The Walking Dead

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Got my gaming on over the last 3 days and played this game from episodes 1 -> 5. After that marathon, I'm inclined to think it's a deserving winner of all the awards it got at the VGA.

For those who haven't heard, TWD is a point-and-click adventure game set in the world of its namesake comic series. Civilization has been toppled by a massive zombie outbreak. You're Lee Everett, just some guy doing the best he can to survive and protect those around him... or not, as the case may be, as the story colors itself based on the decisions made by the player in complex dialog trees.

Yes, just to re-emphasize: it's a point-and-click adventure game with lots of dialogue. But trust me, it's very enjoyable dialogue. You're given 2-4 options when communicating with another survivor, and at most points you're put on a timer so that you have to think quickly when deciding what to say/do. Leave that guy trapped in a bear-trap and let him be eaten by zombies; try to pry open the bear trap; or hack his leg off? Is it morally sound to give in to a bitten girl's request and allow her commit suicide before she turns into a zombie? So many choices, so little time, so much excitement!

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Anyway, the game has excellent writing, resulting in an equally excellent set of characters that you grow to care about (unless you're a misanthropist/sociopath) - adding weight to the choices you make as a consequence. The graphics are cell-shaded and cool-looking, the soundtrack and voice-acting are the best I've noticed in a game, and while gameplay takes a back seat to the plot, it's still a nice complement to everything else.

As you can see, I'm a major fanboy for this game series having only taken an interest in it 3 days ago. It picked up a stack of awards at the VGA's, as mentioned above; you get to go apeshit on dozens of zombies as a pissed off black guy; and hell, it made me, and many other a macho nerd, CRY at various points (well, okay, I'm not macho in any shape or form...but I'm not normally a crier either!). So, go out and acquire it ASAP

If my urgent word-vomiting hasn't convinced you, then maybe this walkthrough will:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9SnHso3ezE

Also, for those who've played the game already, I found a great tumblr page dedicated to it:
http://thewalkingdeadgameconfessions.tumblr.com/

To those same people, I'd be interested in hearing what choices you made, which characters you hated/loved, etc :)
(no spoilers plz)

 

I have watched two let's play series of the game, and it's definitely a good story. Good thing is that if you don't want to play them, you can watch a let's play/walkthrough as if a movie. Although there are some stupid and nonsensical moments that make you want to rage because people being stupid (but that's pretty much in every survival horror movie flick, right?)

 

Hard to know whether we'd behave any differently in those circumstances.

On the St John's farm, for example...

*SPOILER*

Spoiler

...it was such a leap of the imagination that the two brothers and their mother were cannibals. Sure, I might've been screaming out the blaringly obvious truth at my monitor ("Bathtub of smelly, bloody clothes. Suspicious-sounding family. Slaughter room out back that they were clearly trying to conceal. Crazy woman in the woods who was shot before she could reveal some shocking info about the farm. THEY'RE GOING TO EAT YOU ASSHOLES"). But I've read The Road and watched plenty of zombie films, and this being a videogame I'm always going to use this knowledge and suspect the worst. Can't imagine myself applying this logic to neighbours, friends or even strangers in real-life, though, especially when there's food and the possibility of safety to be had in a chaotic world.

 

Spoiler

Agreed, I have read The Road as well, and I almost immediately concluded that at least some level of shady shit was going on there. I didn't suspect cannibalism immediately, but I did guess some level of human mutilation going on. I kept watching how the situation unwrapped itself to be a revelation that would kick the cliché in the balls, but alas, it was too much to expect.

The other major gripe for me was the fact that you were given a choice to cut off your arm. I mean, it was a virus/bacteria/whatever that made you go zombie in the first place. It's basic biological knowledge that once bitten, the blood carries the infection around your body relatively quick, especially if you exert physical force (as with prying open the door with the rib spreader). I found it extremely dumb to think that cutting off the hand would help after several hours when the infection took place.

There were other minor dumb moments, like pointless screaming/freaking out/firing a gun/yadda, that act like plot devices for another crisis to appear in the form of a zombie attack.

But somehow regardless of those various idiotic moments, I still find it a game worth playing, or at least a story worth witnessing.

 

Spoiler

Interesting. I suppose he was feeling desperate with the prospect of "turning" before rescuing Clementine hanging over him. Maybe he thought to buy himself more time by cutting off the area where the infection was most advanced. Who knows...it was the player's stupid choice to make, anyway :D

What big choices did you make throughout the game?
Episode)
1) I tried to save Shawn instead of Duck, I saved Carley (because of her gun, not her gender), got along fairly well with Kenny and Lilly in my attempts to be the mediator...
2) ...Tried to save Larry, didn't kill the St. John's brothers for Clementine's sake, stole food from the Stranger's car out of necessity...
3)...Left behind Lily after she shot Carley as she was clearly gone over the edge entirely, convinced Kenny to shoot Duck because he might regret not doing it himself in the future...
4) ...Killed the boy walker in the attic of the mansion in Savannah as an act of mercy, pulled Ben up from the ledge in order to give him a chance at redemption & because I felt he didn't deserve to die for being unsuitable survivor material in the apocalypse....
5) ...Revealed Lee's bite to the group and managed to bring along all 4 remaining companions by pushing the right buttons, had Lee's arm amputated to - possibly - save time (I never studied biology, okay? :p) , got Clementine to bash the Stranger over the head then wrestled with and strangled him to death, shot him in the head after, and finally told Clementine to leave Lee hand-cuffed to the radiator, trying to preserve as much of her humanity as possible :(

Looking forward to the next season

 

Well, since I haven't actually played the game, I technically made any choices, however, considering what I have seen from let's plays, I would have been considerably more bloodthirsty.

 

Yep, I was trying to be a "good guy". That Stranger fellow could still find complaints to make about my decisions, though... no escaping him.

 

I picked this game up a week ago and I LOVE it. I'm at the start of Epi 5, but the adventure so far has been great, it feels like an interactive movie/comic book.

 

Truly a masterpiece in gaming, as said above, it deserves all the awards it has received. I grew to care about the characters and the story, which I find hard in many zombie games, movies and other forms of entertainment, thanks to common exhausted tropes.​

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*SPOILER*​

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Spoiler: SPOILS!

1) I tried to save Shawn instead of Duck, I saved Doug (because of his technical expertise), got along fairly well with Kenny and Lilly in my attempts to be the mediator...

Spoiler: SPOILS!

2) ...Tried to save Larry, killed the St. John's brothers for revenge, (and I didn't want the possibility of them returning later), stole food from the Stranger's car out of necessity, made Clementine wear the hoodie...
3)...Left behind Lily after she shot Doug as I couldn't afford any more losses, chose to shoot Duck for Kenny because it's something that no father should have to go through...
4) ...Let Kenny kill the boy walker in the attic of the mansion in Savannah as a healing process, pulled Ben up from the ledge because we were already low on survivors, and I understood it was very though for him....

5) ...Revealed Lee's bite to the group and managed to bring along all remaining companions apart from Kenny, (even when I begged for him to come ), had Lee's arm amputated to try and extend his time, (also +1 to badass rating) got Clementine to stab the Stranger in the shoulder, then wrestled with and nearly died before Clementine shot him, and convinced Clementine to shoot Lee, (because I didn't want the chance of her seeing a reanimated Lee)​

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I can say that my Lee, was sort of balanced :L​

 

When I heard of this game, I thought it would be one of those crappy games based on a movie/tv show (Even though I love the tv show) but I was wrong :)