PC Review: The Walking Dead Episode 3 - "In Harm's Way"

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD

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"In Harm's Way" is the third installment of the second season of TellTale Games' critically acclaimed video game series; The Walking Dead. This installment features the group and Clementine's struggle after being captured by an old enemy of her new friends - Bill Carver - whose out to not only get his child back from an impregnated Rebecca, but also to make sure they don't cause him any problems in the future. There's lots of potential in this episode; will the group submit to Carver and live by his rules? Would they attempt a revolution? Where's Luke? So, did the episode live up to expectation? [Everything spoken in this review is through choices from my playthrough. Don't take it as gospel since the game changes based on the player's own choices.]

Although it may not be everyone's cup of tea, and it isn't always mine, this episode is chalk-full of character moments. Additionally, there is plenty of drama and suspense sprinkled throughout TellTale's third episode, but this one really tells us who the characters are and shows their true colors. We're introduced to new characters like Reggie who are pretty well developed and despite biting the bullet, he is actually a pivotal part of the development of the episode. After Carver kills him, it knocks down the dominoes of drama as even Bonnie - who helped kidnap Carlos' crew last episode - questions her allegiance to Carver and his ways. Overall, there was some really good character moments in this episode that I'll get to.

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The character development in this episode was superb, but I almost felt that it was sort-of lacking for Bill Carver who dies at the end after a gruesome beating by Kenny with a crowbar; reminisce of Batman: Under The Red Hood. To me in this episode, Bill wasn't taken in a straight direction. For example, the only thing he asks of the crew is to do their chores and help out with the community so he can earn their forgiveness and rejoin the community and live in peace with him, however he kills (new character) Reggie over a simple mistake and didn't even twitch at the action. You could say that Bill was never going to forgive the crew and just kill them all after they've contributed enough, but Bill is killed before we could ever find out. Although I have to tip my hat to Telltale for not dragging out the "evil emperor with a sanctuary" route that Robert Kirkman ever-so recycles. Instead, in this episode, classic character Kenny evolves into something we'd never thought he'd become thanks to the writers taking a big swerve. It is within this scene, i think, that we get a surefire definition of everyone involved in the episode. Kenny slowly takes out a crowbar and asks people to leave so they don't have to witness what is about to be done to Bill; this scene tells us who realizes how bad the world really is based on whether or not they left. Naturally, as Clementine, I voted to stay and it's a really badass moment when Kenny says "This is about to get ugly" and Clem says "I know."; this is a moment that actually made me like Clementine, a lot. There are plenty of scenes throughout the game that showcase who these characters are what they're willing to do but this scene, by far, might be my favorite in the entire series.

The latest installment of "The Walking Dead" is downright terrifying, not because of the settings or the zombies; it's the character development that really shocks you. This episode is all about empathy, and the choices you make have a cost; especially the ending scene where Kenny's girlfriend gets bitten and you have a choice of killing the walker that bit her or cutting her hand off; and I've played both endings which are equally amazing. This review took so long because I played through the episode maybe 3 times which is very rare for me with a Telltale game. It's downright excellent. I've got to say it; In Harm's Way holds the best scene Telltale has ever made. It's the aforementioned scene with Clementine saying "I know". Additionally, it's extremely hard to find a fault in this game considering almost every scene is excellent. Telltale, you really won this month.