The Walking Dead: Episode 2 – ‘Starved for Help’ Review

People can forget all their values and humanity when it comes to the question of pure survival. We’ve seen it happen before where even eating worms is an option for some precious protein. Just make that mental image in your mind because what you’re going to see in Telltale’s latest episode in The Walking Dead season will pale in comparison to eating worms for survival.

Well that’s a bit extreme, so yeah, what I’m trying to say here is that Episode 2 titled ‘Starved for Help’ raises the bar completely and provides an intriguing experience. And its a bit gross, too.

But in a way, this fantastic episode will test Lee and his gang, or whatever is left of them, by throwing certain scenarios that will not only make your stomach churn but also force you to make some tough decisions. There’s never a single dull moment here, unlike episode 1 where the pacing was a bit uneven.

Telltale have crafted this episode intelligently, where not only will you arrive at a satisfying conclusion, but will also be faced with some uncertainty about the future that will keep you anticipating for the next episode.

The episode starts off with a bang with Lee and his friend Mark, search for food and hack a zombie in the process. No, no, they won’t eat that. You always hack any zombie you see, because that’s the golden rule of survival in a zombie infested area, or shoot them. However, that could be unproductive as it would just attract other zombies.

Scratch that off the survival list, but only to be used during an emergency where you are surrounded. Also another vital lesson, this time from Telltale – try to chop of hands or legs of a trapped person instead of trying to figure out a way to free him by non-lethal means. Time, you see, is very vital. Yes, you get to make that decision in this episode, and unfortunately for me, uh, I couldn’t chop off the legs in time resulting in the dude getting eaten and converted by the zombies.

That was pretty sad in retrospect, and it is what you will be facing in this game. Telltale has turned that knob fully, and have crafted an engaging episode which is well worth the asking price, unless you already own the season pack.

The basic premise of the plot revolves over food, and with a sprinkle of bandits, which no doubt we will be seeing more of in the next episode. The entire second episode can be finished in one sitting and will take, say, 2-3 hours to complete. Of course, there’s no replayability here, considering it’s a plot heavy game or interactive drama – whichever definition you see fit.

Season pass owners get this for free, and those who don’t own it and are interested in playing it, should give it a shot because the experience it provides justifies the cost, which is quite cheap by today’s standards.

This game was reviewed on the PC.