Depending on your decision relating to Sarita’s arm, one of the main plots for
The Walking Dead: Season 2: Episode 4 – Amid the Ruins unfolds with Kenny. Clem’s long lost friend is going through some serious depressive situations and feels like he is constantly getting beaten up in this new world. Looking back, Kenny has lost his entire family, including (possibly) having to put down his own child after Duck got the virus that caused deadites to roam the earth all over again. Now, he is dealing with the situation with his newly formed relationship with Sarita, and in Kenny's opinion, Clementine is to blame.
This plot helps to move the story along while it becomes your mission (as Clementine) to help find the group after people got split up during the zombie herd’s attack on the prison camp. It is during this time that Clem has the opportunity to form a relationship with Jane, one of the group’s newcomers picked up in the barracks of the camp. Jane is a real loaner who, like everyone, has a seemingly tragic backstory that drives her current motivations. By sticking with Jane, Clem is able to learn some new vital moves that may save her life, but it may come at a cost to her own morality a number of times in TWD: Season 2: Episode 4.
Amid the Ruins is basically a 3-part act in that we get to empathize with Kenny’s losses, Jane’s abandonment issues, and Rebecca’s soon to be born new arrival. The group decides that the best thing to do is to look for shelter. In the process, Jane and Clementine run into another stranger, bringing Clem’s morality once again into question.
The Walking Dead: Season 2: Episode 4 – Amid the Ruins is an interesting character-driven forward push in the series. We get a deeper look at a few people as it progresses, which can give players a bit more of a personal touch to the group. One of the things I have to point out, however, is that Amid the Ruins unfortunately feels extremely linear in nature. No matter how you play situations, the same results seem to come to pass. While this is the way the series has always been, this fan is certainly hoping that some of the decision-making of Episode 4 resurfaces in the future.
As far as the story goes, it does a nice job of being a transitionary episode between Carver’s reign and what lies on the horizon for the group after Rebecca’s water breaks. One thing is for sure, they all know that they want to protect her and the baby at all costs. But just how costly will their sacrifices be? A cold and dreary journey may reveal the future…