The Walking Dead: Season 2, Episode 3: 'In Harm's Way' | Review

“We’re more alike than you think.” – Carver

Family is important, yet so is safety. After being captured by ruthless Carver and his group at the end of ‘A House Divided’, living in his strict community of labour and punishment proves to be tough. It’s a jail sentence for them all and breaking free won’t be easy—it’ll be almost a death sentence. 

  

Hope of escape is doubted, trust is a risk, everyone is on edge, herds of zombies are gaining in and a psychopath threatens everyone’s fate. Welcome to Episode 3: In Harm’s Way.

Depending on your choices in the previous episode and who is still alive will change certain scenes. I won’t go into any spoilers, but if Alvin is alive in your playthrough, you’ll see an awesome, heroic side to him, I’ll say that much.  

Hands Tied

Hands tied and no going back, the group is taken to their old ‘home’, a place they dread, while Clementine, Kenny and Sarita have a fair idea what to expect and it won’t be pretty. Forgiveness is one of the main themes in this episode, and trying his best to forgive the escapees, Carver welcomes them back and ensures they’re safe and secure as though as they play by his rules and try not to escape again. But let’s face it, we all know that isn’t going to happen.

With a few questions answered about the community and the group’s past, prepare to meet some new faces—one of them being a new badass female character named Jane who will most likely be favoured by many—along with others you may have seen before. Friend or foe, trusting others is a gamble.

No one is safe and not everyone will agree with you and the plan. But one thing is for sure, everyone in the new group wants to leave and it’s only a matter of time. With herds of zombies approaching and suspicion rising within the community, time is of the essence. Is Luke the group’s only hope?

Escaping is only just the beginning and a rough road will be ahead of them.

Along with forgiveness, responsibility is another key theme in this episode. The group look up to you now and you can’t help but feel responsible for each of them since most of the time they’re counting on you to do almost everything. Your selflessness will be tested, leaving you with choices to take the blame for other’s actions and risk possible punishment, as well as the decision to put others before your own self.

Some parts will frustrate you, shock you and even make you question yourself and your choices. Will you be the stone or will you be the heart? Whichever way you choose, buckle up for a new bloody adventure, Prison Break style. 

Prison Break: Clementine Style

Although Telltale delivered another engaging episode with smooth gameplay and detailed artwork as usual, it did have its drawbacks. I found was the beginning was a little slow but definitely intensifies, the main choices you have to make didn’t affect or have a huge impact on anything else—not in this episode anyway—since they focussed on Clementine’s character and her morality more than anything else, there weren’t any twists and the gameplay felt quite narrow/linear and controlled since you couldn’t explore and interact much.

As for the gameplay, it’s exactly the same as the others, though there is a new ‘hold A’ action key that, honestly, threw me off a little. Compared to the last episode, In Harm’s Way felt a lot shorter and contained more cinematic and dialogue scenes than exploring and interaction which is a bit of a disappointment. In my opinion, I think it would have been a cool idea if they added the choice of which new characters you want to take into your group and plan to escape with, or make a sacrifice between two characters with a tough choice of who stays behind—that would have spiced things up a bit.

Overall, In Harm’s Way definitely wasn’t a bad episode. It was a lot more violent and brutal than the others, especially if you choose to stay during a certain scene, but A House Divided still remains as the best episode yet.  It could have been better if more interaction and exploring was offered and if your choices deeply affected the storyline.

When you’re in harm’s way, who you can trust and who you forgive is up to you, but one thing is certain: survive. The group looks up to you now, they trust you, and when all hell breaks loose, you can’t help but feel responsible because…you are. 

The Walking Dead: Season Two can be bought on Steam, PSN, Xbox Live, iOS App Store and through the Telltale Games website.

3.5/5 – 7.5/10

Another good episode, but could have been better if more interaction and exploration was included and if main choices had consequences.