Sunday 14 September 2014

The Walking Dead: Season 2, Episode 5: 'No Going Back' | Review


Sometimes There Just Isn’t the Right Answer
Sometimes you have to hurt others to protect the people you care about,” but what happens when you have to hurt the people you care about to protect the lives of others? It’s never easy choosing between tough decisions, nor is it easy to sacrifice the things you care about most.

Many hearts were broken and tears were shed at the end of Season One, but if there’s one thing to be said about Season Two, it’s that not every ending will be the same and it all depends on your final choices. The ending can go five ways, and the question is, how will it all end for your Clementine? Will she be the loyal friend, the true survivor or the follower? It all depends on you.
As the snow falls and the temperature drops, Clementine and the survivors from the shootout — along with a returning face — continue their journey to safe haven, Wellington, but the journey won’t be easy. The snow will prove to be difficult, the injured will struggle, and with the group and the baby running low on food and supplies, they will face dangerous obstacles in order to survive. But will it all be for nothing?

The finale will test your loyalties, your selflessness, your survival and your friendships. Risks have to be taken and who you trust most is a question only you can answer and for you to decide. And just when the group need to stick together most, certain characters will test each other to prove points and leadership that won’t end well.

Not everyone will survive, not everyone is as trustworthy as you think they are, and be prepared to say goodbye to not only the end of another amazing season, but also to a few beloved characters, possibly your favourites.
Some Day
No Going Back’ means just that. It’s an episode that will leave you feeling all kinds of emotions, from relief, to happiness, to feeling sad, annoyed, frustrated, shocked, indecisive and sad again. It’s a rollercoaster within itself with its ups and many downs, one that you have the control of deciding where and how it ends.

Like ‘Amid the Ruins’, Episode 5 is well balanced in terms of dialogue, choices and action, with only a short section of exploring. The storyline remains on point, though it can drastically change in the last final moments when you are pushed into one of the toughest choices yet. It stays true to its theme of survivalism and makes you to think about Clementine’s best interest and who will keep her safe, even if it is herself.

We see a lot more character development from each of the surviving characters, as well as a brief moment of joy around a campfire — a moment you can appreciate — and also a face from the past that will make you smile. In saying that, embrace the happy moments while you can because it won’t only be the ice that breaks and it won’t only be the snow that falls.
Reflection
The season finale is another eventful and emotional episode that will test your trust, reliability and morality. The choices you make can affect the storyline and dialogues, as well as relationships, and replaying the episode and changing certain choices will slightly alter your gameplay.

One of its drawbacks is that none of the choices you made in ‘Amid the Ruins’ come into play resulting in no consequences or rewards, meaning whether you chose to steal the medicine from Arvo or let him keep them, doesn’t affect anything at all — it would have made the episode more interesting if it did. Another drawback was the stupidity from the group in one segment. Being in an apocalypse and in the middle of the snow, you’d think you would take the safest path in order to survive, right? Nope. It was the biggest facepalm moment and a sad one, too.

The endings will cause discussion and a lot of debate as there are five, but keep in mind that it is your playthrough and your Clementine — you have the option to decide what is best for her. As far as the endings go — without going into spoilers — I will have my say on each of the three outcomes.
'Til the End
If chosen, Ending A is quite powerful, emotive and actually feels like an ending as it concludes Clementine and the determinate character’s journey to safe haven, whereas Ending B’s outcome seems more like the end of an episode rather than a Season Finale — it felt quite weak compared to Ending A. As for Ending C, it wasn’t only an ending to the season, but a beginning as it mirrors the start of Clementine’s path, only this time without guidance where she becomes the protector instead of the protected. It’s all a matter of preference and taking a side in the end.

Each ending will cater for most players, though the ‘big’ decision should have been between two favourable/dominant characters which would have made it even more difficult to decide and made the showdown even more intense.
Overall, Episode 5, ‘No Going Back’ wrapped up the season quite nicely. It’s engaging, eventful and the action scenes will leave you on edge. Although there are still a few remaining unanswered questions left to you to decide on, it concludes the story of certain characters as well as the story overall, depending on which ending you get.

So, who will you become? Who will you choose, and which path will you take? The end is near, and with the group heading toward a cold, icy path, the final choice is sure to leave you with a chill. “Sometimes there just isn’t the right answer,” and it’s true, but it’s for to you to decide. After all, there’s no going back.

4.3/5 8.8/10
Another awesome and sad episode overall. I'm happy with the ending I got.
Approved!

6 comments:

  1. I really enjoyed your review! I really love the walking dead series. Every time even though you know what's going to happen, you get attached to the characters so much that makes it so hard for me to watch the ending. I really liked luke and kenny so...yeah...this season was as hard as the season 1. I wonder what's going to happen to Clementine (I wrote a another comment but it's not showing...I wonder whyㅠㅠ)

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    1. Thank you! :) Yeah, I agree completely. If they had us choose between Luke and Kenny (which I thought they were going to), that would have been a tough choice. I think either way it will be Clementine surviving with AJ. What do you think will happen to her?

      Oh, that's odd. Not sure why your other comment didn't show up, sorry about that! I approve my comments before I publish them and I didn't see your other one :(

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  2. I like your review but I think you reveal too much as a lot of modern reviewers when it comes to games especially a telltale game where its almost all story you keep a lot of stuff vague and even wanting but I got to say you, kind of angered me and I already played the game lol. Did you take these pics yourself because you really got some good moments.

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    1. Thanks for the feedback! You're entitled to your own opinion, but I've read a lot of other reviews people have written for this episode and they revealed everything, including who dies, how it ends and what exactly happens which ruins it and angered me. I feel mine doesn't and I didn't want it to since it's aimed for people who haven't played it yet.

      To be honest, this was the toughest review to write without giving too much away. I tried my best to avoid spoilers as much as possible because that's how reviews should be, give out some detail, but don't ruin it by saying "this character dies" and "these are the exact endings" which I didn't do. Sorry it angered you lol.

      And yep, I took them myself.

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  3. I don't think I've ever read a review in the style you wrote... thinking about it now, I don't know how exactly how to describe it (emotional first-person?), but anyway nice job.
    And of course the pics are sweet too!

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    1. I hope that's a good thing, haha! Thank you!

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