Through a series of unimaginable events, this game will really test your decision making for the good or worse.
Developer: Telltale Games | Publisher: Telltale Games | Genre: Point N Click Adventure
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Combining an excellent narrative with some pretty tough decisions that play on the harshest of human emotion, Telltale games have created something truly unique and enticing.
Even if you're not into The Walking Dead franchise, this game is still definitely worth playing through at least once - it manages to draw you into the narrative with full force and truly gives you an idea of what it would be like to live in a Zombie apocalypse and the very particular decisions you as a person would have to make in order to survive, protect your friends, and avoid being eaten to death. REVIEW1
You take the role of Lee Everett who is actually on his way to jail after conviction through the Atlanta, Georgia authorities - its on this little road trip we see glimpses of something sinister going off, whether it be the subtle hints such as Helicopters flying past rapidly or the swarm of Police forces racing the other way. Eventually, the Sheriff crashes his car into a Walker causing the game to really begin - from then on, its up to you to make sense of the new world and simply survive.
There are a total of 5 episodes in season 1, which are styled much like the TV show itself as well as taking graphical influences from the original comic book series - each character, environment, and setting are true to the imagery seen in the comics which makes you truly feel you're in the game itself - we don't see this style in many games but when we do, it's usually very well done and Telltale Games did a fantastic job of achieving a unique atmosphere and overall look through this art style.
Throughout the game, you are proposed with numerous questions which will really make you think - what would be best for me? What would be best for the group as a whole? And so on, most decisions affect the final outcome in certain scenarios, which makes for massive replay value, especially if you're deeply into the narrative and want to view all possible situations.
Finding examples without spoilers is definitely difficult, but there is one part in which you must choose which character can survive and which can't as you only have time to save one person, and with the added timer you are put under even more pressure, making for often rash decisions which you could even regret further down the line.
Whether you're playing on a PC or console, the control scheme is very user friendly - there is a cursor which has different actions assigned to a certain button, which can change depending where you hover the cursor, for example if you're examining a corpse, one button might give you the option to search further, whilst the other will simply take a better look and will describe the certain thing or object in detail.
At its core, the game relies on your decisions and your reactions to particular events, however there's a sense of puzzle solving too as a lot of moments in the game does require some genuine brain work - for example you could be searching for a specific item that is inaccessible due to a horde of Walkers blocking the way, so it would become your goal to work around that. It's gameplay like this that goes back to games such as Broken Sword or Monkey Island, which are not bad influences at all.
The Walking Dead Season 1 will more than likely be most enjoyed by fans of the series, but anyone can get into it and have a blast playing through each episode - it's recommended to play the series more than once and choosing different decisions each time to really get your money's worth. An excellent game to play whilst you're waiting for that next episode of the actual TV show.
8/10
