The Walking Dead Video Game
I am not a fan of the television show, but I quite like the comic, so I was excited that the game would be emulating the style of the comic books. Visually, the game was aces. I was also excited by the idea of choices having actual consequences, and by being able to explore and do silly things like put batteries in a radio, rather than it be an all-out zombie killfest.
The first decision you make in the game is whether you want standard or minimal UI. Neither option is good. Standard involves too much hand-holding, minimal is just not enough, especially when there’s no real point in exploring nooks and crannies. I love exploring and finding clever secrets, but there are none to be found.
The game demands your undivided attention, as the bulk of the dialogue options are on a timer. The choices you make do affect the way people talk to you, but the actual bulk of the story is set; only once do you choose between someone living or dying. The game does do a beautiful job of instilling the illusion of choice. Of course, this is just the first chapter and maybe your choices add up to more later, but it’s usually a good idea for a series to hook you from the start.
During one dialogue exchange with a character I did not want to lie, so I didn’t. Everything I said was true, and yet I apparently didn’t select the correct true options, so it said I lied to him.
Aside from that, it’s *really* fucking unrealistic. I’m not talking about the zombies, I’m talking about a zombie jumping out from a locked bathroom in the place where a group of survivors has been hiding. We don’t know how long they’ve been there, but it’s definitely long enough that someone would have used the facilities, or at the very least, checked the shitter to make sure there wasn’t anyone/thing in there, thereby securing their hideout. Then there’s the dumbass who can’t figure out why the radio won’t work. No batteries! Then when you give her batteries she puts them in the wrong way. This isn’t a child, it’s an adult woman, and that level of idiocy, even during a zombie apocalypse, is utterly unbelievable. It’s a super cheap way to artificially extend gameplay.
It’s quite the disappointing title.
