If you’re a fan of the zombie apocalypse genre, then there’s no doubt you’ve heard of The Walking Dead. You might’ve watched the popular 2010 TV series or read the original 2003 comic books, but did you know it was also a video game? Telltale’s The Walking Dead brings a new perspective to the original universe, with new storylines and a few returning characters for longtime fans.
The player starts the game as Lee Everett (Dave Fennoy), a former history professor at the University of Georgia, in the back of a police car. By chatting with the police officer, we get the impression that whatever Lee has done to wind up there is less than stellar. The officer becomes lost in conversation and fails to see the undead jaywalker, toppling the car, leading to his demise. Lee, however, survives both the crash and his first encounter with the walking dead. Injured and confused, he runs from the broken-down car through the forest and into an abandoned house. Here, the player meets the game’s second protagonist, Clementine (Melissa Hutchison).
Clementine is a young girl whose parents went out of town just before the outbreak, leaving her in the care of the now undead babysitter from whom she is hiding. Clementine can communicate with Lee from the safety of her tree house via walkie-talkie. She tells him that she’s waiting for her parents to return and that something is wrong with Sandra, the babysitter.
But after listening to the answering machine on the home phone, Lee quickly realizes that the child’s parents are on more of an “extended vacation” and decides to take Clementine somewhere safer. One very scary Sandra jump scare later, Lee and Clementine begin their journey through the walker-invested state of Georgia.
My favorite part about this game is the decision-making. Unlike most zombie games, The Walking Dead focuses more on story rather than action. In the first episode, all I had to do was point and click to get rid of a zombie. That, or an easy button mash. Honestly, I was relieved it was centered around decision-making and not my horrible aim. Well, a little bit. I was very paranoid initially and lied to everyone I met when they asked about Lee’s background. I also punched a guy. That may or may not come back to bite Lee later… Sorry not sorry Larry.
Another unique aspect of The Walking Dead was the animation style. Telltale uses cell shading, a stylized art form that mimics the appearance of hand-drawn animation on 3D characters, to give the visuals that graphic novel feel. They did this to stick close to the game's source material, the original Walking Dead comic books. The gritty textures and cross-hatching add to the creepy apocalyptic atmosphere.
My only complaint about the game so far is that the voice acting was a little off in some places. I noticed the character’s voices would go from normal, to quiet, then back to normal again when they were standing right in front of Lee. It could have been a computer issue… Also, Clementine’s voice was super high-pitched and weird to me at some points. That’s just me being picky, though. Besides those small problems, the voice acting was overall pretty good!
The Walking Dead seems like a great game to get into if you’re a fan of zombies and making dialogue choices that leave you feeling extremely paranoid (in a funny way, don’t worry)! Because it respects the source material, any Walking Dead fan would enjoy exploring this familiar universe through Lee’s point of view. You can play the series on PC, Playstation, Xbox, and even Nintendo Switch.