Review: The Walking Dead - Episode 2 (Xbox 360)

By Vamien McKalin email: v.mckalin@mobilenapps.com | Jan 15, 2013 01:24 PM EST

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The Walking Dead: Episode 2 - Starved for Help is not so much about zombies, but about how humans treat each other during an apocalypse. Zombies lurk around seeking humans to devour, but they are not the main attraction in Episode 2, surprisingly enough.

The game takes place three months after the Zombie apocalypse began. Lee Everett is still protecting Clementine and Zombies are still trying to kill everyone they can get their undead hands on. Zombies are the luckiest in this game because there are no shortage of anything to eat, while humans have to be scavenging for food.

The Story

The group of survivors of the first game including convicted killer Lee Everett, are all barricaded in an old Motel courtyard, but not all is well. Everyone is feeling uneasy since food and water are scarce at this point, and outside is filled with Walkers. Most of the story has to do with moral decisions, and as you might know, once you make a decision in the Walking Dead, you can't go back and change it, so a careful thought is required every time.

You'll come across having to make decisions on which member of your group to feed and which not to, these decisions can cause serious implications in the long run. If you were in conflict with a character from the first game, it will carry over here. The only downside to the story is that it's predictable. However, despite being predictable, the story is very well told.

The Presentation

Just like the first in the series, the Walking Dead episode 2 looks wonderful and the audio is just as good. On the Xbox 360, there are a few performance issues that take the player out of the experience now and again. It's not that much of a big deal, but it is something that shouldn't have been there to begin with.

Compared to the first game, blood and gore are far more than what you'd expect. This game is gruesome and extremely disgusting - if you can't handle sickening scenes, stay as far away from the Walking Dead as far as possible. At one point, I was faced with the option of chopping a guy's leg off or leave him to be eaten by walkers. The decision made was to remove his leg while he went through pain and agony and later passed out from massive loss of blood.

The Gameplay

Nothing has changed as far as gameplay is concerned, everything is the same compared to the previous game. Take a peek at our first review of the Walking Dead: Episode 1 for what the gameplay is like.

The Verdict

No other game apart from Final Fantasy VII back in 1999 managed to grip my emotions like episode 2 of the Walking Dead: Starved for Help. Many times I try to do things in a way that Clementine won't see Lee Everett as a bad person, but sometimes, one has to do what is needed to survive without the thought of what anyone might think. It's a powerful game, and for just 400 Microsoft Points, it's a must play.