“You say tomato, I say tomuerto.” The Walking Dead enters it’s third season and the cracks are starting to show. While substituting found-family for actual blood relatives is technically a shift in stakes, the same themes and character dynamics bubble to the surface. Themes of abuse, of family and loyalty, of forgiveness - all have been explored in previous seasons - arguably to greater effect - and make A New Frontier feel like a retread. I still like the cast of characters for the most part. Having Clem around does help alleviate some of the strain from “The Brothers” story-arc which feels a bit cartoonish in it’s coincidental meet-up, self-importance, and eye-rolling love triangle dynamic. Mechanically, combat sections have been simplified. You no longer need to aim at a zombie, instead just pressing the prompt that appears on screen. This is s a largely inconsequential change but also an unnecessary one. Gun to my head, I would argue it worsened the experience by simplifying one of the few instances of player interaction. A New Frontier is also the most bombastic and action focused of Telltale’s Walking Dead entries so far. The quiet dread and moments of introspection are traded in for scenes where the cast mows down armies of man and muerto alike. Between repeated story elements and a traded focus on action over character, this series is starting to fray at the seams. I’m now worried Telltale won’t stick the landing with their final season, and who knows what Michone is going to offer. An “Uh-oh we are still falling” 6 out of 10.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

80/100 --------------------------------------------------------------------