The Walking Dead Review
Narrative in video games divides opinion in some interesting ways. Some say that game stories are bad, no matter the title in question, while some shun books and movies to get their fiction fix from the interactive medium. Its an interesting debate, but one thing that seems to have united everyone is The Walking Dead from Telltale Games.
The Walking Dead, as an IP, can seemingly do very little wrong. A successful comic book, a popular TV show and now a game, there are few missteps despite it being a property about zombies. That, however, is not why it is so compelling. The stories in this universe are not about the fight to kill every zombie on the planet, they are about the survivors and how they have to adapt to and live in a world overrun.
The zombies are just the most pressing obstacle in said survivors way, but they are not the route of the problems they face. Human nature is a much bigger threat, and it is this point that has made Telltale deliver such a powerful, emotional game, showing you what it must be like to live in such a world.
You play as Lee, and must try to survive in a world that has gone to hell, dealing with the undead, but more over other survivors. Lee stumbles upon Clementine, an 8 year old girl, a few minutes into the first episode of the series and from there the two of them set out to find some way to get through this mess.
I am trying to write this without spoilers, as they game tracks decisions you make and what you said to various characters to give you a fairly unique experience as you play through it. These decisions carry over across the five episodes that make up Season 1 and they are not ‘good or bad’ moral quandaries found in most other games.
No, The Walking Dead presents you with a terrible, unimaginable choice then asks you take what you think is the lesser of two evils. It is this that makes the game so compelling, you never get a clear good or bad answer to every situation, it is a terrible or even worse answer that is your lot.
The relationship between Lee and Clementine adds to this and becomes more than just one survivor helping another, less able one. Clementine is almost Lee’s kryptonite, and decisions you make in her presence could wildly affect not only the story, but how you feel about the situation in real life. I challenge anyone to play The Walking Dead and not at some point during their time with it start to feel like crying.
Critics of the Videogame medium wanting proof that it is valid as books, movies and art need only play this title to see just what games can be. The world it creates is a terrible one, and the biggest threat is simply human nature, which is why it is so terrifying, and compelling. Telltale games have managed to create a title that is not an FPS and doesn’t have you killing hundreds of enemies just for laughs. This is an adventure game that moves gaming forward, in however small steps, and shows just what developers can do.
There is a few small technical hiccups, as the lip sync can be off on occasion and the character movements can be a little jerky and awkward from time to time, but these don’t detract from the experience in any meaningful way.
The art style is based more on the comic books, so those looking for something based on the TV show might be disappointed by the look of the game, but I assure you it is every bit as fantastic as the show.
The Walking Dead is a game that pushes the boundaries of gaming as a medium. It shows how compelling a narrative can be created within that medium and how to do it right. It is a fantastic game that will push you to your emotional breaking point. The last movie I cried at was the 1986 Transformers where Optimus Prime died and I was five. I cried at The Walking Dead, and that makes it very special indeed.
