The Walking Dead Season 2 started off great, but does it maintain its quality level in the second episode titled A House Divided? This is kind of a hard question to answer, especially if we compare it to the the superb first Season.
While Episode 1 titled All That Remains setups the stage for what’s to come, Episode 2 A House Divided takes it further by focusing on character development. It has some great moments for sure, with a nice mix of action and drama.
In A House Divided, we are also reunited with one long lost character from Season 1, which might be a surprise for some people. Needless to say, this reunion seems to have been decently setup and makes up for some interesting character dynamics in this second episode.
Just like Episode 1, A House Divided has its moments where we are left with an option to choose the fate of the characters. Depending on what we do, they can either survive or die. This scenario is raised an step further in Episode 2, when we have to decide between siding with old friends or with our newfound group. This is rather interesting gameplay mechanic, as it makes us think our decision thoroughly, but we have to do it within the in-game time.
Most of the gameplay in Season 2 is spent in conversations. This episode is more conversation heavy than the first one, and for all the good reasons. During each of the game’s sequence, we have the ability to just forward the story by going to the objective or talk with other characters, which might be optional but it really adds some backstory to the game and also helps with character development.
The story in Season 2 takes a step back in favor of character development. A lot of emphasis is placed on the relationship between characters and not much with regards to the plot. While this is not bad – as it explains a lot of backstory for the characters and helps in building our relationship with them – the plot of the game suffers as a result.
Episode 1 had a a strong start and managed to keep its pace till the end, although it was a bit on the short end with its completion time. A House Divided appears to be slightly longer but still by not much. It will take a somewhere between 1 or 2 hours to complete this episode. We can replay the episode again, in case we were not satisfied with out choices. The choices from Episode 1 are carried over in this new episode.
My biggest issue with this new episode was that most of the encounters with the Walkers felt tacked on, as in they didn’t really feel like a part of the story, and were just there for the sake of getting some action. They weren’t as thrilling either. The best part of the episode is arguably the introduction to – what appears to be – the main villain for this Season.
The Walking Dead Season 2 Episode 2 – A House Divided Review (PSV)
Summary
'A House Divided' is another great episode for Season 2 that focuses on the relationship between characters and helps in explaining the background for some of them. It also sets up the ground for a great Episode 3 with its end of episode teaser.
