Not Starved of Emotions

                There is no more emotionally engaging medium than video games.  Unlike movies, music, books, or art, video games make the player more than just a spectator.  I become involved in the story because I interact with it to push the narrative forward, but this interaction is more than merely button inputs.  When a game forces me to make decisions a part of me becomes embedded in the character. I begin to make decisions based on what I would do or say.  The character that I am controlling becomes me and sometimes that is a scary thing, especially when horrible things happen because of my actions.  The Walking Dead Episode Two: Starved for Help is one of those games that makes me scared of myself.

Not the most positive of title screens.

                Starved for Help begins three months after the events of the first episode.  The group has made the motor inn their home, but things are looking grim.  Food supplies are almost nonexistent so the present supplies have been rationed.  In need of more food the survivors begin to try their hand at hunting which is where the episode opens.   Lee and a new member named Mark hunt for food in the forest.  It does not take long for trouble to arise causing the episodes second most gruesome moment (the first occurs near the end and had me feeling sick to my stomach).  As the group returns to the inn, it becomes apparent that these three months have caused riffs among the survivors.

The group is pretty high-strung this time around.

                Lilly has been promoted to the de-facto leader of the group.  She and Kenny constantly argue about what is best for the group, but when it comes down to it, Lilly has to make all the hard decisions like rationing the food.  After arguing with Lilly, Lee has to pass out rations for the day bringing about one of the worst moments for me in the whole episode.  There is no right decision.  No matter what I decided, someone was going to hate me and someone was going to starve.  This is the kind of decision making that the whole game is built around: the no win scenario.  The only obvious choice was to not feed myself.  I am not nearly a big enough p.o.s. to feed myself while other group members starve.

If you feed yourself you deserve to be eaten by zombies.

                Before long, two brothers named Danny and Andy St. John stumble upon the survivors.  They are looking for gasoline to power the generators of their dairy farm.  In exchange for gasoline they agree to feed the group and even let them checkout the farm to see if it is to their liking.  After years of reading the comic, I knew these two were not to be trusted.  Everything spewing from their mouths was too good to be true.  Electricity, food, a safe compound, room for everyone, all of these were promises they made, but nothing good ever happens in The Walking Dead.  I repeat, nothing good ever happens.

Looks can be deceiving.

                Every conversation with the St. John’s brothers is a tension filled chess match.  They always seemed to be probing me.  How many people are in our group?  Are we heavily fortified?  Do we have enough food?  Who is the leader of the group?  Each question seems friendly enough, but the multitude and curiosity behind them brings unease.  Countering and answering with a volley of my own garners an equal amount of unease from the brothers.  They are hiding something.  This nerve wracking chess match continues for two hours all the way up to the big reveal at the end.  I could see the twist coming after almost 30 minutes on the farm, but that does not mean the conversations or actions it causes are any less impactful.

Gas is not the only thing they want.

                Telltale really streamlined the experience for this episode.  The puzzle moments of the last episode are pretty much gone.  The focus this time around is solely on the conversations and the interactions they cause.  While I welcome this wholeheartedly, it does not present much difficulty.  Animation seems to also have taken a tiny hit.  I found more moments of lip syncing being off and animations freaking out in this episode than the previous one.  This is only slightly distracting though, and does not harm the experience much in the long run.

A nominee for most awkward dinner ever.

                No game has ever left me more emotionally spent than this episode.  I finished the game with a migraine, heavy heart, and a yearning for alcohol to soothe my wounds.  No decision made in this game makes me the hero.  If anything, every decision makes me closer to the likeness of a savage.  One stat in particular at the end of the game hit me in the gut.  Only 31% of the millions who had played the game made the same brutal decision I made.  At first I thought that maybe 69% of these people are better human beings than me, but I’ve slowly changed my mind about this.  I’ve decided that those 69% don’t understand the world of The Walking Dead.

Approach everything with caution.

In the words of Rick from issue #24, “We're surrounded by the DEAD.  We're among them -- and when we finally give up we become them!  We're living on borrowed time here.  Every minute of our life is a minute we steal from them!  You see them out there.  You KNOW that when we die -- we become them.  You think we hide behind walls to protect us from the walking dead?  Don't you get it?  We ARE the walking dead!  WE are the walking dead.”  No one walks out alive.  69% of the people who played this game just don’t realize that yet.  I may end up emotionally drained again, but I’m ready for The Long Road Ahead.