The Walking Dead: Episode 5 - No Time Left
Score: 98% Publisher: Telltale Games Developer: Telltale Games Media: Download/1 Players: 1 Genre: Adventure
Previously on The Walking Dead: The Walking Dead: Episode 5 - No Time Left starts off with Lee in a hard spot. In the last episode, Around Every Corner, the survivors made their way into Savannah, and while they found a boat to try and escape on, they still needed some supplies. Those supplies were in a walled-off section of town that attempted to live a walker-free life. Too bad it didn't seem to work. While Lee and the gang were able to get their boat supplies and make it back to the house they were holding up in, they returned to find young Clementine missing. While looking for the little girl, Lee ends up in a struggle with a zombie and ends up bitten. Needless to say, this has some major effects on the events of No Time Left. Not only does Lee need to find Clementine, but does he tell the others about the bite? If not, then what happens when they find out? How do the others feel about a potential zombie in their midst? These are all questions that No Time Left not only poses, but forces you to answer.
Clementine: The Walking Dead: Episode 5 - No Time Left's focus is all about finding Clementine and getting her back. The last episode ended with a mysterious voice from the other end of Clem's walkie-talkie telling Lee that the girl is out of his care and in a supposedly safer place. Of course, Lee vows to find the voice and get Clem back, but he has a more immediate problem. Not only are there zombies knocking on the door, but when he passes out, it becomes time for the first hard decision of the game; what to do about his bitten arm? There are two ways this can play out. The first choice is to cut the arm off, a painful process that is reminiscent of a certain scene in 127 Hours. Cutting it off might slow down the infection, and Lee might not turn. The other option is to leave it alone. You know Lee will turn eventually, but a man with two hands has got to be better than with one arm right? Oddly enough, while this was a hard choice to make, and one that can lead to a rather gruesome scene with a bone saw, it had fairly little effect on how the rest of the episode played out. I went through both options in this playthrough and I found it odd that even with both hands intact, Lee still rarely used the bitten one. I guess this can be explained by it being in pain or numb so he never really used it, but to me, it just seemed like a way to keep the same animation in both options - Lee's character model just happens to be missing a hand in one case. Sure there are some variations on dialogue, but quite frankly, there doesn't seem to be much difference with this particular choice. That isn't to say that No Time Left is without impactful decisions, this just isn't really one of them. So where is Clementine? How can Lee get her back? Is there some way Lee can survive being bitten? What happens to the rest of the survivors? These are just a few of the major events found in No Time Left. I just can't wait for Season Two to start. Only a select few Telltale licenses provide a second season, and I'm just happy to see that The Walking Dead is one of them.
Next Time?: The Walking Dead: Episode 5 - No Time Left definitely brings this current story to an end, but if you stick around after the credits, there are hints of what the next season of The Walking Dead might entail. Then again, Telltale could go a completely different direction and follow a whole new set of survivors, but it would be a shame to let all of the emotional connection we've built up for these particular characters just go to waste. It's hard to talk at all about what might be in store for whomever survives No TIme Left without just ruining the ending. It's not like there is a big twist, but there are enough tough choices and hard decisions packed into the final minutes of this episode that I wouldn't want to soften the experience for any of our readers.
The Walking Dead - The Whole Shebang: The Walking Dead: Episode 5 - No Time Left ends a roller coaster of emotions and hard decisions that makes it a great compliment to anything else that's born the Walking Dead moniker to date. As anyone who is even somewhat familiar with the license can tell you, The Walking Dead isn't about zombies, it's about the survivors and how the zombie apocalypse changes them, as well as the choices they are forced to make. All five episodes of this season have done a superb job of getting the player emotionally invested in several characters and then forcing him or her to make some really tough decisions. When the characters learn that you don't have to be bitten to die, what do you do when one of your group has a heart attack? Do you make sure they are actually dead before making sure they can't come back? To what extent will you go to protect your group? What do you do when it looks like one of your own is betraying everyone else? How do you handle someone that was bitten and is slowly and painfully dying, especially when that person's dad is there, watching their child suffer. All of these choices, and more, are thrown at the player and the results of those decisions have long-lasting effects on how the characters behave around you. If you haven't picked up this series yet because you wanted to know if the game as a whole was worth the purchase, then firstly, I'm sorry for all the spoilers. It couldn't be helped, but secondly, yes it's worth it. Anyone who enjoys either The Walking Dead or adventure games must take this game on, it is more than worth it. But then, the Game of the Year awards probably told you that already.
-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Meyer
Related Links: The Walking Dead on Steam The Walking Dead Game Home Page Game Vortex’s The Walking Dead Coverage Skybound Home Page Game Vortex’s Review of 127 Hours on Blu-ray
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