The Walking Dead Episode 1 Review

David Brown

Many of us have had our ups and downs with The Walking Dead.  We have marveled at the greatness that is the graphic novels.  We have been there through the ups and downs of the television series, now going into it's third season.  We have even listen with intrigue to the long tale of the governor.  Well TellTale games has done us the honor of releasing a video game to flesh out even more of a story in The Walking Dead universe. 

The Walking Dead: Episode 1 "A New Day" is available now via Xbox Live, Playstation Network and also via Steam on PC and MAC.   The game will set you back $24.99 via Steam for a season pass, 400 points on XBox Live for the First Episode and $5.00 on Playstation Network for each episode or $20 for the whole season.  As I said this is just the first episode of the game, so we can expect to see 4 more to come out in the next few months.

TellTale is following in the tradition of their previous games including Sam & Max and Jurrasic Park by presenting The Walking Dead: Episode 1 as a point and click adventure game.  At first I have to admit that I was a little nervous to see how this would play out, but I can assure you first and foremost that this is the ultimate control style for this type of game.  The game starts out with the player taking the role of Lee a man who is being taken to prison for reasons unknown to us at first.  He is talking with the deputy and this is where you start to see the way that the gameplay takes place.  At many points during conversation you will be able to choose conversation paths.  Each path will affect the outcome for the rest of the game. 

There are many times during the game where you have the option to say a certain thing or side with a certain character and each option certainly holds weight.  For the first time in a long time I feel that all of my choices will actually affect the story as a whole. Back to the story though, we see the conversation between Lee and the Sheriff cut short as they swerve to avoid a walker and Lee is knocked unconcious.  I will leave the rest of the story for you to explore yourselves. I would now like to look at the gameplay and the overall fun factor.

I am not understating when I say that this game makes you feel like you are in The Walking Dead universe. The art style mimics the graphic novels perfectly so you feel like you are playing through another issue.  With the player taking the role of Lee we see a different spin on the Walking Dead universe. No longer are we following the cop who has the training. We are following a very ragtag group of people who are thrown into a walking nightmare. You will battle zombies, you will forge relationships and people will die.  I won't say who but just know that there is everything to lose in this game. 

One of the best things I found was that everything moves at a brisk pace. Episode 1 clocks in at around 4 hours but you feel like you are enjoying every minute. Being an adventure game there are a few puzzles scattered throughout, but you definitely can solve everything with a little common sense.  If I had to have one criticism it is that my setup made my cursor a little hard to see in some situations, but I still was able to play without issue.  The characters are voiced perfectly and everything just feels like The Walking Dead.

If you are a fan of The Walking Dead, you owe it to yourself to play this game.  You will learn more about the universe of the series and maybe even see a few familiar faces. As I said earlier, this isa avalable now via XBox Live, Playstation Network and Steam.  Shamble on out and pick this game up as I am giving The Walking Dead: Episode 1 a must play 10 out of 10.