The Walking Dead: Episode 3 - Long Road Ahead
Score: 92% Publisher: Telltale Games Developer: Telltale Games Media: Download/1 Players: 1 Genre: Adventure
Previously on The Walking Dead: The Walking Dead: Episode 3 - Long Road Ahead starts off with the group in pretty bad shape. Last episode, Starved for Help, had Lee, Clementine, Kenny and the rest of the survivors meeting a local family of dairy farmers. At first, everything seemed to be on track for a place to stay warm for the Winter, but when our group discovers the family’s dark secret, a confrontation leaves the group back at their motel of a holdout and with a few more lost friends. To make matters worse, last episode also revealed a local group of bandits. The marauders had a deal with the dairy farmers that kept the raids fairly quiet. Now with that family gone, the bandits have targeted our group as a new source of food and medicine.
The Motor Inn: The Walking Dead: Episode 3 - Long Road Ahead starts off with the survivors once again cornered in the Motor Inn and barricaded against those that want to get at them. This time though, it isn’t just zombies that would like to get a hold of the group since those bandits have started terrorizing our main characters. This first part of Long Road Ahead focuses on the already strained relationships as they begin to break down even more. Not only has Lilly’s stress level skyrocketed after the dairy farm fiasco, but she believes someone is stealing the group’s supplies, and who or why is a major part of the group’s final few hours at the Motor Inn. Quite frankly, this first part of the game is all about the human element and how the group begins to fracture. When they finally get out of the motel, the remaining survivors find themselves in Kenny’s RV, on the road and determined to drive to Savannah, get on a boat and find an island that isn’t infected. Unfortunately, their drive is interrupted when the road is blocked by a stalled train.
The Train: The Walking Dead: Episode 3 - Long Road Ahead really feels like it should end when the group encounters the train. A lot happens in the events leading up to the train tracks, but it really is just the start since the game insists on pushing on as the survivors get the train moving, get some new friends, lose some old ones, and once again make their way to their destination. Long Road Ahead feels like a longer episode than the ones in the past. It not only seems to take longer to work through, but given the two very different-feeling halves, it feels like there is more story here than in past episodes. Those two parts not only feel different because of their setting, but a lot of the actions you perform in the two halves are different as well. While at the motel, there are a few problems to solve, but it culminates in a shooting exercise that can leave you dead easily. While dealing with the train though, most of your efforts are focused on puzzle-solving with some light zombie-interaction.
Next Time on The Walking Dead: The Walking Dead: Episode 3 - Long Road Ahead leaves Lee and Clementine even closer and, quite frankly, their group has dwindled down to a small number. By the end of the episode, they take on a couple of new characters, but the drastically different group dynamics means that Lee and Clementine might decide to go on their own. Provided you survive the episode, Lee and Clementine finally make it to Savannah and you are forced to decide how you want to proceed. Do you head to the boat to try and find safety in the waters, or stay in the city to look for Clementine’s family? I don’t want to say too much because I don’t want to give a lot of Long Road Home’s final scenes away, but like past episodes, it ends in another shocking revelation and distressing cliffhanger.
-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Meyer
Related Links: The Walking Dead on Steam The Walking Dead Game Home Page Game Vortex's The Walking Dead Coverage Skybound Home Page
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