in the whole episode. Actually found myself going, "Oh sh*t," when they dropped that line.

rabbit wrote:
Spoiler:

How can you even question the supplies. The car is abandoned, clearly. Try to imagine the situation you'd have to be in to run away from your car, leaving all your supplies in it. I don't see many of those situations that end with you coming back to that car being pissed someone took your groceries. I think the only way you come back to that car is looking for Brains.

I actually found it a ludicrous situation it was so clear to me. I mean, I'm in survival mode, with hungry kids, and I've been being nice to strangers. Heck, I fed the new kid when he showed up. So if I stumble across something that will help me be the good guy, I'm taking it.

Spoiler:

I was a little more along the lines of, "Well, if it's such a big ethical quandry, maybe we should look around for these folks or wait for them to show back up? Maybe not take every single box?" That was my issue with the the "moral quandry." There were alternatives that didn't even get investigated. Still, I appreciate the intent. The lights in the car were still on, so the car had just been abandoned. No signs of a struggle. There was definitely a sense that you were doing something that didn't put you that much further away than the bandits. I think they should have gone one step further and put someone by the car. One person, who refuses to share even a little bit of the food that they have. In that situation, where you're looking at starving kids, robbing one asshole could be the more ethical scenario.

rabbit wrote:
Spoiler:

How can you even question the supplies. The car is abandoned, clearly. Try to imagine the situation you'd have to be in to run away from your car, leaving all your supplies in it. I don't see many of those situations that end with you coming back to that car being pissed someone took your groceries. I think the only way you come back to that car is looking for Brains.

I actually found it a ludicrous situation it was so clear to me. I mean, I'm in survival mode, with hungry kids, and I've been being nice to strangers. Heck, I fed the new kid when he showed up. So if I stumble across something that will help me be the good guy, I'm taking it.

[spoiler]I chose not to raid the supplies since the car lights were still on -clearly the people are still nearby. Still, it did make me think and i appreciate the moments of moral ambiguity.

I just wrapped ep 2, and I went back on 1 choice I made to replay it (which I NEVER do in games like this).

Spoiler:

I replayed the scene where you can kill the 1st brother. Clem's scream got me. I had to redo that.

rabbit wrote:
Spoiler:

How can you even question the supplies. The car is abandoned, clearly. Try to imagine the situation you'd have to be in to run away from your car, leaving all your supplies in it. I don't see many of those situations that end with you coming back to that car being pissed someone took your groceries. I think the only way you come back to that car is looking for Brains.

I actually found it a ludicrous situation it was so clear to me. I mean, I'm in survival mode, with hungry kids, and I've been being nice to strangers. Heck, I fed the new kid when he showed up. So if I stumble across something that will help me be the good guy, I'm taking it.

Spoiler:

I think in this case it's the context that is important. You've just dealt with the ethics of killing others so that you may survive in the Dairy sequence. Now you find a recently abandoned car full of food and in discussing what to do someone even mentions that if you take the food you're sentencing the car owner to death. If there had been an option for it I'd have turned off the car, locked it up, then hid nearby until morning to see if the owner returned. If not, they're dead and the food is up for grabs. As it is, I didn't want to send a mixed-message to Clem so I left the car alone.

By the way, I thought it was very interesting that the player base was split 50/50 for every single choice in episode 2. Or at least that was the statistic when I finished last night.

Having just wrapped up EP 2, I have a question about the potential outcome of one of the scenes:

Spoiler:

When everyone gets locked up in the meat locker, I chose to side with Kenny and kill Larry. Ever since then though (even outside of the game), I have wondered: Does Larry live if you don't side with Kenny? Because that would be extremely f*cked up. I guess that's kinda the point of siding with him, is that you can never be sure of the outcome if you waited to see if he turned or not, but wow that was a hard choice. In the end I felt like I was trying to build my relationship with Kenny more, but I massively hesitated there, and ultimately just panicked and chose to side with him. I kinda regret that, which is a profoundly weird emotion to feel in a game.

Omaha wrote:

Having just wrapped up EP 2, I have a question about the potential outcome of one of the scenes:

Spoiler:

When everyone gets locked up in the meat locker, I chose to side with Kenny and kill Larry. Ever since then though (even outside of the game), I have wondered: Does Larry live if you don't side with Kenny? Because that would be extremely f*cked up. I guess that's kinda the point of siding with him, is that you can never be sure of the outcome if you waited to see if he turned or not, but wow that was a hard choice. In the end I felt like I was trying to build my relationship with Kenny more, but I massively hesitated there, and ultimately just panicked and chose to side with him. I kinda regret that, which is a profoundly weird emotion to feel in a game.

Spoiler:

Nope, he still eats it. I don't know what happens if you choose to side with Kenny, since I didn't, but you go in to help Lily with CPR, and Kenny crushes Larry's head with a salt lick.

So happy to see this for $15 on Steam today - looking forward to getting stuck in.