We all face choices in life every day, albeit some more difficult than others at times. It’s said that when we are at our lowest, that our true nature of who we really are comes out. But when the time truly comes, are truly sure that you are prepared to do what needs to be done? To quote n’ quote, “pull the trigger”? Because that is the feeling you could get after playing the latest entry of Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead. After playing this entry, I feel this part of the story truly leaves a mark and sets the standard of dramatic games where other previous games of this genre could only strive to get too.

Picking up roughly a week after Episode 2 “Starved For Help” sees, depending on your choices of past episodes, your characters are still attempting to survive in their barricaded motel. But tempers are running high right from the beginning due to certain discovery that threatens the remaining survivors. From here, things turn from bad to beyond worse within a matter of moments which ultimately leads your group to have to abandon their make-shift homes and make a daring attempt to find safer ground. From here it becomes difficult journey for all that leads to an ending that most will not expect to happen.

Gameplay remains the same mostly in this episode as previous ones. You will solve puzzles and mysteries looking for clues and speaking to different characters. The puzzles in the game are none too difficult and most people will not have any problem solving them as there are very small areas here which to explore. There is a section of the game where you are forced to defend yourself that briefly turns the game into somewhat of a shooter. Although brief, this is a bit of a change from the regular point and click.

The choices made in Episode 3 mark this part of the story as the most powerful entry yet to date. The decisions that your character, Lee Everett, is made to choose in not one, but two separate sections of the game, make all those previously done almost pale in comparison. Never before, after playing a game such as this, did I ever feel that I truly made the wrong mistake after deciding my responses believing those to be the correct ones regardless of what I chose. Telltale Games, particularly writer Sean Vanaman (the story was done by Jake Rodkin, Harrison G. Pink and Vanaman) make you feel at times as if things sometimes couldn’t get their worse, just end up becoming darker.  And might make you ponder if you those would be the actual choices made if this situation were to actually happen. Although the story here is not all dark and gloom as a certain particular section does help to reinforce the strength of friendship between Lee and Clementine. One of the few somewhat happy times in the series so far.

Telltale Games has delivered another gripping episode of their game based in the world Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead. This tale of the story will take you to some places not previously mentioned, forewarned or even thought of earlier. Maybe to even make some decisions you might not want to return to ever again.

I give The Walking Dead – Episode 3: Long Road Ahead a 9/10

(This review can also be found at ThreeTallNerds.com)