Blood, sweat, tears and guts combine into an amazing recipe for success in “The Walking Dead” video game by Telltale Games. Fans of the television show and comic book series of the same name are in for the ride of their lives as their emotions are strained based on their own decisions throughout the game.
“The Walking Dead” is a point-and-click adventure roleplaying game that follows lead character Lee Everett as he is thrown into the zombie apocalypse. Set in Georgia, the same location as the show and the comic books, Everett is the only directly controllable character. Each part, or episode, of the game is downloadable and available on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC. Released from April to November, this game kept fans at the edge of their seats wondering what barbaric and life-threatening decisions they would have to make in the next episode. It is unlikely that any fan realized how difficult each decision would be, or how much each would truly affect the outcome of the game.
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| Lee Everett comes into contact with one of the many walkers lingering around throughout 'The Walking Dead' video game. |
Everett teams up with a young girl named Clementine, eventually meeting groups of survivors along the way, but it is clear from the get-go that Everett is not going to let anything happen to the little girl. As they go from place to place, Everett is constantly thrown into the leader role which he never asked for, nor turned down. Life-changing decisions are continuously presented to the player, who frequently has to decide which characters will live die, often with very little time to make these tough choices.
“The Walking Dead” does not allow time for much thinking unless the decision is very complex. Time is rarely given on decisions that seem more important than others. When a decision has to be made, buttons pop up at the bottom of the screen with at least three possible options that Everett can either say or do. Whether it is breaking up a fight, deciding where to go, or simply choosing whether to talk to someone or not, each decision has an effect on how characters react to Everett and how they will help him in the future. The overall effectiveness of this method is still up for much improvement. At some points it would seem as if no matter the choice, the game will reach the same outcomes. However, this has to be done in order to have some type of cohesive and conclusive ending for the game.
Despite the overall effectiveness of each decision on the outcome of the story, there are few things wrong with the game. Glitches and the occasional long load time errors are expected of a game with various outcomes resulting from a click of a button. There have to be at least 100 decisions that can be made throughout the five episodes.
One aspect “The Walking Dead” video game was able to accomplish with extreme success was putting the characters in such harrowing circumstances and making players truly care about their fates. This is done in the television show and the comic books beautifully. Characters are constantly pushed to the edge and even further, just to be brought back up again to get knocked over one more time. Players can easily just be mean and rude to anyone they want, but this will play against them and likely get them killed. Players are forced to make some bonds with others, no matter how loose they are, just to get by. The game is very much how it could be if anything this disastrous happened in real life.
“The Walking Dead” has definitely introduced a fresh form of storytelling, and more game developers should be in the back taking notes.
“The Walking Dead” receives 5 out of 5 stars.
Visit www.telltalegames.com/walkingdeadto for more information on purchasing “The Walking Dead.
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