The Walking Dead: What's your decision?

     We all know that zombies have been all the rage for a while now. From movies, television, books, comics, and of course video games, people have gone crazy over zombies. One of the most popular zombie series is The Walking Dead. In an overcrowded sea of the undead, how could you possibly create a zombie game that stands out from the rest? How about making a game where your choices shape the story? Now I know this formula has been done before in video games, but in The Walking Dead your choices actually do matter and cause you to stop and make your choices wisely.

     The Walking Dead is split up into five episodes that are collectively called the first season. At the end and beginning of each episode there's a preview of the next episode and a recap of what has occurred in past episodes. This gives the game a kind of television feel and it works really well. You play as the main character Lee Everett. You have been convicted of murder and are on your way to prison when the zombie outbreak occurs. Needless to say you don't make it to prison and are thrust into survival mode. You have to fight for your life and the lives of the people you meet. Especially a little girl named Clementine.

     Other people have described this game as a "choose your own adventure" game and that is the best description. Throughout the five episodes you will meet new characters. Some are friends and some are enemies. You will constantly be faced with decisions. The majority of your decisions will have a small timer bar that depletes and this forces you to make your decisions quickly. Like I mentioned before, the choices you make in this game really do matter and they shape the story. The choices you make in early episodes will change the way later episodes play out.

     That's what makes The Walking Dead such a cool game. Other players may have decided to become friends with a character that you didn't. You may have made the decision to leave someone behind that someone else saved. This changes the story and thus creates a different experience for players. However, the main story of the entire game remains intact. So the main events (including the ending) will remain the same for everyone, but the surrounding events and how you get to the end will be different.

     The controls of the game switch between watching cinematic events and actually controlling your character. This comes in the form of moving Lee around and moving a large crosshair that will highlight objects or people to interact with. Don't expect this to play like a full third person action game. You'll end up doing a lot of searching for clues or way to escape. It's also important to talk to every character when you get the opportunity. There are some panic moments where you will have to do a little button mashing as well. The art style and graphics in the game fit perfectly with the genre. The game has a very cell-shaded, graphic novel feeling and that's what the developers wanted the game to be like. To feel as if you're playing an interactive graphic novel.

     My only complaint is there were some moments when the game started to lag or skip. I played the disc version of the game so I don't know if the downloadable version is any better. In the end Telltale Games created an amazing game with great characters and a powerful story or survival. I can't remember playing a game where I was constantly pausing the game and really thinking about my decisions and actions. The game really makes you think about how you would handle these situations if it were really happening. You grow to care or hate certain characters and really care about what happens to them. That is what makes this game so good. Even if you're not into the whole zombie craze but enjoy a great story that you can mold based on your decisions, play this game now!

Final Verdict: 10/10

Written by: Alter Ego 83