The Walking Dead: Season Two Episode 2 - A House Divided

 PC
User Score
8.2

Generally favorable reviews- based on 392 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 314 out of 392
  2. Mixed: 36 out of 392
  3. Negative: 42 out of 392

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  1. macefelter
    Mar 9, 2014
    5
    For the amount of time between episodes, Episode 2 was lacking in terms of action, writing, and overall content compared to other episodes in my opinion.

    The amount of "puzzle" scenes was too few, with most of the player interaction/input happening on dialogue selection/progression scenes. I usually don't mind this, as the story telling is the most interesting part of these games, but    For the amount of time between episodes, Episode 2 was lacking in terms of action, writing, and overall content compared to other episodes in my opinion.

    The amount of "puzzle" scenes was too few, with most of the player interaction/input happening on dialogue selection/progression scenes. I usually don't mind this, as the story telling is the most interesting part of these games, but the actions of our characters this time around left me baffled on a few different instances.

    More specifically, the way some of the characters behave does not fit in a world that is 1.5 years into a zombie apocalypse. Was the absurd jump in time in Episode 1 of 16 months necessary?

    The "surprise" about halfway through this episode was great, but shouldn't overshadow bad dialogue in a lazy plot. A solid experience, but I expected better.    … Expand
  2. FlyingSnotBogey
    Apr 22, 2014
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Ok where to start......**Woops, SPOILER ALERT** Right then, I see a lot of mixed reviews when it comes to Tell-Tale's latest installment of visual novel trickery. As a fan of season 1 naturally I was eager to pick up the new seasons material. With my season 1-5 choices in place and my 400 days finished up, I played Ep1 and Ep2 back to back. So let us start by examining the basic facts. The story leaves the end of season 1 with the untimely end of our would-be hero, leaving one damsel in distress as a damsel in cardiac arrest, meanwhile, leaving a whole gape load of questions and plot holes that will hopefully be cleared up as seasons progress...... ok ... so far so good. Plot holes can be good (if curiosity clears it up later). **First Impression** S2:Ep2 We are greeted in the usual Hollywood fashion we have seen in the TT franchise and the familiar bright and faithfully comicy feel that you either love or loath. First it starts out with our newly trained "heroine" been thrown into a myriad of confusing and somewhat bizarre situations, not too astray from our previous season; from bounding over tree stumps like a 11 year old cyber ninja; to sewing your own sutures after being ravaged by a traitorous canine that will attack you regardless of whether you feed it or not........ but after a fair examination of the content, what do we actually have? **Too early to say?** The good points: The story; let's be honest folks, TWD is a beefed up visual novel with a risque approach to illusionist choices.... and that is not a criticism..... it's actually a compliment. Not in a good long time have I been engrossed by such a novel...... and it's all about the plot, the attachment to characters and the "feeling" of pressurised choices that draws you into the "game". It's a refreshing and crispy alternative to the predictable world of generally aesthetic play in apposed to "game" a form of competitive activity or sport played according to rules. **Bad points** Please do not expect any true form of competition or alternative objectives, the "games" core story is fixed and as such "watchers" should expect as such. Even the structure of the "game" suggests the feel of story in opposition to play *cough Season 2: Episode 2 etc... *cough*hint. **Final Verdict** Story 9/10, Ambiance 9/10, Visuals 7/10, Controls 6/10, Interactivity 4/10 (sorry but true), bonus points: Shock Value 9/10 **Overall** Not a "must-buy-game" for the masses but if you are hungry for something you can allow yourself to be drawn into, I would give this title a very firm and fine thumbs up...... god it's like waiting for the next episode of Game of Thrones....... 7/10… Expand
  3. matteda
    Mar 10, 2014
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. like its ups and downs , I feel this is not as good as episode 1
    but for the story,you can play

    I am playing this game for the 8th time(season 1 5 epsisodes + DLC + season 2 2 episodes)
    it became routine;people fight
    Prolonging a game for 2 years is not good at all
    release all episodes at once once in a year
    Addiction gone to madness and I am not enjoying the game anymore

    I have noticed one change;we can stop long arguments now;it gets irritating
    episode is a little longer

    overall it offers nothing new,
    The choices does not alter the main game,so it does not matter what choices you make;its only the way people interact changes

    The game gets predictive & routine
    misunderstandings & arguments

    If you didnt play,stop reading now

    Spoilers ahead: " As predicted by users,Kenny returns    … Expand
  4. St3yr
    Mar 9, 2014
    6
    I play the Walking Dead with my wife, and after being addicted to the first Walking Dead game I'm afraid to say the appeal is waning. In the first game the choices you made actually mattered; however in this game it simply doesn't feel like it even makes a difference - the plot or main narrative remains the same. We'll still play it though, and look forward to the next one :).
  5. Gageracer
    Mar 9, 2014
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Enviroment is great and new characters were fine but the fact that you cannot change anything pisses me off this season.You cannot save S1 characters, you cannot kill the dog before it bits you, you cannot kill the bad guy or the woman in E2.It is so linear and boring, this season could be an animation series.Save your money and watch it on Youtube.There is no reason what so ever cause everything is set.… Expand
  6. elaintahra
    Jun 14, 2014
    6
    I have really liked The Walking Dead TV, Comic and PC Season 1. I have to agree with some of the negative minded people here now. I completed The last of us on PS3 and really now coming back to season 3 of this.. feels a bit, empty.. You know after TLoU this is sort of empty.

    Its cool to follow the story though and I really like Clementine but I'd like to leave all the other eedjits behind.
  7. Hypocritics
    Mar 9, 2014
    7
    I Am A Fan of This Game. Don't get me wrong, I am. So I'll touch on the positives first, no hating BS.

    1) The Story line is still intricate as it was in the first Walking Dead series. They take great care to tie up all loose ends, and it's chalk full of twists and action. It's the main reason I come back to this game, to be honest. 2) The Choices you can make are always on    I Am A Fan of This Game. Don't get me wrong, I am. So I'll touch on the positives first, no hating BS.

    1) The Story line is still intricate as it was in the first Walking Dead series. They take great care to tie up all loose ends, and it's chalk full of twists and action. It's the main reason I come back to this game, to be honest.

    2) The Choices you can make are always on point, the dialogue options cover everything I would want to say in a given moment/conversation. The plot doesn't have any hiccups depending on the option you choose, it's always a smooth story no matter the choice.

    3) Voice Acting has never been a problem in this game. The only person who's voice acting is lackluster is Clem, which is unfortunate, but doesn't detract from the game much. The surrounding characters are excellent.

    The Bad:

    1) Character Diversity: Is it just me, or are there 2-4 types of characters and that's it? The really-really good guys who the player is supposed to stand behind 100% (Clem, Lee, Omid, Christa, Kenny) , the screw-ups (Ben, Nick, Duck) who seem to be in the game for the sole purpose of messing up to advance the plot, and the middle-of-the-road uniquely bitter/angry/strange people. I can't find an exception, and it's an unfortunate missed-opportunity that detracts a little from the game.

    2) Long Pauses: I found the flow of the game was often interrupted by long pauses in the game as the player is forced to search for things that were not pivotal for the plot (the angel on the christmas tree). Sometimes, the conversations dwindled on for too long as well. Just annoying filler.

    3) Graphics: I know I know, the graphics are beautiful! A work of breathtaking and innovative art.... for still frames. But over the course of the game, as the initial impression wore off, I feel like the graphics were a detractor. The bug-eyed characters sometimes made me laugh when I was supposed to cry, and the overall lack of realism takes the game down a notch.    … Expand
  8. ausgebombt85
    Aug 20, 2014
    6
    Cheap shot - that's what I have to say. Shame on Telltale Games for taking such cheap shots at our emotions and hoping we'll pour our hearts over the game like the first season had us do. Not a good story progression, Clementine is not very interesting and the characters we are meeting are annoying at best. Not very relatable, I instantly was thinking "I hope this, this and that die atCheap shot - that's what I have to say. Shame on Telltale Games for taking such cheap shots at our emotions and hoping we'll pour our hearts over the game like the first season had us do. Not a good story progression, Clementine is not very interesting and the characters we are meeting are annoying at best. Not very relatable, I instantly was thinking "I hope this, this and that die at some point".… Expand
  9. rationalnoodles
    May 1, 2014
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Writers from s1 are gone and the story became much worse. Amount of times Clementine should've died but was saved by a miracle is so high, it becomes difficult to believe to game. Almost all situations feel forced.

    Logic has been thrown out of window (why run from zombies when you can shoot at them until they get close and eat you? Also it's such a great idea to use the youngest member of the group in all dangerous events and not even give her a gun!).

    While in s1 choices didn't really matter, at least they made difference and short and middle term. In this game -- they just don't. 4rd time in a row I'm being asked about something and the option I choose doesn't matter at all. The person I'm talking to ignores it and script just keeps going.

    To prove, typical dialogue:

    "Clementine should stay here. She's..."
    "She's what?"
    "She's just a little girl, Luke."
    "Maybe I should stay here."
    "Hmm... Naw. Come on, you can handle a little recon."

    *Proceeds to take Clementine on dangerous mission, dismissing 20-something male volunteer.*

    Awesome, isn't it?

    Things I liked:

    Graphics. I find it's graphical style to be really beautiful and unorthodox for videogames.

    Immersiveness. Despite the lack of realism, the game is still pretty immersive and makes you care about Clementine.

    Also, story is bad in comparison to season 1 of this game. It's still better than in 90% of other videogames.

    Generally, I recommend this season for most players. But if lack of internal consistency and logic of story hurts you, this game is probably not for you.    … Expand
  10. LeeEverett
    Dec 25, 2014
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I give it a 7/10 - maybe I'm being generous but I don't know, this episode is alright. I've played the whole season 2 and episode 2 is the second best episode this season, with episode 1 being the first best then episode 3 being alright, episode 4 being quite bad and episode 5 being a real disappointment...in my opinion.

    Obviously the second episode had good parts and not so good parts. I loved meeting Kenny again, it was like season 1 (which was amazing) was replaying in my head. I liked spending time at the ski lodge and the intense ending. I also liked the intense beginning of episode 2 with Carver visiting the cabin, spending time with Pete in the truck and later finding Pete's corpse (really sad moment). The scene on the bridge was also quite unique.

    But Pete was killed off way too quickly; his character had so much potential and I liked his character from the beginning...He was much wiser than the rest of the cabin survivors and it would have been so much better if he survived a few more episodes at least, I'd love to see his reaction to Carver and the upcoming events. When he got bit it made no sense. TellTale really shouldn't have killed him off - that was a waste.

    Another thing, Matthew. I felt like Matthew's death was unnecessary and there should have been a choice that would make his death avoidable or at least determinant. I feel TellTale just used this as an excuse to show us how reckless Nick has become after Pete's death - We can already see how Nick is depressed so there was no need for that little scene.

    Talking about Lee with Kenny was really heart-wrenching but there should have been more dialogue options to talk about the past, I feel it was too brief and in real life it would never be that brief - I know it's the apocalypse but it should remain realistic. Like seriously all Kenny says is that he got "lucky, real lucky" and that's the end of it. Dull.

    Moreover Nick's death is extremely disappointing in this episode and in episode 4 as well. In both episodes he dies in a stupid way. Episode 2 his death is so silly and very avoidable, Clem should have had the option to shoot the walker with the rifle Carlos dropped or stab it with Matthew's knife and what you say to Walter determines his outcome (seriously, he chooses to save or not save Nick after what an 11 year old girl says?!). I saved him in episode 2 but when I saw his death in episode 2 in a Youtube clip, I felt like that was really unnecessary and there just to get rid of Nick/add silly drama in the mix. After his death in episode 2, no one bats an eye apart from Carlos asking where he is to which his reaction would be the same as if you didn't tell him. Disappointing. Nick's role in episode 3 was pretty bad and his death in episode 4 was off-screen and even worse, Luke's reaction was disgusting and as usual only one or two people gave a damn and that was Rebecca and maybe Clem. Clem's tough to read and TellTale have made her into a very cold person - that's another disappointment, I know Clem has to be tough and everything but toughness and coldness don't necessary compliment each other. Lee had a better personality, sorry. I like Clem but she's different now - a badass, which is good but also a girl who seems cold and doesn't care about anything which is horrible.

    Also I'd like to point out that teaching Sarah how to protect herself this episode made no difference later in the episodes which was very stupid.

    Overall there should have been more action in this episode. Clem doesn't do much other than talking and walking and I can say the same for episode 5 and most of episode 4. Apart from that and the problems I have mentioned above, this episode was quite alright....mostly because it's better than episode 4 and 5 and I rate it around the same as I did for episode 3; 6 or 7/10.

    I hope season 3 is better written just like season 1 and I hope that characters aren't so easily killed off.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

55
#55 Best PC Game of 2014
79
#79 Most Discussed PC Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 40 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 31 out of 40
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 40
  3. Negative: 0 out of 40
  1. Riot Pixels
    Apr 10, 2014
    63
    Another episode comes and goes, but the stale formula remains the same. It is ‘survivors of a global catastrophe fight amongst themselves’ multiplied by ‘get your hands off the mouse, we’ll play the game for you’.
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  2. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Apr 7, 2014
    80
    Perfect story, perfect direction, not-so-perfect gameplay. [Issue #240]
  3. Games.cz
    Mar 25, 2014
    80
    More action-oriented, richer but mainly more thrilling than its first episode. The Walking Dead is in good shape. Besides, House Divided is one of those episodes where you feel your gameplay decisions actually make a difference. If only its characters grew up.
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