Game review coming up just as soon as the world ends.
Another zombie game, you may cry.
They’re a dime a dozen these days; but The Walking Dead, from Telltale
Games (of Monkey Island fame) is different. In many ways, it’s a lot
like the TV show of the same name (cue “So, a lot of standing outside a
barn with zombies inside posing absolutely no threat then?” responses)
and definitely not just another zombie game in the vein of Left4Dead. By
that I mean there’s a lot of talking. A lot of it. It’s more like an
interactive movie or cut scene than a game really. That’s not a
criticism by the way; I love a good strong narrative led game. In
reality it has more in common with Mass Effect, than Valve’s co-op
zombie shooter, as it’s essentially an RPG, albeit a walk, point and
click one. But with added zombie smashing. The choices the game forces
you to make at certain points affect later stories, and even the choice
of words that you use could come back to haunt you further down the
line.
The main thrust of the story is that
your character, Lee, is being transported to prison for murder he may or
may not have committed but unfortunately the zombie apocalypse happens,
and he’s soon free via a car crash. Before long he meets a little girl,
Clementine, who’s parents are likely dead and takes it upon himself to
keep her safe. And most of the rest of episode one is Lee interacting
with the people he meets. I know it sounds kind of boring, and it
depends on the type of gamer you are whether or not you get any
enjoyment out of it, but I loved it.
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| You'll see a familiar face or two along the way. |
Making decisions that will affect future
episodes really makes you think hard about what will be best for your
own progression in the game; for instance, at one point a reporter girl
who’s good with a gun, and a nerdy guy I’d been getting on well with
were both being attacked, and I could only save one. I chose to save the
reporter girl because of her firearms skill. But I felt really bad
about letting my friend get eaten. Although, earlier on in the game, I
saved a 10 year old boy over a guy who could possibly have been good
building defences, because well, you have to save the kid, right? I’m
regretting it now. Again, it depends on how much you get invested in the
characters that will cause said emotional response, but it’s a
testament to the game that in less than two hours (all the length of
time this first episode lasts), it had me feeling sorry that I’d
essentially sentenced someone to death by zombie.
Our main character, Lee, also has a
couple of lovely emotional character beats. Arriving in a boarded up
store that used to be owned by his parents, there’s a scene in the back
office where Lee finds a photograph of them and the music swells, and I
couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. It reminded me of the scene in the
pilot for the TV series where Rick returns to the legless zombie and
puts it out of its misery; showing the real human cost of the zombie
apocalypse really deepens the world and the emotional impact any further
scenes have, especially SPOILER when Lee has to kill his zombified
brother END SPOILER. And there’s a moment later on at a motel involving
someone who’s been bitten that’s also incredibly engaging, so kudos to
Telltale Games for that.
However, if I ever feel like I want to
save the nerdy guy and let the reporter get eaten, the great thing is
that with three save slots I can start a brand new game and make
completely different choices to those I made previously. So while in my
original game, I tried to play the moral upstanding guy, as I do in all
these types of games on the first playthrough, I’m probably going to be a
right bastard on my second playthrough and just play for my own
survival; no-one else’s. A nice little extra once you’ve finished the
episode are the stats showing the decisions other people had made
playing the game. Turned out 54% had saved the kid. They probably
regretted it too.
The art style in the game is nothing
short of fantastic; it goes for the comic book-y cel-shaded look and
looks incredible in motion, and gives the game a striking look and feel.
It’s something I haven’t seen in gaming before, and really helps it
stand out from the crowd. The voice acting as well is top drawer; even
the little girl you’re looking after isn’t annoying.
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| DIY gone very very wrong. |
The action involving in the game is
short but memorable; Bashing a zombie’s face in with a hammer, stabbing
one in the face with a screwdriver, ramming one with a pick up truck.
You don’t ever actually do any of the violence in a normal gaming sense,
rather you just press a button and watch it happen but they’re gory and
fun enough that it won’t bother you too much. Again, as said above it’s
more about the story unfolding rather than the gameplay itself.
Overall, it’s a short but wholly
engaging two hours of gameplay and definitely worth your 400 MS points
(about £3.50), and I will be picking up episode two (of five) the day it
comes out, because I really want to see how the whole thing ends.
Or how I choose to end it.
4 stars
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