The Walking Dead: A New Frontier
PlayStation 4
Nostalgia Factor:
I’ve been wanting to play this game for so long now! I have always been a big fan of Telltale’s Walking Dead games, and earlier in the year I re-played the first two games in the series because I had planned on buying this one, which I did. But then something happened. I got a GameFly subscription. I decided to put off playing this game until my subscription was over so I could focus on getting my money’s worth out of GameFly. Well, months have passed and my subscription is finally over. Time to return to working on my backlog of games. First up? You guessed it: The Walking Dead: A New Frontier.
Story:
This game kicks off a few months, maybe even a few years after the events of the last Walking Dead game. Rather than starting off in Clementine’s shoes, you are introduced to a new character: Javier. Javier is the leader/not leader of a small group of survivors. They are constantly on the move, scavenging for supplies and fighting off zombies and other hostiles. The group decides to hole up in a junkyard that contains supplies, shelter, and everything they need to get by for a little while longer. Don’t forget, this is the universe of the Walking Dead. When something seems too good to be true, it probably is.
A group of bad guys returns to the junkyard and accuses the group of stealing their supplies. A fight breaks out, and who swoops in to save the day? Say it with me: Clementine! Turns out that Clem has a history with this group of bad guys, and has every reason in the world to hate them. It is interesting seeing Clementine from the eyes of an outsider this time around. Is she a good person? Should Javier trust her? Of course we know the answer is yes, but these people do not.
As the game progresses, we get a lot of details on what happened with Clem since we last saw her. She joined this society called the New Frontier with AJ (the baby from the last game). AJ became sick, and when the New Frontier’s doctor refused to use their precious medicine supplies to save him, Clementine broke into his office and used the supplies on the baby herself. Clementine is caught, however, and exiled for her crimes. Believing AJ to be dead, she moves on, looking for a new start. We also get Javier flashbacks as well. Javi and his brother David were at odds with one another at the beginning of the zombie apocalypse. After time, the two are separated and David is believed to be dead. Javi hits the road with David’s two kids and his widow Kate, who is the step mother of these two kids. They have been surviving on the road ever since.
In the battle at the junkyard, one of the two kids is killed in the attack. Kate and the surviving child are taken by the New Frontier. Javi and Clementine launch a plan to get them back. It is then revealed that David, Javi’s A-hole brother, is still alive and is one of the New Frontier’s bigwigs. This only serves to complicate matters. Remember, Javi and his brother never really got along. And since they all thought David was dead, Javi and Kate had started to develop a romantic relationship. Can anyone say awkward?
Javi and Clem are captured by the New Frontier, which is ruled by a ruthless warmonger named Joan. Almost all of their supplies have been stolen or raided from other communities. Even though David is a complete tool, he still seems reasonable next to Joan. A civil war brews in the New Frontier. David is accused of being a traitor trying to overthrow Joan, and is to be executed. At the execution, all hell breaks loose as walkers are let in by Kate and they swarm the town.
Long story short, Javi and Clementine save the day. When the dust settles, Javi is asked to be the new leader of the New Frontier. Clementine discovers AJ’s location, and the game ends with her hitting the road. We are only to assume that this is where the fourth and final game in the series picks up. I for one cannot wait to play that game!
Personally, I really enjoyed this game’s story. I have read a lot of criticism online that people hated it because it wasn’t 100% focused on Clementine. I didn’t mind that, though. It was interesting seeing her from the perspective of complete strangers. I liked Javier and I liked his rivalry with David. I liked the New Frontier civil war plot. I liked all the flashbacks. It really felt like all the characters in this game were very-well fleshed out, more so than previous TWD games. That made the stakes seem higher and even more important, in my mind.
My only complaint is that I would have liked a little resolution on what happened to Kenny, since he was alive at the end of my Walking Dead 2 playthrough. But he is never mentioned in this game. I thought that my actions from the last few games were supposed to have carried over to this one, but apparently they did not. They didn’t even ask me any questions as to how my game ended either when I started this one up. Did I miss something? Did I do something wrong?
Gameplay:
I have played and reviewed at least, what, ten Telltale games since I’ve started this blog? There isn’t much to say here that I haven’t said already. Nothing has changed. If anything, this game is a lot simpler and easier than anything I’ve played before. I didn’t die one time, or for that matter even miss a single QTE prompt. This game is laughably easy. You talk to people, you make conversation choices, you respond to quick time events. Occasionally the game lets you walk around and check things out. I don’t really know what else to say that I haven't already.
Graphics:
This game looks pretty good. It’s been a while since I played the second game in the series, so I can’t say for certain that there was a noticeable improvement in the graphics. But everything looks really swell. I like the whole comic book feel of the game’s characters. The characters themselves are very expressive with their emotions. Everyone looks unique and different and has their own distinct personality. As far as the game’s environment goes, everything looks exactly as it should. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t Horizon Zero Dawn. It is probably not going to be turning any heads. But Telltale games are never really known for their graphics, more for their storylines. Does the game look ugly? Absolutely not. And that’s all that really matters to me.
Sound:
The voice acting for this game is terrific, which I expected. This is not unusual for Telltale’s games.
The music I didn’t really notice, but when I did notice it, it was good. There was a moment in the game where they use the “Lee” music from the original Walking Dead, and it immediately stirred up all kinds of emotions in my heart.
Overall, the game sounds really good. No complaints from me.
Overall:
After reading all kinds of negative reviews for this game online, I expected to hate it. It turned out to actually be a very pleasant surprise. I had a good time with this game. I was heavily invested in the characters and the storyline. We’re not as bad as Javi and David, but my older brother and I always had kind of a sibling rivalry thing going on, so I was able to really relate to that part of the story. I liked they moved things forward a few years and used flashbacks to fill in the blanks with what happened to Clementine. Overall, I just had a really fun time with this game. I wasn’t able to put it down.
You could argue that I should give this game a low score because the gameplay is mediocre and you do more talking and watching than actually playing. I don’t subscribe to that theory. This is a Telltale game. I knew exactly what I was getting into. It all comes down to you, the player, and what you can get out of this kind of game. If this type of game isn’t your thing, it isn’t your thing. I, however, love these kind of games (well, except for The Wolf Among Us and Back to the Future…. those games can fuck right off).
If you are a fan of the Walking Dead series, this is an absolute must-play. Forget all the hater reviews! Yeah, this game is a little light on Clementine, but it moves her story along nicely and sets us up for what should be one doozy of a final chapter.
Final Score:
A-
If you liked this review, please check out some of my other game reviews:
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