Fans of the Robert Kirkman comic book series "The Walking Dead" have been waiting with baited breath ever since it was announced that a video game based on the comic book universe was in development. With Episode one of five now available to download I can safely say that it was worth the wait for both zombie and adventure game fans alike.
The first episode in Telltale Games' Walking Dead series, entitled "A new day" begins with your character, a guy by the name of Lee, being transported to prison in the back of a cop car. Through a surprisingly civilised conversation with the cop behind the wheel you learn a little more about Lee as well as a few details about your escort. As you can imagine, things soon go wrong and through a series of unfortunate events (for your policeman friend at least) Lee is left injured and free from custody but with a much bigger headache to contend with.
The dead have risen from the grave and are hungry for some living flesh.
 |
| The opening conversation introduces the timed response mechanic |
Pretty soon you meet up with Clementine, the 8 year old first grader who's well being it falls to you to ensure, as well as a small group of survivors that you will be spending a lot of the following 5 episodes with.
This game doesn't play like your typical adventure game, but similarly isn't hampered by the constant Quick time events that made Jurassic Park such a disaster in many peoples estimations. Quick time has its place but the gameplay is almost like a hybrid between the story driven Heavy rain and the point and click adventure games that Telltale have made their livings on for the past decade.It focuses much more on exploration than combat.
Movement around the environments (on consoles) is handled with the left analogue stick, while the right stick allows you to move a reticule around the screen with which you can interact with items, other survivors and in one early scene, a zombie intent on getting some dinner. This control system feels intuitive enough that anyone could quickly learn how to play the game, although it was disappointing that the reticule controls didn't have an inversion option for those who have played too many flight-sims for their own good. Even so, I quickly got used to the non inverted aiming of the right stick, and found that the standard presentation option, where interactable items show a white target dot when the reticule is moved, didn't detract from my enjoyment of the game and actually helped out a little from time to time.
 |
| Use the reticule to interact with items, people or zombies |
Interactions play a massive part in the Walking Dead comic series, so it shouldn't surprise anyone to find out that a majority of the time you'll be talking to people, rather than wading through a hoard of zombies in a Left 4 dead/Dead Rising style killing frenzy. With this game Telltale have made sure that character interaction is treated with the importance it deserves. Many of the dialogue choices that you make as Lee will have knock on effects later in the series, and some even have an effect on this episode. Don't worry If you didn't like the way it turned out either. Telltale have allowed for three seperate play throughs to be saved so that you can experience the game multiple times to see how different choices affect the outcome.
Speaking of choices, On two seperate occasions in the first episode I had to choose who to save during a zombie attack. Whilst the decision of who to save might be an obvious one at first, the immediate consequences do make you question if you made the right choice. Ultimately though it's down to how you feel about the characters in peril, Save the idiot with the gun or the nerd with a heart of gold? There is no right or wrong answer, this is about survival. There's another choice laid out for you in episode one that is both heart wrenching and shocking, i won't spoil it here but it's an impactful piece of storytelling that leaves you questioning what you would have done in the same situation.
Another hallmark of the Walking Dead series is the well written characters, and while it's very early to be judging if every character in the game will display a similar amount of depth i think they've got off to a good start. Lee is a complex and mysterious character that isn't everything that he first seems, while Clementine is a smart, resourceful girl who is much wiser than her 8 years might suggest. Not every survivor you'll meet is a nice person, and i have no problem with that at all. A whole range of personalities will survive the zombie apocalypse and dealing with jerks makes it that much more realistic an experience. Other characters haven't really had the chance to be expanded on, although i very much doubt that Duck has any depth to him at all while Carley, a reporter from Atlanta, doesn't get off to a good start as she apparently can't fathom the complexities of electrical devices and how to use batteries (you'll see when you play it).
 |
| I'm amazed Carley hasn't managed to shoot herself yet |
This dumbing down of a main female character isn't the only mis-step in episode 1 though.
I was left bewildered when Lee, after being chased by the walkers to a fenced off garden, started to shout for help to anyone that could hear him. The only reason that the zombies had originally left him alone was because they heard gunshots in the distance, it's not unreasonable to think that the sound of a guy shouting for help might get their attention back again. Probably just a brain fart on the part of the studio, but if i can pick up on this immediately why didn't anyone else?
The audio in Walking Dead, unsurprisingly for a Telltale game, can be sketchy at times and the animations can sometimes freeze slightly, but overall the presentation is excellent for a near ten year old engine. The voice acting is very good all round (TV's Steven Yuen reprises the role of Glenn for the first episode) while the graphical aesthetic of thick lines and cell shading makes the game pop. It really feels like an interactive comic book.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conclusion
While recent Zombie games have been an excuse to hack, slash and shoot our way through a large number of shambling opponents, The Walking Dead takes a much more thoughtful approach to the genre which reflects the series from which it was spawned. Despite the seemingly illogical choices that characters make at times, and despite the same old audio/video issues that seem to be a Telltale hallmark, the well paced story shows great promise and sets up a believable and compelling cast and situation, while the cliffhanger ending make it a difficult decision to walk away from the season pass.
