Positive
+ A shocking and tragic development in this episode
+ Crucial choices that will test your emotions
+ Still emits an incredible feel of desperation, struggle and survival
Negative
- One time first-person segment is disappointing
Few games cater to your decisions like the Walking Dead. At this point, you and I might have different characters in our party, the other members of the party think differently about us, and in talking this out, we might think we’re talking about a different game. But that’s fine; it shows the effectiveness of TellTale’s options, and the Long Road Ahead episode hands an incredible amount of emotionally challenging more than a few times, that make it the best of the trio of episodes thus far.
After the disaster at the dairy farm at the end of Episode 2, the group returns to motor inn, but thanks to a group of bandits, and a possible traitor whom Lilly thinks had been aiding the bandits, they had to flee. With Lilly on the verge of breaking down after her father’s death, and her paranoia about the stolen by someone, chaos and disagreement break up to a shocking point, and that’s the first of the plenty of surprising and tragic moments in the game. Unlike what the end of Episode 1 presented us, with either saving one of the two endangered characters, Episode 3 presents with more surprising moves. You still have to make tough decision when it comes down to it. For example, what to say to a man in his darkest moment, or whom to doubt and blame when asked, and when you have the choice to leave behind someone on the road, something equivalent to murder in this world. Long Road Ahead burdens you with these troubling choices, always putting you as the protagonist in the group’s decision instead of being a spectator.
And yes, your decisions matter. Like it did in previous episodes, your decision can mean life-and-death for some characters, and how the others look at you. For example, in the previous episodes, if you had helped Lilly trying to revive her father, Lilly would respect you, while Kenny wouldn't. Who knows how it otherwise would have played. It is incredibly tough to having to take sides, or trying to stay neutral. But the characters are so vivid, if you have an ounce of soul, you will feel for these characters and their situations. In more than one case I had to stop and think and the time ran out to try to imagine what the impact of my consequent action would be. I came to care about the remaining group (even if some aren't so sympathetic) and the few new characters that join near the end of the episodes. That their life matters, that everyone that Lee and Clementine interact with has a story and is trying to survive. This episode does a good job in bonding Lee and Clementine further. There are a lot of interactions between them, and in other non-life threatening situations (but still difficult) you can choose to lie and be honest to Clementine. Whether telling the truth about some terrifying on-going events, is again up to the player, and not everyone will assume it’s a good thing to lie or not.
Walking Dead is an adventure game. Mostly based around light puzzles solving, the game offers simple but not exactly straightforward puzzles. It generally boils down to searching for clues in the environment rather than pixel-hunts or continuous logical thinking. These kinds of puzzles are fun and utilize the environment in a matter of smart ways. There are some really tense moments, like when zombies try to get a hold of Lee, and a quick-time event takes place. Mashing the Q button repeatedly is common, and it rarely gets frustrating. The Walking Dead is rarely overly challenging either. There is one moment where you have to quickly take as much supplies as you can before the horde arrives, which is quite tense. The worst thing I found in the episode was the first-person shooting segment in the beginning. Here you take a gun and use its scope to aim at the bandits and the walkers. I realize that it is an adventure game, but the shooting is poor and lacks impact, plus the gun sounded really bland. Luckily the rest is masterful. Close quarter combat against walkers, when trying to bash the walker where indicated can be thrilling. Camera is still restrictive in a lot of areas, but never enough to hide key items.
The comic-style visuals of Walking Dead are still impeccable without a hinge of a doubt except for some lip syncing. Character’s expressions and faces are realistic in a manner that not many games always manage. Still bloody of course like previous episodes, and not afraid to show corpses and internal organs, like when Lee is taken down by a walker. Voice acting is masterful, the soundtrack is really good, and the atmosphere of survival is impressive. Rarely have I played a game that made me feel and care about being in a survival world.
Episode 3 – Long Road Ahead is the most impactful and best episode so far, thanks to the great stories formed in the first two episodes. The ending is a little bit of a cliff-hanger and doesn’t end with the same bang Episode 2 had ended but it is nonetheless a chilling ending and continuation to what it is to come in the fourth, and pre-final episode.
Score = 89 / 100
Long Road Ahead is the most shocking and tragic addition to the hit Walking Dead series yet.