Final Thoughts on The Walking Dead: New Frontier.
SPOILER ALERT FOR ALL SEASONS.
Well another year, another Walking Dead game from Telltale released.
So I don't know about you guys, but holy crap I had so much fun with this game, even though this is probably my least favourite Walking Dead game by far, not including Michonne. I laughed, I gasped, I feeled, and I screamed at my TV a few times. Ah, just like the old days.
This playthrough was much different because unlike Season Two, I decided to wait until ALL of the episodes came out. My playthrough of this felt much more seamless since I didn't play each episode the day they came out, and replaying them like 4-8 times until the next episode. This is just a suggestion: for anyone upset about the short episode lengths, trust me when I say that waiting and playing at your own leisure is the best way to play these games. You don't have to wait, you just pick up right where you left off, or take a break and save it for later. I used to think playing an episode every one to two months was fun, but it was just annoying waiting for a release date announcement whilst you play the same episode repeatedly.
Please just remember that everything I say here is only my opinion. Don't take any opposing views from what I've written here as me being right and you being wrong. We're all completely entitled to how we feel about the any kind of media.
But enough of that, on to the game:
Characters
Javier: He's cool. Not a lot that I can say about him. He's basically however you want him to be, so my Javier was pretty humble. I guess the best I can say is that he brought something new to these games in terms of story. In the last two, you're looking for a group to survive with. Here, you're protecting you're own flesh and blood.
Kate: She's muh babe. Moving on.
Gabe: I want to like him, but holy shit he pissed me off in episode 4.
David: Prick.
Eleanor: Traitorous bitch.
Joan: The most boring antagonist by far.
Clementine: Really made me wish she was the focus at certain points. She was awesome.
Tripp: ...meh. He a'ight...I guess.
Yeah, not a lot of people stuck out. I know a lot of you don't really like Season Two, but at least those characters where memorable. The ones in New Frontier seemed like recycled versions of older better characters or just not interesting. There where points when some characters died, and I thought, "I should be feeling for this character, so why am I not?"
Graphics
Best part of the game in my opinion. Goddamn, this game looked so good. I mean aside from the glitches that would occur a few times. Old habits die hard I guess. But seriously the lighting, the shimmering off the characters skin when it was raining? So cool.
On top of that, Clementine's design was was pretty good too. She's really aged well, and holy crap those eyes. It's like those Azula eyes where they're so beautiful it's scary.
Story/Gameplay
First of all, wanna know why I had so much fun playing this? Some of the outrageous dialogue options. For example, I was playing this with my sister, and we were laughing our asses off when a dialogue tree appeared right after you save Kate and Marianna in Episode One. Yes, you know EXACTLY what I'm talking about.
Second, I play these games for the story. So I don't have an opinion on puzzles or hubs anymore. Either they're in the game or they're not.
Third, the story itself was enjoyable if not great. But it was disappointing. Here's what I noticed:
In Season One, you go from being escorted to a prison, to facing cannibals, to riding a train, to invading what was once a town ruled by a ruthless dictator, and finally to dying in a jewelry store in Savannah.
In Season Two, you go from losing your two guardians, to being found by another group, to reuniting with an old friend, to being stuck in a community ruled by a ruthless dictator, to getting ambushed by a gang during the winter, to whatever ending you get.
In Season Three, you go from going down the road, to getting separated from your family, to finding new friends, to reuniting with a brother, to...once again being stuck in a community ruled by a ruthless dictator.
I'll give them this, it was cool to see four different people in charge of a large settlement for once, but it doesn't change the fact that one of them is the one still ruling an entire group with an iron fist. How many times are we gonna see this plot device before we get sick of it? It doesn't really help that I just didn't care about Richmond. In the last two episodes, we're stuck there. This was my biggest problem with the story. In terms of scale, this story nowhere near as grand as Seasons One or Two. Those felt like we were on an actual adventure. Not only that, but Joan just flat out sucked. At least the villains in the other games were actually intimidating if not unsettling. Joan's just your typical strict aunt.
And feels? Okay, Javier burying Marianna and Clementine losing AJ where the only emotional highlights for me. I didn't care about Prescott burning down, I didn't care about Tripp dying, and I sure as hell didn't care about the people in Richmond. Gabe's death was pretty sad, until I remembered he could probably have lived if he wasn't so goddamn wishywashy about his feelings towards his psychotic father.
After playing Season One, I can never expect any sad moments to top the ending because the reason it was so emotional
had everything to do with Lee and Clementine's history with each other, and how the latter has lost the former forever due to her decision to leave him. There was so much weight to their relationship with each other. Season Two's ending with Kenny leaving Clementine at Wellington was damn close. This game? I hate to admit it but not so much.
Lastly, David. I'm sorry, Pipa. But my promise to make peace with my asshole brother just couldn't be done. When you attack your own child because he's trying to stop a fight between me and you, why the hell should I feel any sympathy for you? You got us into this situation in the first place. You unbelievable prick.
Conclusion
I really liked this game, and I'm really looking forward to Clementine's next adventure. Though I do hope if they're doing the dictatorship plot device again, at least make it interesting. Javier was great, the art style is gorgeous, and while the story and some of the characters could have been so much better, I just can't say it was bad. Enjoyable, not great though. Thanks for the adventure, guys!
7/10
So what did you guys think of A New Frontier? Love it? Hate it? Disagree with me on some parts? By all means, let's have a discussion!
...oh and by the way Telltale, you're welcome for that title for Episode 4.
Comments
I think it was good, but the pacing felt quite off (for me). For example: Ava dies, two sentences how she died as a hero, back to action. Good, but I know they can do better.
I think it was acceptable, but I think Telltale could have done much better. The story was not too bad, but felt rushed and short. Character development was Ok, but could have been better. I just wish the episodes would be longer, thats something that I hated about it the most. Graphics were very nicely made, I really liked the character looks.
Even though I guess I'm in the minority, I enjoyed it and I'm hoping for another season with Clem.
I'd give it 7/10, same as you.
Javier cool huh? LOL
Clmentine wasn't exactly awesome this seasoon..nether is her new haircuit. This story was enjoyable? if not great? That's just sad.
7/10? This doesn't deserve above 5.5/10
i'd honestly give it a 5.5/10 or a 6/10, maybe more, idk. it would've been better if the finale wasn't so shit and provided closure to many different characters. it is blatantly obvious that the finale was extremely rushed. like nothing to do with joan, clint, max, and various other characters but then you bring in fucking fern? like who the fuck is she? i used to be so much more positive about the game but the finale just fucked everything up
The "split" first episode because it was "too long" was complete crap and I'm glad TellTale got flack for saying something that was such full of bull. I didn't even like either of the first "two" episodes. Episode 3 was great, Episode 4 was less good but still enjoyable, and Episode 5 was definitely rushed in some areas. The Ava/Tripp plotline was handled poorly, but at least we got some closure with Tripp/Ava in Episode 5 before they died. I didn't care much for Ava at all.
Javier was cool I thought. I didn't like Kate and didn't really care when she died in my playthrough. Gabe was okay if you were nice to him and showed you cared for him. David was probably the character I was interested in the most, and I really liked the fight between him and Javier in Episode 5. He was an excellent character I thought. I love how TellTale handled Conrad, giving him multiple deaths throughout the season, but it makes no sense how he just vanished for most of Episode 5. I get he was a determinant character, but they could've and should've done more with him in the finale. I do really like how he can outlive Tripp, though.
Speaking of determinant characters...what happened to Max? Clint/Joan? All of them just disappear. A less memorable character such as Rufus made a return, but Max, who actually was involved in pivotal scenes, didn't? Come on, TellTale.
Lastly, Clementine wasn't that great this season, but at least she wasn't a playable character. I didn't like that aspect of Season 2 and I think she does better as a secondary character, but this season she really didn't do much for me and I didn't really care about her as much as I did in previous seasons.
Oh, and how Kenny/Jane were handled was a disservice to the characters, especially Kenny, who had been there since the beginning. The fans deserved better.
Overall, it wasn't a bad season, I thought it did redeem itself with the later episodes and all of the determinant characters and extra scenes, but it was messy at parts and hopefully TellTale can improve on those areas.
Why?
Yeah, I have to agree. That finale was a let down.
The only reason why I said I thought Clementine was awesome in this game (and I'm standing by it) was that is was great to see being a pretty adept survivor.
I've only played the game once and it started with Clementine and AJ in Wellington, so I have no idea about what Kenny and Jane's scenes are like. I do know they both die because some asshole spoiled it for me on Facebook.
Well, since you know they die, and if you want to experience it yourself; be prepared. People aren't upset because they died, but because of HOW they died.
Telltale screwed up too much with ANF for me to say it was a good game. It was somewhat enjoyable and alright, but not good and definitely can't reach S1 and S2 by far.
They'll have to step up their game again in S4.
I made a thread about this https://www.telltale.com/community/discussion/115067/everything-wrong-with-anf-stop-papering-over-its-cracks
So..yeah.
So two questions:
To be honest though, if it's determinant deaths, I don't really care. They're doomed from the start if you can save them. So I'm just gonna assume the worst.
Determinant or not, Telltale should still be able to at least write decent send-offs for one of the most loved/known characters (Kenny) and for one of the most controversial characters (Jane). And not kill them off in a mere 5 minute flashback.
Like I say in another post I prefered the graphism in season 1-2 BUT I totally agree about Clem's eyes, specially at the whole end they are shinny we can see her kindness and how smart she is throught her eyes !
... I can't take this seriously.
They haven't fixed any of the graphical/engine issues from S2, in fact they are even worse, and yet somehow the graphics are the "best part". holy hell
Graphics don't save the "game's" story.
...um. I KNOW. Why the hell did you think I mentioned the glitches in this post and said, "Old habits die hard?" Unless you didn't actually read my entire thread and you just saw something positive someone had to say about a game you don't like.
When I talk about graphics, I'm talking about visuals, art style, lighting, shadows. In the case of what you're talking about, I don't think they're worse than they were previously. But yes, I agree that doesn't excuse the glitches that would sometimes even crash the game (which has happened to me twice).
And yet you never addressed my criticisms of the game's story.
6/10 for me, would have been a 7 if the final episode didn't feel so off, guess we have a different writer to thank for that.
I honestly found this season's visuals that have some kind of weird yellow and gray Instagram filter, the lighting is bad, that baby oil on characters makes them look like they are sweaty all the time, and the shadows sometimes glitch out. There were some good angles, but there wasn't enough time to appreciate that.
I don't know what could I add more to the already existing criticism that is here? That they were clutching it, because they were working on 3 games at the same time, again? That it took them 1 year to write down 2 episodes until one of the VA ratted them out on a radio station, saying how they still don't have a main story, and yet they released the game anyway?
If they were ambitious and planned out how much time they need to make a good story+hard choices it could've been good, but no, instead they are taking the show's route, have 1 character with 1 purpose in life then kill them off, rinse & repeat, sometimes just don't bother with development cause... that makes players relatable to characters... looks... I guess?
This spin-off is a collapsed jenga puzzle that no one bothered to rebuild.
well, flashbacks did take up too much time if you look at how much present-time plot we have in each episode. flashbacks take up probably at least an hour of the entire season, which is about a sixth of the time