That's a resounding yes. The first episode of the 'The Walking Dead' game, A New Day, starts off and ends with a bang, with many, many exciting and terrific moments thrown in between. If you were disappointed with the Jurassic Park series, Telltale's earlier release, you should look into The Walking Dead, since it takes the best parts of that game's mechanics and mixes them up with a bunch of little elements from other series, like Sam & Max's direct control and conversation wheels, as well as adding a timer to make decisions ever more important.
It all starts as Lee, the handsome guy who's in most of the promotional
screenshots for the game, is being driven to a prison in the Atlanta,
Georgia area by a very talkative police officer. During their
conversation, the guy can't help but notice a strange commotion going on
- police cars zipping by on the opposite highway lane, the patrol car
radio going berserk and oh, the wandering zombie just hanging around in
the middle of the road. After a violent crash, he's left to his wits to
survive the zombie apocalypse, at least until he meets up with
Clementine, a smart little girl who had managed to live by her own up
'til that point.
If you've seen any of the trailers, you know the story goes well beyond that, and if you haven't, you're not reading this searching for info if you can't just play the damn thing, so the spoilers will be minimal, in fact, non-existent for now on. Safe to say, chaos ensues, pressing decisions are made, which carry over throughout the entire game (and possibly the series) and it's all extremely well made.
If you've seen any of the trailers, you know the story goes well beyond that, and if you haven't, you're not reading this searching for info if you can't just play the damn thing, so the spoilers will be minimal, in fact, non-existent for now on. Safe to say, chaos ensues, pressing decisions are made, which carry over throughout the entire game (and possibly the series) and it's all extremely well made.
Telltale teased repercussions for your moral decisions when I
interviewed them at last year's E3. According to them, your actions
would influence who lived and died, how others react to Lee and even if
your companion, Clementine, liked you or not. That holds true and is
taken even further right from the start. You can be honest and lay the
entire truth to just about anyone you meet, or hold info back and gain
their distrust. Decisions like that carry more water than you think, to
the point of there being a comparison board at the end of the game,
showing the percentages of other players who agreed with you. The
Walking Dead is all about decisions having an effect on the overall
experience, and thanks to that, you might just get an entirely different
game than your friends', and part ways right from the first episode,
depending on the choices you make.
Frankly, I was already expecting to get a great game when I heard that the series' original writer, Robert Kirkman would be involved, as well as The Book of Eli's Gary Whitta, so it came as no surprise how well the dread of the comics was translated in game form. You're never sure who is going to make it through and there's never a safe moment throughout your first playthrough of this episode. Fans of the (now huge) franchise can appreciate how well the source material is treated, not just in story form, but in the presentation as well.
Frankly, I was already expecting to get a great game when I heard that the series' original writer, Robert Kirkman would be involved, as well as The Book of Eli's Gary Whitta, so it came as no surprise how well the dread of the comics was translated in game form. You're never sure who is going to make it through and there's never a safe moment throughout your first playthrough of this episode. Fans of the (now huge) franchise can appreciate how well the source material is treated, not just in story form, but in the presentation as well.
The comics' look made the transition quite well to polygonal look
featured in the game. While still sporting relatively simpler character
models, the texture work was made to resemble a comic book, with thick
black lines thrown in, as well as a very well directed color palette.
Granted, the 'The Walking Dead' comics are black and white and at a
point in its development, the game was thought of having that art style
as well, I have to say, I'm glad they went with the colored look. None
of the characters look absurdly cartoony, in the "Telltale style" seen
in previous games. We're given some great performances from the voice
actors too, that are tied to very expressive animation.
Don't worry, you'll get plenty of zombies too. The ghouls look pretty good too and die just as gruesomely as you'd hope. Telltale is not pulling any punches. Deaths are bloody and gory, and characters throw expletives left and right, like anybody would in the situations they're put in. Conversations carry out in fluid manner, and diffusing potentially violent situations is not as easy as just agreeing with one side of the argument.
Don't worry, you'll get plenty of zombies too. The ghouls look pretty good too and die just as gruesomely as you'd hope. Telltale is not pulling any punches. Deaths are bloody and gory, and characters throw expletives left and right, like anybody would in the situations they're put in. Conversations carry out in fluid manner, and diffusing potentially violent situations is not as easy as just agreeing with one side of the argument.
This feels like Telltale's most mature title yet and it's great to see
how well the series is starting out. If you're anywhere near a console
or computer, you absolutely have to give 'The Walking Dead' a go. Not
only is it a great piece of lore for the series as a whole, it's an
exciting and tense experience in the form of a game. I'm definitely
excited to see where things will go from here, something I haven't felt
about an adventure game in years. |9
