The Walking Dead Game Episode 1 Review
I’m going to do something a little different in this week’s Michael’s Gaming Corner; I’m going to do a small review like I did with Journey, why?
Mainly because reviews are just somebody’s opinion, so I felt that game reviews would fit nicely in my editorials, it’s nice to change things up every now and then don’t you think? So here’s The Walking Dead game review.
Walking Dead on arrival?
Telltale Games have done plenty of point and click games based off of popular IPs, from Sam and Max to Jurassic Park, so it was no surprise when TT Games announced they were making a Walking Dead game.
The big question was how well can TT Games transfer the world of zombies to a point and click adventure without losing out on the action or pressure of being pursued by the living dead?
For those who are not familiar with point and click games, characters are usually set in in one spot until told to move by a cruiser which the player controls.
I’m happy to say the Telltale Games handle the thrill of a zombie apocalypse very well, nearly everything works.
In episode one, of five planned episodes, you instantly find yourself in the back of a police car in handcuffs, this sets up one of the most interesting aspect of the game, the conversation system.
Telltale Games says that the game in whole will play off of what the player chooses to do, and so far episode one shows a very promising system.
Review
I’m going to leave this spoiler free as much as possible, in one section of the game I had chosen between saving one of two strangers I just met.
The game forces you to make these decisions not because it wants to kill people off but to make you care about the people around you.
I was interested in every person I ran into because they all had a story to them as to how they got trapped or found other survivors, I took interest in the people to where I wanted to save both but could only chose one.
I actually felt some emotions from these characters, they cared for their child or friend or father or lover, the characters are written to the point they feel real enough with their motives.
You'll have to make choices of who lives and dies
Granted the writing does feel as if it was made for TV, it doesn’t stop the voice acting from being top notch, even the child actors were great.
The story for episode one is that you are Lee Everett, a man on his way to prison for a crime you may or may not have committed when the police car you’re in runs off the road, soon you meet a little girl named clementine who is hiding from the dead in her tree house, Lee decides to protect Clementine and find other survivors
Last week I talked about Journey and how I didn’t really feel a lot of emotions, yet while playing The Walking Dead I felt a range of emotions, from anger to happiness and even a little sadness.
The game does feel a little short, I’m guessing mainly due the point that it’s episodic, but it sort of fits because the game never out stays its welcome and leaves you wanting to play the next episode.
Final Say
Graphics:
Telltale Games were never renowned for their game’s graphics and The Walking Dead is no different. It’s an eyesore at first but fits the comic book look well enough.
Voice Acting: There were some parts where the voice acting felt off but the cast does a great job with their characters, especially the child actors.
Gameplay:
Hardcore point and click players will feel a slight disappointment as this game feels like a “dumbed-down” version of regular P&C games but that shouldn’t stop them from enjoying the game.
Final Verdict:
If you like Telltale’s adventure games or point and click games in general then this will appeal to you, as for everyone else download the demo first and see if you can stand the controls first.
