| Platform | OVERALL |
|---|---|
| Xbox 360 | 8.50 |
| Overall | 8.50 |
|
The Walking Dead is a stellar achievement in storytelling in games. It doesn't matter what medium you compare it to, TV, comics, movies; this game can hold it's own to the best the zombie genre has ever offered. I can write a full review on the story and why it is so excellent, why it made me tear up at the end but that would be more like a movie review. The only reason this game gets a score this high from me is cause the story is so incredible it hides the fact that there isn't much game here. If you played any recent Tell Tale game you know how this controls, you move with the left stick and use the right stick to hover a cursor over objects. Unlike BTTF which still had some elements of adventure games like an inventory and actual trial and error with using items, this game ditches that. All traces of adventure games are gone except you point and click at things which is the only reason why this game is fit under that genre. This game has far more in common with something like Heavy Rain than any adventure game of old. Any time an object of note is on the screen when you highlight over it you will clearly see that you can pick it up. It gets put in an "inventory" that you never access. Whenever you reach an object that uses an item when you highlight the object you will see the icon to use that item. You have no input on any of this, the game simply tells you what you can get and how you can use it. There are no true puzzles as you never once need to think your way out of any situation, everything is plainly in front of you just follow what the game says to do. This makes all moments where you are not engaged in story moments horribly boring. These moments give you a small area to explore and some goal to accomplish by looking for items and where you can use them. During these scenes you can talk to the other characters and build or hurt your relationship with them. This is the core of the "game", your standing with other characters in the group and how you character is perceived. It is a system that works well but it basically boils down to choosing dialogue trees. The best parts of the game are when the shit hits the fan and choices start flying at you. Most of the time its all for dramatic effect but every once and a while you hit a major moment where lives hang in the balance and what you chose to do alters the story slightly. In these moments you only have a few seconds to make the choice (which is done by picking one option or another, its basically press A or B) but you live with your consequence for the rest of the game. One of my favorite parts of the entire game is at the end of every chapter when you get to see the stats of how everyone handled the major choices. What I noticed is that the grand majority of people try to do the good thing, which is nice to see. The action moments have QTEs or moments where you must quickly move your cursor to use an item on something. Every once and a while you even get to aim and shoot guns. In these sections you can die but you instantly restart right at the start of whatever QTE you failed so it doesn't feel like a penalty at all, funny that these things don't offer you choices that dialogue choices do. If you really start to analyze the game you do notice that you can never make a choice that will kill you, in a game all about zombies that totally destroys whatever tension there maybe in your choices. Say there is a situation where you have a group member who fell and needs help but a horde is right on you, the choice comes up, what do you do? Well I know that even if I go back to save him it is impossible that I will die, I know the story will find a way to continue on. So the choice is not about whether saving the guy can endanger you and everyone else, instead it's simply do you want to be an ass and let him die or save him knowing full well you are safe no matter what. This totally changed the way I made choices as the choices were not true zombie situation choices, it was more about who your character is and how others view him. It's an interesting take on the genre and one of the reasons why this story is so strong but imagine if they had kept the zombie survival part intact. So don't expect to be too involved in the game but I still feel this is a must play as it is some of the most thrilling, captivating TV I have watched, and hey I get to choose a few things too! Oh and the whole choices thing alter things slightly, don't expect major story changes, no matter what you do it always ends the same way. Which is great cause that end is beyond wow, not in the dudebro way, in the tugging at all your human emotions way. I cannot wait for season 2 for the same reasons I cannot wait for the TV show to resume. It is a shame that there is almost no game here cause if there was I could easily see this as a potential masterpiece |
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Posted by Dvader Sun, 06 Jan 2013 00:24:47
Tue, 08 Jan 2013 11:58:21
Missed the first few episodes of season 3 dagnamit.
Tue, 08 Jan 2013 13:00:22
Tittyfuck...I need to finish playing this game.
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