The Walking Dead: Michonne: Episode 2

The Walking Dead: Michonne: Episode 2 - Give No Shelter

Score: 90%
Publisher: Telltale Games
Developer: Telltale Games
Media: Download/1
Players: 1
Genre: Adventure

Previously on The Walking Dead: Michonne:

The Walking Dead: Michonne: Episode 2 - Give No Shelter starts off with Michonne and her new friends in some pretty hot water. Not only did In Too Deep separate the katana-wielding walker-killer from her new seafaring group, but it got her making yet another group angry at her.

Michonne finds herself locked deep in the bowels of the strange floating community run by the blunt and overbearing Norma and her brother Randall. She, along with a young girl named Sam, have just witnessed Sam's brother dying and turning, while trouble is just on the other side. Michonne has to find a way to get out of the community, find her friend Pete, and somehow get to safety before Norma and her group catches up to her.

Escape:

The Walking Dead: Michonne: Episode 2 - Give No Shelter doesn't really make that task easy. Not only is the enemy everywhere, but they are armed and don't really like Michonne at the moment. Once again, The Walking Dead: Michonne proves to have a bit more action than the past Telltale TWD games. Even without a blade at her side, Michonne knows how to handle herself in a fight. But the community she finds herself in is very alert and with only limited boat access to get away from Norma's crew, trying to find any way off is not going to be easy.

Of course, even when Michonne, Sam, and Pete get to shore, there are other problems the trio will have to deal with. With Walkers in front of her and Norma's gang behind, Michonne will have to use all of the tricks in her repertoire to get to an even safer location. But, as we saw with the first episode, Michonne has some personal issues she is also working through. The episode is frequented with flashbacks to Michonne's time just after the Zombie Apocalypse started, back when she was desperately looking for her two daughters. So, not only does she have to deal with the physical danger around her and keeping her new friends alive, but also with the psychological problems assaulting her. Thankfully, Sam has an idea of where to go.

Refuge:

The Walking Dead: Michonne: Episode 2 - Give No Shelter does provide some brief respites between its physically and emotionally stressful segments. During these times, we not only learn of Sam's family, but that her father's house is fairly well fortified and if they can just get there, they should be safe. Unfortunately, it's going to take some work to convince the older man that Michonne and Pete can be trusted, and considering the state the three characters are in when they get to the house, Sam's father has a right to be suspicious.

As you might expect, Norma's group, led by Randall, aren't going to be shaken all that easily, and when you do confront them again, Michonne will have to make the standard hard decisions that this series is known for. While making those decisions, she will have characters standing on either side of her making arguments to do what they think is right. One option is more brutal than the other, but you aren't guaranteed safety in either case. It is a hard decision to make, and it will surely impact how the next episode plays out.

Next Time on The Walking Dead: Michonne:

While playing through the first episode of The Walking Dead: Michonne, I felt like there wasn't any real danger since I knew Michonne would make it through the game relatively unscathed. Of course, where the danger in this three-part series comes in isn't in the safety of your main character, but in the deaths and damage that will happen around her. Given that this part of Michonne's story is unexplored ground in the comics, exactly what happens and who survives is up in the air.

Going into the third episode, The Walking Dead: Michonne: Episode 2 - Give No Shelter sets up a potentially traumatic and drama-filled, not to mention bloody, final act. That, combined with the hopeful resolution to Michonne's mental/emotional trauma that she is working through, is bound to make Episode 3 - What We Deserve an episode not to miss. It will be interesting to see how it all wraps up and to see if it somehow ties into Clementine's story in the main TWD game seasons.

-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications
AKA Chris Meyer

Previously on The Walking Dead: Michonne:

Escape:

Refuge:

Next Time on The Walking Dead: Michonne:

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