The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series - A New Frontier Episode 2: Ties That Bind Part Two

 PC
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 33 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 28 out of 33
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 33
  3. Negative: 0 out of 33
  1. Impulsegamer
    Jan 23, 2017
    72
    The Walking Dead: A New Frontier is starting to climb my list of favourites from Telltale games, and for fans of this genre I would definitely recommend it. There are a few fantastic “oh crap did that just happen?” moments which I wasn’t expecting and I am eager to find out what happens next. Although it is a little frustrating not knowing the release date of the next episode.
  2. DarkZero
    Jan 20, 2017
    70
    These two short episodes (about three hours for both) did keep me invested and reminded me that Telltale can spin a good story. There were a few effective moments and a few tricky choices. However, the technical and narrative flaws are too glaring to ignore. And, perhaps saddest of all, I am just not as excited to play the next episode as I usually am with Telltale games.
  3. The Digital Fix
    Jan 12, 2017
    70
    A strong opener and weaker follow-up chapter, but the third season is certainly heading in the right direction, narratively at least.
  5. GameCritics
    Jan 17, 2017
    65
    A New Frontier doesn’t fail completely as a narrative experience — Javier and his makeshift family aren’t unlikeable as far as characters go — but the story that’s being told in these first two episodes just doesn’t command the player’s investment like it used to. The gameplay aspects are superfluous, the story beats are overly familiar, and and not even seeing Clementine again can save the moaning, ambling corpse this series has unfortunately become.
  6. games(TM)
    Feb 21, 2017
    50
    A plot slower than a walker. [Issue#183, p.81]
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In Progress & Unscored

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  1. Polygon
    Dec 20, 2016
    Two chapters in, Season Three of The Walking Dead feels almost like a reboot, gathering together all the concepts that gave the video game series its emotional force in the first two years and slamming them into two episodes. There is spontaneous violence and unexpected death, but no sense that the player truly could have avoided either. There's an urgency to reach another place, and the false sense of stability it promises. [Provisional Score = 7.5]
  2. Rock, Paper, Shotgun
    Dec 22, 2016
    It’s pure agony at this point that they’re re-running the exact same bloody plots yet again for a third five-part series, as if they weren’t miserably worn out before even Telltale scooped them up off the floor and blew off the crust and fluff. That they’re not even trying to take the slightest new angle belies a barren and bereft production not worth dragging your own mutilated corpse through.

Awards & Rankings

75
#75 Best PC Game of 2016
29
#29 Most Shared PC Game of 2016

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 90 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 55 out of 90
  2. Mixed: 21 out of 90
  3. Negative: 14 out of 90
  1. Vesanis
    Dec 21, 2016
    0
    Giving it a zero to balance it for all the zombies who will rate it a 10. Maybe telltale should release a game completely for once instead ofGiving it a zero to balance it for all the zombies who will rate it a 10. Maybe telltale should release a game completely for once instead of zerging every review site with episodes that are shorter than a tv show. Anyways this episode is worse than the first one at least the first episode had a shock factor in it.… Full Review »
  2. Daniel_Ahab
    Dec 20, 2016
    10
    I don’t have a clear sense of where the season as a whole aims to go just yet, but “Ties That Bind Part I” is one of Telltale’s strongestI don’t have a clear sense of where the season as a whole aims to go just yet, but “Ties That Bind Part I” is one of Telltale’s strongest openers in recent memory. Scenes feel carefully constructed in their camera direction and editing, and Telltale avoids the pitfalls of its most egregious past issues — only one environmental exploration sequence temporarily slows things down — but for the most part the episode moves along at an exceptional clip. But that’s not just thanks to Part I’s style. Smart characterization and writing for Javi and his family, plus the return of Clementine, add weight to a largely unfamiliar but already engaging new frontier that I can’t wait to continue to explore.… Full Review »
  3. anterolol
    Dec 25, 2016
    0
    Clementine isn't playable and only gets 10% of the entire screen time. Javier is bland and has a boring story. Episodes are 60 minutes long,Clementine isn't playable and only gets 10% of the entire screen time. Javier is bland and has a boring story. Episodes are 60 minutes long, down from 90 minutes in season 2 and 120-150 minutes in season 1. The writing is atrocious.

    If you have any respect for Clementine or Lee, don't buy this game. It destroys everything from the past 2 seasons.

    This is an insult and a betrayal to all fans.    … Full Review »
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