Not Your Average Zombie Game
Telltale's The Walking Dead isn't like most zombie games being made today. This game replaces the constant slaughtering of hordes of zombies with puzzle solving and decision making. The end result is an impressive launch to a promising series that should be able to grab the attention of those outside and within the fanbase.
The Walking Dead begins with Lee Everett being hauled off in the back of a police car having a conversation with the officer driving the car. During the drive, you begin to notice other cars and helicopters driving the opposite direction towards the city. Your reluctant heart to heart with the officer ends unexpectedly in an accident and you awake later in a wrecked car to a city swarming with zombies.
The rest of the game follows the same kind of storytelling as the comics and television show. Lee teams up with a group of survivors and becomes an unofficial guardian of a little girl as they do what they can to make it through this new world. Also like the comics and show, the game focuses more on making difficult decisions and less on the actual zombies, so the gameplay is similar to Telltale's other episodic adventure games.
Throughout the game, players will converse with others and be given timed responses to what other characters say. If the time runs out, people will think you just have nothing to say, and if you wait too long to save a life, they become food for the undead. The decisions made will affect the story later on. People will remember what you say and what you do. If you try to lie and it falls apart, people will call you out on it and trust you less. If you tell the truth or help someone out, they'll be there to help you out in a jam.
All of this is done with great storytelling and commendable voice acting. All of the characters feel real and believable and, so far, are devoid of any redshirts. Some of the voice acting feels a bit shaky in some characters, but the acting of Lee deserves admirable praise.
The puzzles are impressive, but are few and far between, making the experience feel less like a game and more of an interactive narrative. One creative puzzle involved using multiple methods of stealth killing a parking lot full of zombies in order to save a trapped civilian. There also isn't a whole lot of space to explore in the different environments or objects to interact with before the story pushes you to the next location. If more puzzles were added, it would benefit to the longevity of the game as it only takes a couple of hours to get to the end.
The first episode of The Walking Dead is a great first impression despite its shortcomings. It's tense, atmospheric, and all around creepy with an exciting story and interesting characters. All of this for the small price means I will be waiting to see what happens in the coming episodes.
Final Verdict: 8.5/10
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