Developer : TellTale Games
Price :20$ to 30$ (Depending of Season Pass, Single Episode or Retail Disc)
Type : Point and Click
Time played : Playing Episode 5
The Walking Dead game receives praises from everywhere. It is nominated as Game Of The Year 2012 (Editor's note: Actually won the VGA GOTY) from many magazines and online sites. But here, I will tell you where it fails! But first, I must admit it is a pretty good game. It really got me in the story and I had to made some rough decisions that I actually found hard. Keep in mind, in a world where everyone is doomed, you can only hope to make things less bad than it could be.
The game plays itself like a standard point and click puzzle. You are in a scene and you must complete the puzzle to access the next scene. Puzzles consist in completing some tasks to continue over to the next scene. Example of tasks would be to find a key to open a door, or a way to distract zombies to go over to a certain object.
**SPOILER HERE, READ OVER IF YOU DON'T WANT THE SPOILER**
Where it excels, is in the moral difficulties of some of the tasks. The game itself is not hard, but the decision you will take are. In Episode 1, you will have to choose between two characters. Who to save and who to let die... In episode 2, you will have to decide if you cut the leg of a trapped survivor or if you let a bitten women end her days or not, help a survivor having a heart attack or bash his head so he won't turn. Most of those choices are made while characters scream at you, cry, beg for help and the timer will go fast... faster than needed to think about what is the best choice. Choices go up to a point where you even have to decide who has to shoot that kid in the head between his mother, father or yourself.
Keep in mind, you might think choices will be easy, but I found myself having some hard thoughts after playing. Pretty much like Heavy Rain.
**END OF SPOILER**
Where it fails is on one of the biggest advertised features. "The Game is tailored by the choices you made", so I decided to run 2 games in parallel, and a 3rd one on the side. While your choices make the story differ a bit, everything that has to happen, happens. At some point, you decide to leave characters behind or not, well you will lose that character from either decision. If someone gets shot, no matter what you do, this person will get shot. The only thing changing is some of the dialog, the way the characters talk to you and that's about it. You won't play two different games if you took two different decisions. For example, one of the first decisions you will take in Episode 1 is if either you leave the house right now or wait for the night. Either choice, you'll meet Hershel's son and end up at his farm. If you want to take an opposite decision from where the story wants you to go, they will find a way to make the group choose otherwise, and they'll just trust you a little less. Many of the actions you take are even useless in changing the story, it might just help you bond with character (in real life, taking care of them like in The Sims), but does not seem to have any effect in game.
Only in the last episode might we see the impact of our choices, I have yet to discover.
Conclusion:
It is still one of the best games this year if you like deep, story driven adventures. See it as an interactive story where you can make some changes in the way it is played, but the result would still remain pretty much the same. It's moving like any really good TV show and the spirit of the game remains true to the world of The Walking Dead.
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