The Walking Dead: The Final Season Review

The main character in The Walking Dead games, Clementine, is the daughter I never had. I’ve seen her grow from an infant zombie slayer to a hardened teenager who will do whatever it takes to survive another day. I’m proud to have played a role in the woman she’s become through the decisions I’ve made on her behalf in previous Walking Dead seasons. But it’s because of this emotional attachment I was hesitant in playing The Walking Dead: The Final Season.

Episode 1 of 4 immediately refreshes you on Clementine’s backstory, just in case this is the first time you’ve played The Walking Dead series. You’ll even be able to make some decisions to carve out your own backstory for Clem. When we reach the present day, we discover that Clementine is back out on her own taking care of AJ, who is now five or six years old. Clem is trying to teach AJ the ways of the new world and how to survive using the lessons she learned from her Season One mentor, Lee, as well as her own firsthand experiences. Probably the best decision the developers made was putting you back in control of Clementine. What let Season 3 down was that she was barely a supporting character and her story got lost and felt less important. The Final Season focuses solely on Clem and the relationships around her both old and new.

For the most part, the TWD feels familiar. It’s an interactive story where in-between taking out walkers you’ll make decisions that will shape the story via dialogue choices with other characters. There are a few small changes to the Telltale formula though. For starters, there are occasions where you’ll explore an area in a third-person view to search for items to progress the story or collectables to display in your room. Another change is that some actions with the environment could have consequences such as getting the attention of a zombie horde or the death of another character. You can choose to either take the risk and complete the action or find another way around the obstacle. The new features don’t do anything to enhance the story, but it helps make The Walking Dead feel more like a game instead of an interactive movie.

What has made the series so memorable is its characters and The Final Season is no different. The game brings some familiar faces back from previous seasons and introduces some new ones for you to get emotionally invested in. As is the case with the comics and TV series, being emotionally invested in a Walking Dead character more often than not leads to tears instead of smiles and it is no different here.

This is why I was so hesitant to play The Final Season. The only time I’ve ever shed a tear over a video game is at the end of The Walking Dead: Season One. Even thinking about that final scene chokes me up. While I’m not going to spoil the ending of The Final Season, what I will say is that the pollen count must have been high that day when I finished the last episode. But it’s not because of the reason you’re probably thinking.

The Walking Dead: The Final Season was the final product from the Telltale Games as we knew it. I had played its games going back to Sam and Max up until the recent Batman titles and almost everything in between except for the Minecraft series, which just wasn’t for me. The Walking Dead has been one of my favourites of the team’s creations. In an industry where not a lot of stories get resolved, I’m happy I got an ending to Clementine’s adventure. While I could have done without the new gameplay mechanics, I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. If you’re a fan of the Walking Dead games, then you owe it to yourself to find out how this epic tale ends.