The Walking Dead: Season 3 is off to a strong start with Ties That Bind. The introduction of a new playable character, alongside the happy return of Clementine, are highlights in this return to the dark and dreary world of The Walking Dead.
TellTale’s The Walking Dead: Season Three, Episode 1- Ties That Bind
Developer: TellTale Games
Price: $24.99 for a Season Pass
Platforms: PS4 (reviewed), Xbox One, PC, Mac, Android, iOS
TellTale’s The Walking Dead has been a consistently fantastic series for its last two seasons, with the first season considered by many, myself included, to have one of the strongest video game narratives of recent years. It’s tough to follow up, and build on, a story with such acclaim, but if anyone can do it, it’s TellTale. The first episode of Season 3, Ties That Bind, is a strong start, full of interesting world-building, and intense twists.
Ties That Bind makes a bold decision by starting the Season off with an entirely different main character, instead of Clementine or one of her Season 2 companions. While you inevitably run into Clementine, the first half of the episode focuses purely on the new protagonists, Javier and his family. Their backstories are all simultaneously covered within the first twenty minutes of the episode via a flashback, in a way that’s both efficient and satisfying.
Once you snap back to the present time, the drama begins to unfold. While a lot of the usual Walking Dead tropes are used, (staying in a van, finding a seemingly safe place, being attacked by another gang), they aren’t dwelled upon for too long, rather, they’re used to establish new scenarios for the survivors. Things quickly escalate after an encounter with raiders, leading to Javier’s separation from his family, and his meeting and bonding with the one and only Clementine.
This lead-up makes Clementine’s introduction genuinely special, as you encounter her from an outsider’s point of view. Javier doesn’t know Clem, so at first he sees her as a scarily tough kid. As you communicate with Clementine, Javier begins to understand her, leading to her opening up about the events between this Season and the last. As things come into perspective and begin to calm down, a huge twist occurs, leading to the end of the episode. The twist is completely unexpected, and establishes the feeling of unyielding tension that The Walking Dead is known for. It’s a strong start for Season 3, and I’m excited to see where it goes from here.
On the gameplay front, Ties That Bind is mostly standard fare for TellTale games, which is by no means a bad thing. TellTale has established a system that works for them, with small additions in each title, Ties That Bind carries over some of the more action-oriented quicktime events that Batman prominently featured. The Walking Dead wisely avoids overusing these scenes, as it instead focuses on slower, mounting tension.
The ability to walk more briskly while you explore areas is a nice addition, but it hardly lets you go much faster. I often found myself forgetting that I could jog, as most of the areas available for exploration are fairly small. The choice system is as exciting and terrifying as ever, though this episode only featured one or two really meaningful choices.
Surprisingly, Ties That Bind runs rather well when compared to previous TellTale games. In my reviews of TellTale’s Batman, I’d often bemoan the frame-rate drops and janky movements that would often pop up due to TellTale’s gameplay engine. Ties That Bind had no noticeable frame-rate issues, and the entire episode was quite smooth. I hope this trend continues for the following episodes, as it’s a much-needed improvement.
Though it can be argued that TellTale’s art-style is somewhat repetitive, it’s clearly made and tailored to The Walking Dead. Like the Seasons before it, Season 3 features an art-style that feels heavily inspired by Tony Moore’s art in early issues of The Walking Dead, which I definitely appreciate. Seeing as the game’s story is set in the comic series canon, it’s fitting that it would bear the style of its source material.
The sound in Ties That Bind is exceptional. The voices are all fitting, with Clementine’s more hardened and more bitter voice deserving special praise. It’s amazing to hear Melissa Hutchison use such a different tone for Clementine, as it signifies her slow loss of innocence, and her transition into young adulthood. The redone version of the main theme of TellTale’s Walking Dead is impressive and as moving as ever, bringing back memories of Lee and the original gang.
The Final Word
Ties That Bind serves as a fantastic start to Season 3 of TellTale’s Walking Dead. Interesting new characters and the return of Clementine set up a story that is worth looking forward to, especially with the lack of the technical issues TellTale often has.
-MonsterVine Review Score: 4.5 out of 5 – Great
