The Walking Dead: Episode 4 - Around Every Corner

Around Every Corner isn't simply the best episode of The Walking Dead yet – it's the single most significant game I've played so far this year, and perhaps the most emotionally devastating gameplay experience I've ever had.

Adventure series comes with another episode – and this one is the best one so far in every aspect. Can't wait for the finale! [Dec 2012]

Around Every Corner is about 3 hours long and it definitely felt like the longest episode yet. And I can't wait until the next one. As terrible as things get, I can't wait to see how it all ends.

This playable tale once again dares to discuss the more substantial implications of the survival-horror scenario, a setting that was once mostly defined by scarcity of ammunition. I'd lie if I professed that The Walking Dead had anything to do with "fun" in the traditional sense, but here for once, it's a glowing compliment. I'm not looking forward to accompany these Walking Dead on their last steps to the conclusion. But I wouldn't want to miss it for anything in the world.

Fans of the comic should feel a deep resonance with Episode 4, as it channels aspects of the early story directly, in the way the group explores the house, a la the Wiltshire Estates, and the inclusion of the self-obsessed, Governor-like figure briefly mentioned in the middle of the game.

The Walking Dead delivers a dramatic and emotionally exhausting experience that few, if any, games have achieved. Forming a close bond with the characters over 12 hours of game play makes the countdown clock for each decision even more stressful. As the psyche of each survivor has slowly been reduced to tatters, every choice has positive and negative impacts for all.

While not as gripping as the first three episodes, Around Every Corner remains a strong chapter of The Walking Dead. Unfortunately, too much of the game involves new characters that don't seem vital to the end game storyline. Still, this is an episode that sets up what is sure to be an incredible season finale!

Any detachment we may have felt as we slowly immersed ourselves into this hellish world should be lost here. Those who've hungered for each coming episode may experience some tunnel vision as they dive into their monitors and become a part of the group's lives.

A chapter that adds questions instead of giving answers. We'll see.

In this episode everything conspires to lure us into a final trap that hits straight to the heart.

Ultimately, serious though they are, the bugs won't stop me from playing. After the huge cliffhanger this episode ended on, I cannot wait for the next one to see how the series concludes. I said it in my last review and I'll say it again here; Telltale's The Walking Dead is one of 2012's best surprises.

I have no idea where the story is going next, and I'm itching to find out.

Quotation forthcoming.

As the series gears up for its conclusion, in which even formerly "safe" characters' fates will be up for grabs, Episode 4's cliffhanger ending sets a new tone of urgency. At this point, I won't even hazard a guess as to what's around the next corner for our survivors, but don't count on a happy ending.

It's worth it just to see where the story goes.

It's exciting, and damn is it important, but it's still the weakest of the bunch.

Around Every Corner is a layer between the middle and the end of the story, and it's mostly filler.

While the impact is less than that of previous installments, Episode 4 remains a solid and well-written chapter of Telltale's The Walking Dead. Following up the chills of the last episode was always going to be a tall order, and while this entry may be free of major revelations, Telltale has done a commendable job continuing to establish such a hopeless world. At this point, though, it feels as if they're racing to an absolute conclusion.

Whilst Around Every Corner relies a bit too much on action sequences and not enough of group-building with its new characters, it effectively manages to draw hope and desperation to new emotional highs and lows, ultimately ending with the most dramatic conclusion so far.

If you've come this far on Lee's journey, Around Every Corner's ending will make the final chapter a near essential purchase: not just to see how this supposedly reactive, in part player-authored story ends, but to see if Telltale really can pull it off.

Probably the weakest episode so far, even though it still keeps its essence and entertains. One way or another, we need to highlight its ending, telling us the final episode will be huge.

Much of this episode feels forced, with characters being maneuvered into position to wrap everything up in the finale.