The Walking Dead (Spoilers after first post)

[BigFoot]

^ Allergies.

[Jimi_James]

I finished the game Friday. I want to play it again, differently this time, but I can bring myself to restart the game.

I've had videogames effect me emotionally before, but never this strongly. I teared up during the big death scene in Gears of War 3, and was left feeling gutted at the end of Mass Effect 3, mainly from the gut wrenching deaths of more than a few characters throughout that game. That being said, never before have I had a game push me emotionally through every stage. The instances I cited, were short and once done, they were largely over and I could begin to move on. That wasn't the case with the Walking Dead.

There are moments when Clementine looks at you, and she breaks your heart. People die and it's like getting punched in the stomach because you don't see it coming. And the end...I'm not sure I can put it into words.

Sure, there are parts of the game that are clunky. A few times throughout the game, the facial expressions don't match up with how the character is actually responding, though it becomes less of an issue as the game progresses. I'm not sure if I stopped noticing, or if they simply got better. Either way, it's a minor part. The game is fun, trying, and the story hits every mark it aims for, often surpassing those goals.

As far as storytelling in games is concerned, The WD, has to be near the top of any list, which is an achievements all on its own. Forget that the game is fun to play, looks uniquely stylized, and is fully fleshed out. The mere fact TellTale achieved a story on par with anything the Tripple-A studios have done, speaks volumes, not only about their capabilities but where the future of story telling in games can and no doubt will go in the next generation.

It's not only the best game I've played this year, or in recent memory, it may very well be my favorite game of all time.

I hope there is a Season 2.

Of the choices I can recall, right off hand...
I saved Duck.
I sided with Kenny most of the time.
I saved Carly in the drug store.
I held Lilly back, while Kenny killed Larry.
I killed both the cannibals, which Clem witnessed.
I took the food.
I left Lilly behind.
I took Clem with me to Crawford.
I told everyone about my past and later forced Ben to come clean to Kenny about what he had done.
I later let Ben sacrifice himself.
I told everyone I had been bitten, asked for their help getting Clem back, and had Krista cut my arm off.
I killed the stranger and later had Clem shoot me.

Part of the way through, I realized I had to change how I was playing the game. I was trying to interact fairly with everyone, as best as I could to keep all my options open. When Carly died, or rather was murdered, I realized that I had only one goal, to keep Clem safe at all costs. It no longer mattered what I had to do or who I had to cross in order to protect her. Making sure she survived was the only goal because ultimately I think the overall story is about redemption.

From what I saw, Lee regretted not only the circumstances that led to his incarceration, but also those that took him away from his family, particularly when you're in the family drug store. Perhaps this is my own spin on things, partly because how I chose to play the game, but I very much felt like keeping Clem alive was the price he had to pay to Lee to atone for the things he had in his life.

I will agree, that I think it's important for Lee to tell Clem to shoot him at the end, as a sort of final lesson. The story builds up the fact that she's learning to take care of herself and in those last chapters, she becomes an important member of the team, often helping with things the others can't accomplish. Forcing her to kill Lee, is the last step in everything she has learned throughout the entire series.

I would like to see the next season, either pick up directly where this one left off, or begin several years into the future with Clem now out on her own.

[SonOfMogh]

Just to clarify something for the people who can't get Kenny on side, the only things he really cares about are saving Duck, and siding with him in the meat locker.

If you don't side with him in the meat locker he hates you for the rest of the game regardless of what you do.

[Cutter John]

After encountering so many badly done children in games and movies, I'm still amazed at how well Clem was fleshed out as a character. You can't help but love her. I can't think of a single instance where she fell victim to 'annoying kid' syndrome (They let Duck have all those).

All I can figure is that there were a lot of parents in the creative team.

[Jax]

Just finished the game and dam that was one of the coldest and most emotional endings ever. I've really enjoyed the game and look forward to season 2 but I really hope they polish their games better and cut out the bugs.

[Evil Twin]

Wait, what bugs? I thought Chuck introducing himself to you in the train car a second time with floating guitar clipping through him, followed by Kaatja holding an invisible Duck was perfectly normal!

[PsychoPere]

PsychoPere wrote:

---

I remember having a lot of problems with the game stuttering right after shooting the officer in the woods, and at the time it distracted me and slowed down so much that I gave up on trying to play it on my PC. I just spent enough time in the game right before this post to get through that part again, and it had the same problem but to a much lesser extent this time.

So instead of doing the sensible thing and checking Telltale's website back when I was first having this problem, I waited until today - after finishing episode one on the Xbox retail disc release - to actually read their FAQ. Apparently this is an issue with ATI graphics card drivers and shadows, so the FAQ recommends turning off shadows in the game settings until completing the woods portion early in episode one.

In any event, I have finished the first episode now, and am already loving the game. The art is exactly what I would want (inspired by Adlard's comics art), the performances are strong and nuanced, and the story telling is pitch perfect.

My choices for episode one:

• Saved Duck
• Honest with Herschel
• Sided with Kenny, re: Duck
• Refused to let Irene use the gun
• Saved Carley

[Evil Twin]

So I was watching the latest episode of the Walking Dead playthrough on Twenty Sided today, and they were working on powering up train, and it turns out if you go outside the front of the train there's a car with a buckled in zombie you can kill and get a box of animal crackers from below the car seat (which I'm assuming you can give to Clem.) I've done three playthroughs now and I had absolutely NO idea that was there!!! Am I just blind, or did anyone else here completely miss that also?

[Jimi_James]

I guess we're both blind, because I missed it to. It makes me wonder though what other little extra things I might have missed.

[selina]

I finished episode 5 last Thursday. Overall, I really enjoyed The Walking Dead game. Funny thing is, I like zombies in movies, but I am a coward if it comes to zombies in games. The direct interaction with them in games make them scarier for me, so usually I avoid zombie games. However, The Walking Dead was made in a way that the game experience was intensive enough but not too scary. So, for me it had just the right amount of "walking dead" .

The storytelling was good, but to be honest, your choices don't affect the story that much. It is still pretty linear.

In the end, Lee can hardly change anything. For example, whether you are really nice to Lilly and her Dad in epsiode 1 or not doesn't matter. Larry will knock you down no matter what.

.

And

whether or not you are honest with Herschel or try to save his son, doesn't matter, because Lee has to leave anyway.

Or

whether or not you choose not to take food from the abandoned car at the end of episode 2 won't change a thing. The crazy dude will still abduct Clementine.

Based on your decision, some characters might survive longer. Some characters will stand more behind Lee, but the story outcome won't change much. For a game which claims that the story is "tailored by how I play", I was a bit disappointed. However, the game gives you at least a pretty good illusion. You think your choices matter and that works very well.

Another aspect I wasn't too fond of were the quick time events. I mean, I totally get it, that a game designer needs a mechanism to show the player how desperate Lee's situation sometime is: "If zombies manage to get through that door, people will get eaten. Everyone's life is at risk, so Lee has to block that door at any cost - and it's very, very tough." Yeah, but is pushing the "A" or "Q" button really the best way to accomplish that feeling (depending if you are on Xbox or PC)?

Also, if you play with mouse and keyboard, it's not that accurate if you aim at zombies.

On the pro side, I loved the visual style, the characterization, the voice acting and the dialogues. Clementine and Lee were great together, too, and I really wanted him to build up a father-daughter-like relationship with her.

To sum it up, even though I think "The Walking Dead" game had some flaws, I liked most parts and I'm looking forward to season 2.

[Mr. Adventure]

^ I know what you're saying but when I thought about it after finishing the game I realized while I couldn't control the outcome in a big pictures sense I appreciated reflecting on what the choices I made said about me as a person. I might have more trouble being as captivated in the same manner by "season 2" I was suitably affected after this one to find it worthwhile.

[selina]

You've got a point there .

[Capt. Vulcan]

Well the choices definitely don't hold up to close scrutiny. If you look at how the game works and you replay things to try to get your way you realize that you don't actually have that many choices. But if you just play it, they do a very good job of making it seem like your choices directly led to what happens by writing realistic reasons for those things to happen.

Really the only thing that ever bothered me storywise was how Kenneth is totally against you based on one decision. It didn't seem to make sense considering I supported him at every other juncture.

[Cutter John]

I've been hearign that complaint an awful lot. I wonder if they'll fix that in the second part as a result, and make it less linear.