When you first meet the dairy farm people, it seems pretty obvious that something will be wrong with them. Then you spend a while getting to know them, and they seem okay, and you let your guard down a bit.

Then they start slowly doling out the hints that the dairy people are clearly fucked up in some way (being cannibals right up there). I thought this part of the game was fantastic. The twist wasn't really a surprise by this point, but the way the story unravels and you uncover more pieces about who the dairy people are was really fantastic and tense. The fun wasn't in being blindsided by some unexpected twist (which must be impossible to do by now, with how many apocalyptic stories there are), but in how it would be revealed and what characters would be affected.

Great game! If the rest of the episodes keep up this quality, TWD will be tough to beat as my favorite game this year.

@bkbroiler said:

Great game! If the rest of the episodes keep up this quality, TWD will be tough to beat as my favorite game this year.

Same here. I love The Walking Dead universe and this is the absolute best way to make a game centered around it. Eagerly awaiting Episode 3 now.

As a fan of the comics, I hate how overly paranoid characters can be which ends up screwing them over down the line. During the early parts of that episode, I found myself defending the family against most of my group's skepticism. But once the door in the barn opened I had a moment of, "Oh, maybe I should be more skeptical in the future." A weird moment of personal growth for me (or at least understanding of the world that the characters are living in now).

this episode as fantastic and well worth the wait. 
 
The thing that i loved so much was that there were so many subplots that fully kept you from focusing on one thing not to mention how your choices and such play into all these things. 
 
The issue of food, whether you can trust the farmers, kenny and lily power struggle, the bandits, the new survivors.....all these things make you really feel like your attention is constantly being divided in a good way to the point that when its time to make a tough time sensitive decision, you have to really stop and think how the consequences of your actions affect all these elements.  
 
I like how they're really pushing the envelope with the tone and choices of this game. It's very refreshing.

Did anyone choose to see if Larry was still alive after the heart attack? I'm curious what happened. I killed him without hesitation because I absolutely hated his character.

Just finished the episode and it was great, I pretty much did the same choices the majority did when the stats showed me at the end of the game, except I killed larry because he was always up in my shit and bein a prick about everything, but some few questions, anybody NOT go to the dairy farm?, or not save the teacher in the bear trap?, if so does the outcome still end up being the same?, obviously the major choice was to either kill Larry or save him, and if you choose to save him is he actually alive?, did anybody else get a "Saw" vibe with everyone sitting in this cellar and a dead guy with his brains all over the floor just laying their chillin?.

@AgnosticJesus said:

Did anyone choose to see if Larry was still alive after the heart attack? I'm curious what happened. I killed him without hesitation because I absolutely hated his character.

I did since killing someone that wasn't dead yet was clearly fucked up no matter how much I disliked the character. Basically Lily gains more respect for you while Kenny calls you out because you didn't have his back. It's surprising to see the turn in kenny as I mostly stuck with him the most. In this episode he was way too emotional for me so that obviously strained our relationship.

@Phatmac said:

@AgnosticJesus said:

Did anyone choose to see if Larry was still alive after the heart attack? I'm curious what happened. I killed him without hesitation because I absolutely hated his character.

I did since killing someone that wasn't dead yet was clearly fucked up no matter how much I disliked the character. Basically Lily gains more respect for you while Kenny calls you out because you didn't have his back. It's surprising to see the turn in kenny as I mostly stuck with him the most. In this episode he was way too emotional for me so that obviously strained our relationship.

Same. I couldnt believe he was ready to let me take a bullet to the face, just because I wasn't about to let Larry's face get smashed in so soon. After I took care of his family throughout both episodes so well, while at the same time trying my best to keep on Lilly's good side. Now there's a pretty big grudge I have against him, and I let him know that him killing Larry was straight up murder. He was ready to sacrifice me too.

@Phatmac said:

@AgnosticJesus said:

Did anyone choose to see if Larry was still alive after the heart attack? I'm curious what happened. I killed him without hesitation because I absolutely hated his character.

I did since killing someone that wasn't dead yet was clearly fucked up no matter how much I disliked the character. Basically Lily gains more respect for you while Kenny calls you out because you didn't have his back. It's surprising to see the turn in kenny as I mostly stuck with him the most. In this episode he was way too emotional for me so that obviously strained our relationship.

Kenny also drops a brick on Larry's head while you're trying to give him CPR, so I don't think he can be saved.

apparently if you do the CPR well enough, you can see Larry start to breath. So he was alive.

And I wonder what happens if you choose not to go to the Dairy Farm, too. So much of the game takes place there they HAVE to make you end up there somehow. Maybe the woman on the hill forces you there?

When I first met Dan and Andy, I was convinced they were bad news. Once I got to the farm, met the mother and everything, a thought hit me (yup, they're probably cannibals)

When I actually found out they were cannibals, I couldn't help but laugh a bit..

@bkbroiler said:

apparently if you do the CPR well enough, you can see Larry start to breath. So he was alive.

And I wonder what happens if you choose not to go to the Dairy Farm, too. So much of the game takes place there they HAVE to make you end up there somehow. Maybe the woman on the hill forces you there?

I did two playthroughs and the second time I chose to stay at the motel, but then Lilly says that you should check out the farm and everyone else agrees. So either way, you end up at the farm.

I think you're supposed to be suspicious of the guys immediately. I played along at first (I always gravitate to the "good guy/action hero" archetype in these games for the first playthrough) but it was kinda clear the direction it would go. Two big burly overly pleasant men living on a farm with their momma, mysteriously padlocking doors? Something's going on. Would have been funny if they ended up being nice though. One thing I did really like was how Mark got his injury and just vanished. I like to use every dialogue option I can and I swear he didn't come up until right before the meal was being served. From the start I was like "Nah, they won't be cannibals", which developed into "oh god", then "Oh God", then finally "OH GOD".

Also really liked the Kenny/Lilly stuff. I obviously sided with Kenny throughout the first, Larry's a jerk and Lilly's kinda uptight, but around halfway through this episode things changed. I kinda started to interpret Larry's behaviour in a different way and Kenny seemed to be losing it. I decided I was going to save Larry's life to make amends for our arguing in the past. Then Kenny dropped a brick on his head. WHAT THE FUCK. I laughed out loud when that brick appeared on screen and crushed his head because it was fucking PERFECT.

So me and Kenny kinda have some beef right now. I've got his family's back, gotta look after the kidz man, but I ain't forgetting this!

This episode was FUCKED UP, in a good way. I don't remember the last time a game made me feel like this. So tightly paced and all in all well made. Even though it came a bit later than what they originally said, it was well worth the wait. If I were into making GOTY lists and shit at the end of the year this game would definitely be close to the top.  Compared to something like the Telltale's Back to the Future games, which weren't the greatest, it's damn amazing. One of the few games that made me go "Dude, this shit it fucked" while playing. 
 
So good, can't wait for episode 3.

Spoilers.....

Ep2 was enojyable, but cannibalism is kinda standard fare in terms of zombie/apocalypse stuff, so I don't really get the love some people are dolling out for this story "twist" as if it is totally breaking new ground or something. What further annoyed me was the characterization of the southern rednecks as the cannibals. "I'm from Georgia, and we were taught to never waste." Really guys? Of course it has to be the southern farmers who are the cannibals.

Some stuff felt over the top, like having to hit the teacher's leg a bunch of times. Also, cut off one leg from one guy and he dies quickly, but cut off two legs from another guy and he talks for awhile and crawls downstairs then makes it back upstairs somehow, and then turns into a zombie because apparently the farm boys are too dumb to make sure that doesn't happen even though they've apparently been doing this for awhile.

The series in general seems to suffer from the problem of too much hand holding or Heavy-Raining in the non dialogue parts. Multiple solutions to puzzles might help to damper the feeling. It doesn't seem like you deviate from the critical path that much.

Hopefully consequences manifest more in later episodes, but some of the choices made in Ep1 seem to be a little soft.

It also seems strange that the game comes across as though it's presenting you with tough choices, but a large majority are playing the same way. Didn't 88% of people chose to chop of the leg? Hopefully choices get a little more grey in the future, and those numbers get closer to 50/50, like with the car looting, which was the only thing all episode I actually considered.

This episode was paced really well, the change of scenery was nice, the voice acting and dialogue continue to be better than most stuff out there, and there was actually a little ambiguity as to whether or not the farm was safe. Most games would have merely felt like they were trying to be ambiguous instead of actually being ambiguous.

While some situations feel overtly contrived I thought the moment Larry died was really the "Oh shit," moment that was handled well, not the realization of cannibalism or cutting the leg.

The music, which felt (was?) the same in Ep1, ranges from elegiac to thrilling and is placed really well too.

The joke about the camera batteries was good, and the footage from the camera piqued my interest about the bandits. Hopefully the next episode keeps it up.

Ok, this somehow got way too long. Sorry.

@bkbroiler said:

apparently if you do the CPR well enough, you can see Larry start to breath. So he was alive.

And I wonder what happens if you choose not to go to the Dairy Farm, too. So much of the game takes place there they HAVE to make you end up there somehow. Maybe the woman on the hill forces you there?

If you don't want to go they have a vote and you end up going anyways.

Honestly, I was on the edge of my seat most the play-thru (second half). Such a good game, which I'm actually surprised on because upon watching the show, I absolutely HATED it.

So my rant: When your character finds the back of the barn locked, I thought to myself, "Dead bodies or zombie camp behind here." Something along the lines of this is why there is a zombie outbreak. I broke in and found the slaughter house and wasn't really surprised by this... it IS a farm after all. Dinner time! I was excited now everyone can eat and be happy and forget that I did not feed majority of the members of my group.

Where's Mark? I thought it odd I came twice up to see him during my play thru and she wouldn't let me see him. Left the dinner table to sneak up and he's gone... not surprised once again. To take an arrow though the shoulder seemed like a small thing not a whole day, (and night) ordeal. You do your investigation and flip on a light and find the now legless and beaten Mark in a closed off bathroom. Question? If they have this nice slaughter house why slaughter him in a bathroom upstairs. No WAY she would have been able to chop his legs and drag him back upstairs by herself without Larry, Lily, Clementine, Duck or anyone else noticing. ESPECIALLY if he was still alive. Why not kill him? They left him to die slowly to what, further their food supply. If they have power why not hack and chop and stick it in the freezer? Regardless no one takes your word, and normally I wouldn't blame them but the again.... looks what's happening outside. They knock you out and stick you in a storage freezer. After that tensions ran high and felt myself struggling to make a fast decision on virtually everything to follow.

On a related but belated note: I decided at the moment the "bandit lady" wanted to quote, "String my balls up." I was like she needs to go and shot her... apparently looking back.. not a smart idea. I wonder how this will affect the upcoming games to follow. Was she who she hinted she was? If so, by killing her.... what will become of Clementine? I'm actually pretty upset I have to wait until Ep. 3

@rockyhorrorgerri: I have pretty much assumed it was a slaughter hour behind there, just wasn't sure exactly what was int here. But it did make me feel better when your character said "this is a dairy, not a farm". I was like "oh shit, he's right!", hah

I never tried to go see Mark, I actually forgot about him until dinner. The way I explained it to myserf was they had to cut the legs off in the house because so many people were around they couldn't risk moving the parts fromt he barn all the way to the house in front of everyone. Also, they had to keep him alive, otherwise he was going to "spoil" and the meat wouldn't be any good -and- he would turn into a zombie. They explained it somewhere in there.

At first I thought it was Clems mom, but they said her parents were on vacation, and that lady had the uniform of the store on. So that is out, I assumed she was just insane obsessing over Clem, either because she had a little girl like her before or she was just nuts.

That's my thoughts!

@Xeirus: Ha. Up until now I completely forgot it's a dairy... however they still grew crops and had cows, I'm sure in some realm owning a slaughter house in that setting would had been sufficient. I tried to go into the house, granted yes, I DID forget about Mark. I thought it was odd they say you can explore the area and help as need be and the Lady was very shady in constantly saying, "Go see if my boys need help.". Thought it was odd you have this big, strapping man to help around the house, and you never want him to be inside.

My only recanter to the whole, if the meat spoils so keep him alive, and I am a tad foggy on details at the moment but pretty sure only the band student knows at this point that the dead become zombies. Everyone believes it is if you are bitten you become one. To my knowledge the Dairy owners are unaware of the outbreak if dead, not only bitten.... (but I suppose if cannibalism of neighboring inhabitants is a common thing, they'd know by now).

And yes, she said her parents were gone.... but I found the first episode sort of shady. By that I mean the voicemail. She might have been working... she keeps calling Clem baby.... never says daughter so she may be a neighbor, a family member.. regardless in my game, she's now dead. I dont know in how many endings you find the camcorder and watch the video, but as of right now at least they allude to her being the mother in my eyes.

Which leads me to ask, if I didn't shoot her, could she have been saved?

That ending man...fuck. What a great downer to finish the episode with.

But it was pretty predictable, wasn't it? If you see someone smiling and being polite in post-apocalypse with a constant supply of food and willing to offer that same food as well as shelter to complete strangers...well...don't trust them. But it was still really fucked up, especially if they ate the crazy chick's daughter.

@rockyhorrorgerri: Without getting too nit-picky (because I don't know much about farms), I believe owning a slaughterhouse entails more than 1 shady hidden back room in a barn ;) I believe that's what the main character was getting at.

I seem to remember someone restating it on the farm about meat spoiling, I could have sworn one of the dairy owners say it, like 99% sure.

and I dunno, I felt like that's what they were getting at, but I just didn't buy that as her mother. I'm not sold!

Also, no, if you keep talking eventually she starts to out the brother for his shady biz and he shoots her :/

@Xeirus: I suppose. Then again it's a game, why am I so analytical? Well I feel better now killing her, if she was to die either way...

it was predictable that something was up with them... but there had to be otherwise the episode would be boring! I was expecting that the father was a zombie and they were feeding people to him. Which might of been too similar to the farm premise on the TV show (didn't watch all of it tho so I'm not certain). So the cannibalism actually took me by surprise a bit...at least up until the point where Lee couldn't find Mark anywhere.

@rockyhorrorgerri: Well that's the cool part about the game, and the writing being pretty decent, you get to dig into it.

I cannot wait until 3 and 4, all for $25, hell yes

@Xeirus: Same here. And thanks to bing rewards, all 5 episodes will be free for me :D

Totally agreed. The way the feeling went from: Happy Times, Chill, Uneasy, Creepy, What the fuck is going on, Was so well done. Truly something to be admired. Also totally knew Mark was going to die from the start. You don't introduce a new character with little back story unless he's going to die before the end of the episode.

@rockyhorrorgerri said:

@Xeirus: Same here. And thanks to bing rewards, all 5 episodes will be free for me :D

Ah, I'll have to look into that.

@Xeirus: Yeah it's pretty simple. I average 20 points a day. You need 120 to get 100 MS points. When you request them, they come to your inbox instantly, no waiting a week like some sites. I believe you get a sign up bonus of maybe 50 so the first 100 points are pretty simple. But I bought walking dead 1, Undergarden (240 points), Ghostbusters (400 points) and had enough to get Walking Dead ep 2 this month!

If you are not playing The Walking Dead then you are missing out on a great gaming/storytelling experience. There is no way to play this game as a complete ” good guy”. You are continually finding yourself making the best out of an f****ed up situation. I think that the game does an excellent job of drawing the player into the story of human interactions during a zombie apocalypse. From who gets feed to who survives; this game shows how compelling an episodic download game can be.

@TheDudeOfGaming said:

But it was pretty predictable, wasn't it? If you see someone smiling and being polite in post-apocalypse with a constant supply of food and willing to offer that same food as well as shelter to complete strangers...well...don't trust them. But it was still really fucked up, especially if they ate the crazy chick's daughter.

They didn't eat the crazy chicks daughter.

*Ending spoilers*

@TheDudeOfGaming said:

But it was pretty predictable, wasn't it? If you see someone smiling and being polite in post-apocalypse with a constant supply of food and willing to offer that same food as well as shelter to complete strangers...well...don't trust them. But it was still really fucked up, especially if they ate the crazy chick's daughter.

I didn't want to go with them because they seemed fishy, and as soon as they started to ask about how many people were in the the group, who was the leader and so on I knew something was up, didn't tell them anything specific, and I was constantly looking for a way to get the hell out of that place, and the weather did a nice job of highlighting how much more fucked up and creepy the family became, slowly until it finally started pouring down... what an amazing episode.

Fucking loved episode 2. Seriously impressed with what Telltale's done here so far. I was pretty down on them after burning out on Back to the Future and the shittiness of Jurassic Park.

I love Clem as a character, I actually want to protect her. Probably not that surprising that I feel sympathetic towards a helpless little girl, but whatever. Telltale's done a good job with her. I also really like Lee as a protagonist. Can't wait to see how his unfortunate past affects his place within the group and how other survivors react to it (you know it'll come out for everyone to know eventually).

I can't freaking wait for the third episode. It's just a bummer that the pace they're releasing them is a bit slower than their original "once a month" plan. They've said ep. 3 won't be out until mid August =[

@MariachiMacabre said:

They didn't eat the crazy chicks daughter.

*Ending spoilers*

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

BE WARY, SPOILERS AHEAD

Wait wait wait wait... how is this for sure? Maybe I didn't pay good enough attention but I was under the impression that she was going loony and was just concerned for Clem because she had lost her own daughter and was wanting to be a mother to Clem because of that. The daughter was supposed to be with her in that tent at the bandit camp at some point (I think?) so how is it possible that Clem is actually her daughter if Clem was with you the whole time? I thought Lee was "oh shit"-ing about the fact that, 1) someone was watching their camp and 2) the bandits were not a problem for them before because of the (now destroyed) dairy being a source of food for them. If I'm missing something please tell me. (I think I might be sounding kind of dick-ish, not meaning to, just legitimately curious.)

I felt bad because I was instantly prejudiced against those southern guys...And then at some point I was like 'Maybe these guys are alright'...And then boom, cannibalism. I was right all along? Why am I being rewarded for being an arsehole? And then I realised it's my fault I was thinking like that, not the game's. So I'm the dick here.

@MariachiMacabre said:

@TheDudeOfGaming said:

But it was pretty predictable, wasn't it? If you see someone smiling and being polite in post-apocalypse with a constant supply of food and willing to offer that same food as well as shelter to complete strangers...well...don't trust them. But it was still really fucked up, especially if they ate the crazy chick's daughter.

They didn't eat the crazy chicks daughter.

*Ending spoilers*

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

The crazy chick was Clementine's mother.

Unless this was said, I find it hard to believe

**Spoilers**

If it was her mum, surely she would have tried to enter the group rather than spy on them? She was just going crazy because her own child was missing.

I could be wrong, but it seems that you have taken the wrong conclusion. Or at least I hope you are wrong, as I put a bullet through her head.

**End Spoilers**

@SuperSambo said:

@MariachiMacabre said:

@TheDudeOfGaming said:

But it was pretty predictable, wasn't it? If you see someone smiling and being polite in post-apocalypse with a constant supply of food and willing to offer that same food as well as shelter to complete strangers...well...don't trust them. But it was still really fucked up, especially if they ate the crazy chick's daughter.

They didn't eat the crazy chicks daughter.

*Ending spoilers*

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

The crazy chick was Clementine's mother.

Unless this was said, I find it hard to believe

**Spoilers**

If it was her mum, surely she would have tried to enter the group rather than spy on them? She was just going crazy because her own child was missing.

I could be wrong, but it seems that you have taken the wrong conclusion. Or at least I hope you are wrong, as I put a bullet through her head.

**End Spoilers**

That's the only reason I can think that Lee and that chick were so shocked by the video at the end. We'll just have to wait and see in Episode 3. Which sucks because I really just want to play Episode 3 right now.

@MariachiMacabre said:

@SuperSambo said:

@MariachiMacabre said:

@TheDudeOfGaming said:

But it was pretty predictable, wasn't it? If you see someone smiling and being polite in post-apocalypse with a constant supply of food and willing to offer that same food as well as shelter to complete strangers...well...don't trust them. But it was still really fucked up, especially if they ate the crazy chick's daughter.

They didn't eat the crazy chicks daughter.

*Ending spoilers*

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

The crazy chick was Clementine's mother.

Unless this was said, I find it hard to believe

**Spoilers**

If it was her mum, surely she would have tried to enter the group rather than spy on them? She was just going crazy because her own child was missing.

I could be wrong, but it seems that you have taken the wrong conclusion. Or at least I hope you are wrong, as I put a bullet through her head.

**End Spoilers**

**Spoilers**

That's the only reason I can think that Lee and that chick were so shocked by the video at the end. We'll just have to wait and see in Episode 3. Which sucks because I really just want to play Episode 3 right now.

**Spoilers**

Because they were being watched, and she was able to sneak into their camp without them knowing. They wern't secure.

Or at least thats my take.

@MariachiMacabre: I am pretty much positive she is not Clem's mother. She mentions the Save-Lots guys taking her daughter into the woods (very heavily implied rape) and I am pretty sure she straight calls them rapists at one point. Also, when in that ladies camp, there is a picture of her and her daughter sitting in the tent. And that was not Clem in the picture.

I think they were freaked out by the video because someone was able to get into their camp, steal Clem's hat, and get out without anyone noticing, even though they had an alarm system set up. Just goes to show how vulnerable you are. And then she mentions that the bandits won't bother you while they still get food from the farm, and we all know how that ends up.