The Walking Dead (Season 1)As i started reading trough my reviews today, i noticed i have 9, so i decided to make 10th. But i wanted to make it of game, that was special. I mean, im gamer who has played tons of games, but few games have very well written stories- part i care most about. Even less are those games that stories will inspire me and stick with me no matter how long after i played them. I wanted my 10th review to be one of those games which story i think is at very top, but as i already did Mafia review, this was close after.
By Meelis13
Alright, i think i have babbled enough. Lets get reviewing.
Basic introduction
Main characters in season 1- Lee Everett (playable) with Clementine in front of motel
The Walking Dead game was developed by Telltale games and published as episodes troughout 2012 with "400 days" dlc following later. Its point & click game, where your actions determine course of story. Whole world is in chaos- will you choose to be good or bad? Also, if you expect usual zombie-killing sprees, then this aint your usual zombie game.
System requirements (from steam):
- Minimum:
- OS: XP Service Pack 3
- Processor: 2.0 GHz Pentium 4 or equivalent
- Memory: 3 GB RAM
- Hard Disk Space: 2 GB Space Free
- Video Card: ATI or NVidia card w/ 512 MB RAM (Not recommended for Intel integrated graphics)
- DirectX®: Direct X 9.0c
- Sound: Direct X 9.0c sound device
- Recommended:
- OS: Windows 7
- Processor: Core 2 Duo 2GHz or equivalent
- Memory: 3 GB RAM
- Hard Disk Space: 2 GB Space Free
- Video Card: ATI or NVidia card w/ 1024 MB RAM (Not recommended for Intel integrated graphics)
- DirectX®: Direct X 9.0c
- Sound: Direct X 9.0c sound device
Story
Survivors fighting off zombies. Front row: Christa and Kenny. Back row: Lee, Ben and Omid
NB! this story section can contain some spoilers, though i try to keep them to minimum. read at your own risk.
Story starts at early days of TWD version of zombie apocalypse (note that TV show (which i havent seen) and this game are set in same universe). Lee Everett is transported to prison by police officer- see, Lee had killed senator his wife was sleeping with (again- this spoiler is only for few first minutes). You get your first choices in this driving sequence- what you say in this game matters a lot, so i reccommend you decide wheter you can be good and helping others or cynic, easily irritated and careful.
In any case after the chat (note- silence or not pressing anything is always viable option), police officer accidentally drives over walker and crashes the car. Lee blacks out and wakes up few hours later and when he does, he will see that officer is lieing on ground. Trying to get him free and also maybe help officer, Lee breaks out of car and uses keys found near officer to unlock his handcuffs, when officer turns to zombie. After managing to shoot him with shotgun, you see small figure in distance, which disappears. Seconds later you notice zombies closing in on you and you hop over fence to escape. You find yourself in yard and when exploring house, you find young girl named Clementine, who'se parents are in Savannah and babysitter has been zombified. But you also learn that her parents are most likely dead... So you decide to take care of Clementine yourself. That takes you on long journey from Atlanta to Savannah, filled with bandits, survivors and of course, lots of zombies and problems and of course- difficult choices.
I aimed to keep Lee good person, trying to give positive example to everyone. I had second playtrough where i aimed to keep Lee bad, but in the end, i couldnt go with it long time.
Story is definite strongpoint in TWD- and even more so how you respond to choices. First episode doesnt offer so much difficult choices, but as story progresses, it gets harder and harder. I do have to say though, that story end outcome will stay same no matter the choices, but the choices- they do have lot of effect short-term.
And its written damn well, the story. If only every game developer would treat stories same, we would have lot of great stories. This story, its not only dark and serious as you might expect from game such as this, nor overly light. It has humor in it as well (Duck the detective!) but it can turn very serious very fast and things may go south even faster. It can make you laugh and few minutes later drop a tear.
I'd say it probably is very realistic in terms of behaviour- each character (and there arent few of them) is voice acted very well, each individual person has its own quirks, creating entirely different individuals, making all characters... human. Not many games have deep effect on me, but TWD story had one- i honhestly shed a tear several times during campaign and especially at end (im quite sensitive person (note- dont mix up weak hearted and sensitive here- im not weak hearted), but gaming world doesnt often offer such cases).
Story has also great replayability- especially if you want to try out other choices.
Gameplay
Hello walker, i want you to meet the axe
Gameplay is point & click+moving around. It can be regarded as puzzle game, but since puzzles are so easy i wouldnt call it that. Advantage of season 1 over season 2 is that you can often move around and explore, talk with people about everything. When talking/peforming action/choice and you see white bar at bottom middle running down, know that is timer during which you have to choose option or its chosen for you. Choices (yes, again about the choices) affect gameplay a lot, with some choices making game play out differently.
Most of gameplay consists of solving rather simple puzzles, such as starting a train or seeking way out of meatlocker (note- some options trigger next phase in story but i reccommend keeping obvious choices last for maximum fun), fighting sequences (where you have to bash a button or use weapon) and talking. As said before, main emphasis is in story, which is actually a good thing.
At end of each episode, you see choices you made and were you part of majority of players or minority.
Sound and graphicsAs said in story section, voice acting is superb. Music is also great, with very emotional but fitting instrumental music. "Alive inside" (the piece in video) is my favourite one of this.
As for graphics- i love it. I got weakness for graphics that look like drawn (at least this style). Its very fitting and while zombies dont look so scary as say, in dead island, they do look dangerous. Again, such as with story, the way graphics and animations are done, it makes obvious that much care is placed in this game.
SummaryThe Walking Dead is not your usual zombie game, as it focuses on story and not zombie-killing, creating different perspective in zombie apocalypse, much more human feel. Story is in focus with this game, but truth be told- story is worth it, as you are playing it as interactive novel, which you help to write. This is a must-play for any gamer who appreciates story and also for zombie games fans, even despite the fact you cant run off with bag full of weapons and start blasting the horde.
I'd give it 11 points, but since i dont want to be one of those to go over the maximum, game rating is: 10/10
Play it and i promise you wont regret it!