I’m going to be honest; I
fell out of love with The Walking Dead TV show on AMC midway through the second
season. I loved season one for its interesting take on a zombie apocalypse and
that it focused on the characters. Then I started watching season 2 this fall
and it just didn’t grow at all. It was tedious, slow and, worst of all, it
bored me for a while until I stopped tuning in on Sunday nights. From what I
hear it has got much better and the end of season 2 makes up for the slow beginning
and middle of the season, but that never swayed me to go back to the series.
When it comes to the
comic, I have read the first two trade volumes (issues 1-12) which I liked. But
the rising price of comics has kept me from delving into the series (that has
changed though as I found The Walking Dead compendium #1 which collects issues
1-48 for a very reasonable price and it is now on the way). So going into the game
I had a decent idea of what I was getting into, zombie apocalypse and what it
does to humanity, and that was a good enough set up for me.
The story revolves around
a man named Lee Everett, who may or may not be a murderer. While being taken to
a prison outside of Atlanta, the cop car that Lee is in gets into an accident
and all hell breaks loose. Lee must fight off the undead and find safety. In
his search for a place to hide Lee finds a young girl named Clementine all
alone in a tree house. Lee becomes a surrogate father to clementine, protecting
her from the undead and taking care of her whenever she needs. Well that’s not
entirely true. In the game that I played Lee was a protector of Clementine and
did everything is his power to keep her safe. Your game may be very different
due to The Walking Dead’s many branching paths that influence the game’s story.
From time to time a little window on the top left of the screen will pop up
that tells you how a character has reacted to something you said or did (This
can be turned off though if you want your actions to be more ambiguous)or a
decision that you had to make. For example, while talking to a character named
Kenny, if you ask him about his family and how they are doing a box will pop up
and say “Kenny noticed your interest in his family.” Little moments like these
build the story as your own and affect how the other characters react during
certain situations.
 |
| This scene is incredible! |
Getting to the gameplay, The Walking Dead plays like a
classic adventure game. Walk around, click on items to interact with them, talk
to people and learn more about the people and the world. It works very well and
worked at immersing me completely into this world. There are also portions of
the game where quick reactions are needed (I played it on a PC but it is also
available on PSN and Xbox Live). These moments are particularly intense. One
that really hit me was a moment very early on in the game when Lee is in a
house talking to Clementine on a walkie-talkie. He is attacked from behind by a
zombie (known as walkers in The Walking Dead universe). The game prompted me to
mash a button to get her off me. After that I had to keep pushing her off until
I found a hammer, which I had to use to bash her head in. It was one of the
most brutal and visceral moments I have ever experienced in a game and I won’t
soon forget it. With all of that said the controls were a bit clunky at times
and sometimes the mouse wouldn’t move exactly where I wanted. All in all though, it worked well enough and
never did spoil the experience I had with the game.
Now let’s get to the game’s presentation. While the game
doesn’t boast the best graphics I have ever seen, it makes up for that with an
awesome cel-shaded style. It looks like
it was pulled right from the pages of comic, except in color (the comic is in
black and white). The backgrounds have think black lines that outline them; the
characters have a comic book look to them and it works very well with the
overall tone of the game. The sound design is in the game is fantastic and really
sets an amazing mood. The music works well to set the tone of every scene,
quieting down when needed and getting particularly intense at points (like the
one I described above).
I loved this game. It was one of the best experiences I have
had playing a game. Not since I played Half Life 2 and its subsequent episodes
that I have cared about a character in a videogame like I care about
Clementine. When I’m playing I feel the compelled to protect this little girl
at all cost. I’m worried about her well-being; I want her to be happy and fed.
I have always liked games in which the characters are well developed and I care
about them. This game does it to an amazing degree and has moved into being one
of my favorite games of all time because of this. I have played the next episode
and it keeps this going and if the final three episodes can do what the first
to did for me emotionally, well I think I might have found my favorite game of
2012.
Recommendation:
If you like games for their story then PLAY IT
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