Fans have been on pins and needles, hoping to find the fate of Clementine… and the wait ends now!

The long-anticipated return of Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead continues in Season Two with Episode One: All That Remains, building off past choices and actions made in the previous installment. After a brief recap of Season One, Clementine watches Lee take his last few breaths, before heading out into the world alone.

Paired up with Christa and Omid, a sad turn of events takes place, while Clem attempts to clean up in a rest stop bathroom. Sixteen months later, Clementine gets washed away from her group down a river, later befriending a four-legged creature that bites the hand that feeds it. Feeling wheezy, Clem runs into a new group of survivors, who may think she’s a danger to their group.

The story is gripping and the background music is somber for Season Two, setting the overall tone of the game. Composer Jared Emerson-Johnson outdid himself this time around. It’s that great. The language is a tough pill to swallow, though. There’s a few too many f-bombs and GD this and GD that for my liking, sometimes feeling like the writers use curse words for the sake of cursing, which can turn off a lot of people, like me.

This episode introduces the term “lurker,” which all the new characters primarily used instead of “Zombie,” “biter” or “walker.” I found that interesting.

All the achievements for Episode One are game related and pop rather quickly, so there’s no worrying about missing any of them. During my first attempt at playing the game, I was stuck in the cabin for a great deal of time, seeking a bandage, needle and peroxide for an open wound, never knowing about the cabin’s staircase. Since the game uses such dark tones, I never noticed it in the background. Guess I’ll have to pay more attention next time.

I did experience not one, but two character glitches upstairs in the cabin, where you can walk right through the characters, as if they were ghosts. I’m guessing there will be a future patch to clean that section up.

Lingering thoughts: The mysterious character of Carver is introduced — though not seen — and he could be trouble. The baby-mama drama of a very pregnant Rebecca lingers in the background, as well. What is this, Jerry Springer?

I’d love to see future avatar awards as incentives to complete both seasons of this great game. Guess I can keep on hoping, since there’s plenty of time left for the game developers…

Ultimate questions that need to be answered: Will Clementine survive the brutal dog bite? Who’s the baby daddy? And whatever happened to Kenny? Then a bombshell gets dropped:

“I thought you were dead.”

Such a great cliffhanger! Can’t wait for Episode Two: A House Divided!

Strength: Great storytelling, interesting characters and amazing background music!
Weakness: A couple of painfully obvious glitches.
WTF Moment: What will happen next? I can’t wait!!!

Notable Quotes:
– “You don’t kill dogs.”
– “I thought you were dead.”
– “You’re in bad shape, kid.”
– “You gonna cry, little fish?”
– “Scars are way cooler than stumps.”
– “I’ve got a good bullshit detector.”
– “They attacked you for a weasel? Damn. That is low.”
– “You better watch your ass, if you know what’s good for you.”

Review: 5/5