The Walking Dead A New Frontier – Episode 5 From The Gallows (PC) Review

Well there you have it. TellTale delivers once again. Another successful release on time. Who saw that plot twist coming? But seriously. If I had to summarise this episode of The Walking Dead with one word it would be “bipolar”. Now it’s safe to say that I probably got the worst ending possible for this season. Given that at the start of this final episode only one or two people were happy with me and the fact that I was breathing.

However, about half way through everyone seemed to be back on my side and willing to go to the ends of the earth for me and appreciating all I’ve done. Take Tripp for example. I chose for Joan to shoot him and he comes back singing my praises. Then there’s David. This man doesn’t know what he’s doing half the time, I’m sure of it. One minute he’s a super badass willing to do anything to survive then gets all suicidal because he scared someone. And Gabe. By golly, Gabe. This kids emotions are all over the place. He’s constantly turning it up to 11 out of nowhere. He rats me out about killing Conrad (at which point I’ve had enough of him and am pretty mean to him) then he’s telling me how he wants to be just like me. At another point he’s terrified of David and doesn’t want to be near him, then he’s running off alone with him after David literally hits him in the face with a wrench, rather than staying with me. This kids mood swings are off the scales.

Because of this constant shifting of peoples feelings I never knew how to be with people. In the first two seasons of The Walking Dead it was known right away who I hated and who I liked. Then it would stay like that through the rest of the game and no matter what you said to certain people. Lilly and Larry. They would hate you regardless of what you said that one time…I regret nothing.

Because of this I knew exactly how to behave with certain characters and that made it all the more satisfying when you annoyed someone you didn’t like and affected you more when you hurt someone you cared about. I will never forget the moment Clementine turned away from my hug when I told her we didn’t have time to look for her parents. I feel like I’ll forget a lot of A New Frontier.

Where’s all the gameplay at?

Just like before, they seem to have scrapped most of the gameplay elements. There’s no exploring, puzzle solving and very few quick time events. This is just a story and you’re there to see it unfold rather than take control of it. This isn’t completely a bad thing as it’s not exactly a bad story. Just confusing characters. But the actual gameplay of The Walking Dead’s previous seasons made them just that bit better. So to be without it, it definitely left a hole that needed filling.

The ending was promising however. Giving the impression that we’ll be leaving Javi behind and picking up as Clem once more. I personally don’t have an issue with Javi or the new cast. I actually connected with them all pretty quickly, until their personalities started doing backflips. But, and I think you’ll agree with me here, Clem is the main focus of these games. So to have her as someone who appears every now and then just felt wrong. It’s like someone giving you a puppy then showing up one day unannounced and taking the puppy away.

All in all this episode has been no better or worse than the rest of the season, but definitely doesn’t hold a candle to the first two seasons of The Walking Dead. Don’t get me wrong. It really is a good story and…stuff, and there’s still a lot of ways the story can unfold differently. But the end result is nearly always the same.. If you’ve played the first two seasons you’ll definitely notice something missing.

I’m also not a fan of Clementines new haircut.