Episode 3 of The Walking Dead Final Season is the most polished entry of Clementine’s final run to date, jam-packed with heart-wrenching moments and intense action.
Previously, it seemed as if the fate of the Walking Dead Final Season hung in the balance, but thanks to Skybound Entertainment, Episode 3: Broken Toys is finally here. It’s worth highlighting that, at the time of Telltale’s closure, Episode 3 was nearly complete and it shows.
This episode, more so than the previous two entries, is a refined experience that strikes a unique balance between tried-and-true Telltale story-telling, intense action, and a stand-out direction for the game. If this episode of the Walking Dead Final Season never released due to the aforementioned closure, it would have been a true injustice to all fans of Clementine, as this episode pulls together so many moments of her past as well as her present.
Right from the get-go, players are tasked with making seemingly impossible decisions, truly forcing them to consider their actions. After all, it is very clear that AJ is watching, and this comes into play throughout the episode. While previous episodes of the Walking Dead Final Season contained this element of an ever-present moral judge in AJ, the decisions required in this episode are some of the most difficult. And the seemingly best decisions are not always so, a self-evident factor as the game barrels toward its finale.
It also truly seems as if everything encountered in previous episodes is building up to the finale of this episode. Whereas previous episodes of the Walking Dead Final Season contained this feeling that players were just dropped into an unnecessary conflict, this episode manages to erase that and replace it with a dedication to those troubled youth that have become Clementine’s friends.
There are moments where these friendships grow and develop, with all supporting characters getting their equal due. There are moments where these friendships are tested and moments that establish this group as something particular unique, something Clementine has not experienced before in prior episodes of the Walking Dead.
It is during these moments that the game slows down and players can really appreciate everything that Clem has gone through and evaluate her relationship with AJ.
