April 27, 2012
Telltale's foray into zombie territory makes a strong case for me to shrug off my fatigue in the face of what continues to be an endless onslaught of zombie fiction. Taking place in and around the events of Robert Kirkman's long-running Image comic of the same name, it compresses the drama in that zombie apocalypse soap opera creating a palpable sense of danger and tragedy. It encapsulates so much of what has made The Walking Dead compelling as a comic these past few years while staying true to Telltale's patented mix of storytelling and gaming. [Please note this review is for the PC version of The Walking Dead, which is also available on the Mac, PS3, and Xbox 360] THE BASICS In The Walking Dead, you play as Everett, who opens the first chapter, "A New Day," on his way to prison for a crime which we find out more about in the first couple of hours. A former history professor, Lee is an unlikely criminal and a sympathetic one at that (at least, depending on how you choose to play him). It's not long before an accident puts Lee on the run for his survival, and in the course of seeking out safety, he encounters Clementine, a little girl whose parents may or may not have succumbed to the zombie threat. From there, you and Clementine will try to keep out of harm's way while meeting a series of characters, some of whom you might be familiar with if you've read to comic or seen the TV show. Speaking of the TV show, "A New Day" does take advantage of the episodic format and presents itself as an installment in a longer story. You're warned at the start of the game that choices you make in this chapter might not have immediate repercussions, but could have impact on later episodes (a sizzle reel for episode two had me searching for clues about what effect my choices might have had). Gameplay is broken up between conversations with the characters that you meet where you can earn (or lose) their trust and traditional adventure game item hunts, where you'll move your cursor around the environment seeking out clues and items that might keep you and your fellow survivors alive. Telltale has two difficultly levels here: a Standard mode where all relevant items in the environment care highlighted (with a handy bullseye) when you hover over them with your cursor and also providing hints when you've had a key encounter with another survivor, and a somewhat harder mode which is a little stingier with the notifications. All of that talking and hunting is broken up by, of course, zombie encounters, usually represented by frantic QTEs that will either have you hammering on a button to get the living dead away from Lee or targeting their heads to kill them (again) with your handy weapon. Telltale is judicious with the number of QTEs, never making them feel like constant interruptions. "Combat" as it is involves a fair amount of stealth, so you'll have to stay out of sight and pick your fights when the numbers and circumstances are in your favor.
WHAT'S GOOD The liar's game One of the key challenges of this first episode of The Walking Dead is keeping Lee's criminal a secret. Telltale presents you with several opportunities to fabricate something of a backstory when you meet new characters, the small details of which might potentially come back to bite Lee in the butt down the line. In the grand scheme of the game, it's not a huge thing, but it gives The Walking Dead additional flavor that dialog-based games might not otherwise have. Lee and Clementine The writers for the game do an excellent job of making the emerging bond between man and child work in a way that's not overbearing or cloying. In other games where you might be responsible for a child or weaker character, it's made to feel like a game interrupting burden, but here it's a chance to develop and grow the trust between Lee and Clem. I'd go as far as to say that the interaction between these two characters is the strongest among any iteration of The Walking Dead, including the source material. It doesn't rely on either character being stupid, mean, or broadly-drawn to work, but instead on simple human insights into what it means to care for and protect someone in need.
WHAT'S BAD Occasionally clunky puzzle logic Par for the course with an adventure game, there's a bit of trial and error involved in the puzzles in "A New Day." I'm thinking of one key item that I needed in the drugstore, and while all indications were that I needed to find it immediately, it turns out I had to take on a separate task where I ultimately found an item to help move the game forward. I wouldn't go as far as to say that it's broken, but "clunky" remains the best way to describe encounters like that. She's not my daughter! A drinking game for you: every time someone talking to Lee starts a statement with some variation of "You and your daughter," followed by Lee interrupting them with the statement above, followed in turn by an awkward "Ohhh," poison your liver a little bit. THE VERDICT Outside of some challenges involving the game's occasionally quirky puzzle logic, the first chapter of The Walking Dead makes a convincing case for the continued exploration of the zombie genre. With terrific character work and interpersonal interactions, Telltale has identified and exploited with ease what works about the series, and to a certain extent, elevated it. Related posts: Op-Ed: On Mass Effect's Transparent Morality -- Follow @MTVMultiplayer on Twitter and be sure to "like" us on Facebook for the best geek news about comics, toys, gaming and more! |
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