As Telltale loads its shotgun and heads out into the wasteland for Telltale's The Walking Dead: The Final Season, the survival horror game series may conclude with some added some unscripted gameplay mechanics. Fans were already told that the zombies will be getting unscripted actions ahead of season 4's August release, but now the whole game looks like it's going off-piste for the series swansong.
For those left disappointed by the lackluster third season, Telltale is promising to out with a bang in The Final Season. With a drastic departure from what both Telltale and its The Walking Dead series has become known for, The Final Season could be charting unknown territory as it adopts a third-person shooter style instead of the traditional Telltale controls that launched the series back in 2012.
Related: Telltale's The Walking Dead: The Final Season Begins in August
While players are used to the rigid gameplay of the Telltale series that eventually branches off into any number of alternate paths, things look to be a little more fluid in The Final Season. Posted on Reddit following the trailer drop, user Somedankmeme9000 found a prototype demo for The Final Season. Featuring Clementine out on her own in the apocalypse, the video highlights a very different version of The Walking Dead gameplay that fans have become accustomed to.
Note that a new version of the camera system is free roaming as Clementine reaches for a brick and decides to bash a zombie's skull in. Instead of being confined to an on-rails style of gaming, the video also implies that the player is completely in control of Clementine before and after the zombie attack.
It has been a long journey for little Clementine and The Final Season promises to wrap up her story arc. Featuring a more adult version of the character, the series' last entry is facing a time jump and some ties back to season 1. Just as Clementine was taken in by Lee all those years ago, The Final Season will focus on her caring for a new child named AJ. Alongside the traditional moral choices that affect the game's outcome, Telltale looks to be trying something new to round off its acclaimed series based on Robert Kirkman's comic. Although this open style of movement is yet to be officially confirmed by Telltale, it offers some interesting opportunities for The Final Season and future titles from the company.
Known for adapting any major IP you can think of, including Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, and Guardians of the Galaxy, into point-and-click games, the demo video shows where developers could take Telltale's model next as they finally put effort into redesigning the company's dated game engine. With Kirkman confirming that Telltale's character will never make their way into AMC's TV show, the curtain is falling on Clementine for the last time. Thankfully, fans have one last round with the cap-wearing survivor, and if Telltale is reinventing itself at the final hurdle, The Walking Dead: The Final Season could be one to watch.