Telltale’s The Walking Dead: A New Frontier wrapped up the third season with triumph and heartbreak. In a surprisingly emotional ending, Javi is forced to choose between his family or love. The only thing that’s certain in The Walking Dead universe is death and not all the characters make it out alive.
[WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FROM THE EPISODE.]
There are essentially two endings in The Walking Dead Season 3 episode 5: Javi stays with David or chooses David’s wife Kate. The finale was a great ending to Javi’s story arc. It was a hopeful ending, despite Javi losing several loved ones. In my story, I decided it was best to follow the needs of the many versus the needs of the few. Javi chose to follow Kate back to the New Frontier and patch up the hole in the wall.
In doing so, Javi lost his brother David and nephew Gabe. Even though I hated David, he was consistent throughout the story. When you meet David, he’s a selfish prick who’s verbally and physically abusive to his family. The last we see David, he’s beating up Javi for doing the right thing by his family.
While we were happy Javi was finally rid of David’s selfish ways, Gabe’s death is surprisingly emotional. You learn why Gabe went with his father and his response is truly thoughtful. This moment makes up for some of the frustrating hormonal teenage moments that cost many their lives. Gabe’s death is a great example of how Telltale manages to balance heavy themes with more lighthearted moments. Even though Gabe is dying, Javi knows he was more of a father to him than David ever was.
While episode 5 really shines with great storytelling, the rest of the season leading up to this point simply isn’t as memorable. The writers spent too much time trying to make Javi connect with David, but you can tell in the flashbacks they never liked each other. David resented Javi for his success and even in the fact that he was allowed to fail. Javi didn’t respect the way David treated his family. Kate and Gabe were scared of David before the zombie apocalypse and it didn’t change when they got back.
Essentially, David as a character was too one dimensional. He was just angry all the time and didn’t learn from his past mistakes. In one of the flashbacks, we find out David wanted to re-enlist in the army because he believed his family would be better off without him. The zombie apocalypse essentially gave him a second chance to become the person he wanted to be. Instead, he continues to think solely about himself and his actions remain totally self-serving. As the player, I just saw a man who never tried to make it back to his family and moved on, so why should Javi feel connected to him? If David was a better father and husband, maybe I would’ve sided with him and not Javi.
It also didn’t help that Clementine was put in the background of this story. We see what Telltale was trying to do: they want to open up the world using Clementine and the people she’s encountered. It also gave them the ability to time jump into a new story. Telltale lets you shape the kind of person Clementine will become depending on your decisions. In my story, Clementine turned into a “Graceful Gunslinger.” She’s caring, but not naive. She knows how to survive on her own, but can also see the benefit of trusting others. If Clementine ever bring AJ back to the New Frontier, she’ll like stay with the community if it’s run by Javi.
But the biggest reason why The Walking Dead Season 3 doesn’t shine is due to Clementine. Clem is the Rick Grimes of Telltale Games. She’s the person fans are emotionally invested in and Telltale ignored this. You spend most of her story trying to figure out what happened to AJ. By the end of the game, you learn he was taken to another community when David couldn’t care for him anymore. We didn’t care about what happened to the New Frontier, Javi, David and the rest of them. We wanted to help Clem find AJ and get him back. If Telltale wants to explore other stories, I think it would be best to finish Clem’s arc first. Let her find AJ and move to a new community. Expand the world in the new community, then retire Clem.
Overall, The Walking Dead Season 3 finale was one of the best in a lackluster season. If you haven’t started the season, we don’t recommend picking up the game at full price. Wait until it goes on sale and then give it a go. It’s worth seeing how you shape Clem in the end, but Javi’s story was just melodramatic for our liking. Telltale’s The Walking Dead: A New Frontier is available on Steam, Xbox One, PS4, iOS and Android devices now.
