The Walking Dead: Season Two’s second episode, titled, “A House Divided,” packs a wallop. It throws a couple of stiff jabs early on to remind the player that yes, this is the same series that left you a broken mess back in 2012, but the jabs quickly graduate to straight punches. After softening you up, developer Telltale Games ends the feeling-out process and launches a barrage of full-force hooks and jaw-rattling uppercuts, as every new thread that was established between Clementine and the first episode’s disjointed family is stress tested.
Some ties are strengthened. Others are frayed from the force of the pull. What makes “A House Divided” such a success, though, is its fearless impact on the game’s core narrative. Where “All That Remains” felt reticent in its approach, Telltale’s most recent effort elegantly throws the kitchen sink at the player while simultaneously presenting effective character moments that put the series back on the right track.
What “A House Divided” does differently than every other episode of The Walking Dead is establish a maleficent force more intimidating than any cluster of lumbering walkers. Carver, an arresting man who makes contact with Clementine early on in the two-hour long experience, is the villain that this series needed. His even tone and unsettling presence are akin to The Governor from the AMC series and just like the one-eyed savage, Carver’s thirst for revenge often leads to gruesome violence. He seems to have a cool head, but his mere presence sends a chill down the spine of anyone standing in his way.
Carver’s an essential new addition to the cast, but it’s the return of a key player from the first season that produces some of the most captivating decision making the episodic series has produced. Simple choices like, “who should I sit with during dinner?” forced me to pause the game and consider the consequences, while the more climatic moments determined by Clementine’s actions had me reeling. I yelled at my TV after being forced to choose between people I’d begun to grow close to, and I was often left with the nagging question of whether or not I made the most ethical call. Where some big player-driven moments in previous episodes felt black and white, “A House Divided” managed to test my resolve on multiple occasions.
It’s emotionally exhausting, but thankfully, Telltale doesn’t push the player beyond their limits. The episode stretches over a five-day period and for the most part, the first half of the content mostly develops the existing cast of characters. Clementine is afforded the opportunity to discover much more about Nick and his impetuous nature, the overly protective Carlos, and Luke’s role as a leader. This diverse group alone would be enough to carry a story, but the inclusion of another handful of survivors discovered during the mid-point of the episode leads to a stretch of humanizing character moments essential to the potency of the climax. Telltale’s grounded writing style is on full display in this easily digestible hunk of content, and its ability to make you care about even the most unlikely personalities allows the climax to hit like a pugilist in his prime.
The undead drama matches – and possibly even exceeds – the highest highs of previous episodes, but lingering technical issues continue to hinder the experience. High-tension moments are often weakened by a fumbling frametrate, which disconnects the player from an otherwise enrapturing scene. The Xbox 360 version of the game struggles to load from setpiece to setpiece, and while there are fewer hiccups in this particular stretch of content than this season’s debut, it’s still frustrating to watch such a stellar title fail to run as intended after almost a three-month break between episodes.
Still, the slow start and uneven technical performance don’t stop “A House Divided” from adding new life to Telltale’s The Walking Dead. The gripping, uncompromising episode expertly blends potent character moments with gut-wrenching loss, presenting enough narrative progression in this two-hour trip for two full episodes. I wasn’t convinced that this season’s new cast would carry enough intrigue to keep me invested beyond the first episode, but here I am, nervously anticipating the next chapter of Clementine’s fight for survival.
Final Verdict
9/10
The Walking Dead: Season Two – Episode 2: A House Divided was developed and published by Telltale Games. It was released on March 5 at the MSRP of $4.99. A copy was provided by the publisher for the purposes of review.
