The Walking Dead

aka: The Walking Dead: Season One, The Walking Dead: Season Pass
Moby ID: 55762
Windows Specs
Buy on Windows
$14.99 new on Steam
Add-on (official) Special Edition See Also

Description

The Walking Dead is the first season of a five-part adventure game series based on the AMC TV series and the original The Walking Dead comic book series. Unlike the Xbox 360, PS3 and iOS versions, on the PC the episodes were not released separately but only as a single season pack. Players who bought the pack received the first episode when it was released in April and then the next four as they became available up to the release final episode in November of the same year. Once all are installed, any episode can be played right away, but as certain choices are carried over, it is recommended to play them in a chronological order. For the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions each episode was released as a separate expansion but the first episode needs to be purchased to play any of the other four. The PS3 version also offers a season pass to purchase all episodes right away at a lower price and play them as they become available. For iOS the first episode needs to be bought and then the other four episodes are available as in-app purchases, either individually or as multipack for the four remaining ones at a lower price. In December 2012 the full season was released as a single retail game for the Xbox 360 and the PS3, in the same format as the PC version. The Windows retail version was released in May 2013.

Each episode consists of eight chapters. The five episodes are:

The game is set in the United States at the start of a zombie outbreak. It takes place in the original universe but does not rely on characters or locations from the comic book or the TV series. Instead it tells a parallel story through a new character Lee Everett, but some original comic characters such as Glenn and Hershel make a cameo appearance throughout the series. The main protagonist Everett was a professor at the University of Georgia who was convicted for murder when he came home one day and found his wife cheating. In a fit of rage he murdered the man and was convicted. At the start of the game Everett is transported to prison, but the car crashes and that way he manages to escape. His main concern is then to flee from the zombies and he plans to travel to Macon where his parents and brother live. He soon meets a small girl called Clementine whose house has been overrun by zombies and he takes her along. Afterwards he meets many more characters and travels to different locations. Much of the game is spent on the emotional bond with Clementine and how Everett chooses to carry her through the hostile environment.

It is played as an adventure game with action and role-playing elements. During many sequences the character can freely look around the environment and interact with items. Compared to Telltale's previous title Jurassic Park: The Game there is slightly more freedom in exploration and more traditional adventure game elements such as examining objects, storing them in an inventory, and applying them in the environment. Many of the action sequences are shown as a cinematic or through quick-time events for the player to act quickly. When they are not performed in time, the character dies, and often Everett also has the option to save characters or to let them die in the hands of the zombies. There is a rewind function that provides the option to return to any of the eight chapters in an episode to choose a different option without having to replay the entire episode. There are sequences with a stealth mechanic where Lee can pick for a short amount of time and then needs to get back before he is discovered and gets killed. While exploring different icons show actions such as examining, interacting or using an item. Inventory items also appear here and the player does need to interact with the inventory or combine items before they can be used.

During conversations there are multiple options that can alter the outcome of events. A timer runs down during a conversation option and if none is chosen there is one selected by default. At the start of the game two display styles can be chosen. Standard shows more of the UI and helps with important choices, while Minimal turns of UI hints, help, and choice notifications. The setting can still be altered mid-game. Crucial choices during events and conversations are remembered and carried over to next scenes and episodes. Each episode ends with a cliffhanger, a sneak preview of the next episode, credits, and an overview of the crucial choices and how they compare, shown as percentages, against the choices of all other players worldwide. A new episode starts with a flashback of the previous events, dynamically incorporating the player's choices. It is a much darker title than Telltale's previous games and as it includes cursing and gruesome killings, but the focus is on the moral choices and consequences in a violent environment.

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Credits (Windows version)

440 People (240 developers, 200 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 89% (based on 21 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.8 out of 5 (based on 105 ratings with 1 reviews)

Choose Your Own Adventure, for Grown Ups

The Good
Walking Dead (based on the original comic, not the TV series) stands apart from other zombie games by focusing on story telling. In a similar vein to the old Choose Your Own Adventure books, Walking Dead will put certain aspects of the game in player's hands, requiring them to make a decision. Playing as Lee, a survivor with a dark past along with his companion, a child named Clementine (who deserves credit for being one of the least annoying escort characters in a video game) the decisions players make can range from freeing trapped bystanders, deciding what person to save in an attack, rationing food to fellow survivors, and many other similar options. These consequences carry over from previous segments of the game and will affect the outcome of each episode (there are 5 episodes for individual purpose, with each taking about 1-2 hours to complete).

Thanks to a well cast group of voice actors, players will feel engrossed in a very detailed game that reflects the art style of the comic. And combined with a suspenseful story of tense group dynamics, loss, and isolation, many will find themselves playing an entire episode in one sitting, or even more to try and learn the alternate choices.

The Bad
Walking Dead is closer to a TV show or book than a traditional zombie video game. Most of the walking is only done to go from one interaction point to another, and weapons are only available during action sequences. There is no healing system, if a walker bites you during an action sequence, you are dead and must restart from the beginning of the sequence. While not entirely a bad thing, this can become tedious overtime.

And while the game is very engaging and certainly a fun adventure game, the game can feel very short. As said before, each episode can take from 1-2 hours to complete, and with only 5 available (sources claim a second season is in the works) this can get pretty short. And while 5 dollars (approximately 400 Microsoft Points) isn't much, when added up its a fairly steep price for a few hours of gameplay.

The Bottom Line
The Walking Dead is a fun adventure game, giving players the chance to take far more control of a story then most games would allow. And with its talented voice cast, easy on the eyes graphics, and intriguing story this game will peak almost anyone's interest, provided they want more of a story and less of a game.

Those looking to run, gun, and kill an army of zombies will not find that here, and may become bored with the lack of general freedom or badass-ness within the somewhat short gameplay. But for those looking for something closer to an interactive story with a lot of choices to make, The Walking Dead maybe just what they are looking for.

Xbox 360 · by Lawnmower Man (137) · 2013

Discussion

Subject By Date
Wow...this...this... The Fabulous King (1332) Jun 20, 2013
How does the only one review per source work here? Cavalary (11445) Dec 29, 2012

Trivia

1001 Video Games

The Walking Dead appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Interface

The initial PC version showed Xbox-style buttons for choices during conversations as seen in this screenshot. In a later update they were replaced with a more neutral layout.

Awards

  • 4Players
    • 2012 – Best Multiplatform Game of the Year
    • 2012 – Best Adventure of the Year
  • GameSpy
    • 2012 – One of the Top 10 Games of the Year
  • GameStar (Germany) / GamePro (Germany)
    • 2012 - Best Adventure Game of the Year (Readers' Vote)
    • 2012 - #6 Best PC Game of the Year (Readers' Vote)
    • 2012 - #7 Best Console Game of the Year (Readers' Vote)
  • PC Games (Germany)
    • Issue 01/2013 – #2 Game of the Year 2012 (together with Dishonored and Far Cry 3)
    • Issue 01/2013 – Adventure Game of the Year 2012 (Readers' Vote)
  • Steam Awards
    • 2016 — The 'I’m Not Crying, There’s Something In My Eye' Award — Won

Analytics

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Sciere.

Additional contributors: Havoc Crow, Patrick Bregger, Charly2.0, Plok, joicrawu.

Game added May 3, 2012. Last modified January 24, 2024.