The Walking Dead Rewiew

Episode 1: A New Day review

Instead of following Rick Grimes and his ragtag group of mildly-unlikable friends, Telltale decided to cook up some new heroes for its Walking Dead game. Enter protagonist Lee Everett, a convicted murderer (it's complicated) freed from the shackles of law when a corpse meanders in front of the police cruiser transferring him to prison. A montage of fading in and out of consciousnesses later and all of Georgia is run by the Walking Dead. It's never really addressed how things went from bad to full-blown zombie invasion in what feels like a matter of minutes (the world is in as bad a shape as it was when Rick awoke from a coma after a few months in the hospital), but once that suspension of disbelief is hurdled over, you're in the clear.
After blowing the head off of a zombified police officer, Lee makes his way into a nearby home where he meets Clementine, a little girl whose parents are... erm... uh... away... on vacation. And totally coming back for her. He takes her under his wing and goes about trying to find help, food, water, and shelter from the flesh-hungry monsters trying to bash apart the walls of society.
The first episode of The Walking Dead game sets up the tone and setting well, and caters to fans of the books, fans of the television show, and even those who haven't cared about either. It also strikes a strong balance between Telltale's older point-and-click adventure games and the action-based gameplay of Jurassic Park. Whereas the latter felt like you were directing a movie instead of actually playing a game, Walking Dead makes you feel like you're actually controlling Lee as he bashes in undead heads. It handles action in an unorthodox manner, but it's, in a way, more realistic, making it feel like Lee's a fairly regular guy, and not an expert marksman.

Also successful is the use of player choice. On several occasions we were asked to make fairly important decisions that affected the lives of the people around us. These choices had cascading effects on the story in both major and minor ways. Some simply altered how survivors viewed us, changing dialog options later in the episode, while others would lead to the death of one character over another. It worked as fluidly as could be hoped, and made us feel truly in control of the world, instead of the other way around. What's more, a trailer the played for the second episode after the first ended showed our choices carrying over - an extremely exciting prospect.
There were some graphical and audio issues, as there often are in Telltale's games, but, all in all, we were genuinely surprised with how much we enjoyed the first episode of The Walking Dead. A New Day definitely sold us on the series, and we'll be coming back for more every month as long as the quality stays high.

Episode 2: Starved for Help review

Telltale's Walking Dead series continues to impress us. Picking up a few months after the events of Episode 1, Starved for Help has our survivors dealing with high-tensions and low food reserves. Since the last chapter they've met up with a new friend at an air force base who was able to supply them with rations, but even those are running low. Things are looking bad, and they're being forced to push out further and further away from their camp in hopes of finding something to quiet the rumbling in their gut. While exploring, Lee hears a scream and rushes to investigate, finding some survivors that have stumbled across a bear trap. One is stuck - the release trigger on the trap has been removed - and roamers are moving in. Lee is faced with two options: attempt to break the nearly indestructible trap, or try to smash through the man's much-more-fragile leg with his axe.
This is just the first of many decisions of the episode, each leading to different, brutal outcomes. Starved for Help drives forward the compelling story based on decisions we made in the last episode, adding nice customization to the already strong tale that continues to get darker and more interesting. Just as was the case with A New Day, we were amazed by the number of decisions Telltale was able to shove into the episode, both major and minor.

Deciding whether or not to cut off a man's leg in a desperate attempt to save him is obviously a fairly big deal, but opting to lie or tell the truth to a friend, or picking who gets food for the night, leads to other interesting interactions. There are some hiccups in this system - sometimes Telltale wants to show you the fruits of your labor immediately, leading to somewhat forced encounters where characters will immediately question your motives mere seconds after you've made your decision - but it usually helps to flesh out the incredibly personalized story.
Episode 2 also ramped up the need to make quick choices. We'd often find ourselves scrambling to decide what to do in a situation when presented with a few difficult options. Hell, at one point we flat-out failed to act, freezing up completely and being incapable of picking the lesser of two very real evils. It was a unique response that we've never experienced in any other game, and we were left breathless after it was all over.

We're still shocked at how great Telltale's newest series is. The gameplay is tense and great, the story keeps getting better, and the unique visual style continues to blow us away. We're hungry for more.

Episode 3: Long Road Ahead review

Episode 2 ended with some great storyline hooks, and some absolute point-of-no-return moments. And, frankly, it serves as a great lead-in to the emotionally wrenching third episode of The Walking Dead. Long Road Ahead turns the narrative screws with ruthless efficiency and will undoubtedly hook you for future installments. If you've been on the fence about playing up to this point, there's no reason not to dive in now that it's beyond the halfway mark.
After the events of Episode 2, and the tensions that come out when people are hungry and desperate, there's no shortage of fracturing alliances within the group of survivors. Not even a the sharpest blade could slice the tension between Kenny and Lilly--given the events of the second episode--and based on simple cues like text color (if you've turned on subtitles), you can immediately see the choices you've made in the prior episodes carry into this one. Long Road Ahead begins as Kenny and Lee peruse downtown Macon, GA in search of supplies. They come across a bedraggled survivor who can't stave off a pack of undead in time. It's up to you to decide whether to leave her as a zombie magnet to keep tension off your back, or draw attention to yourself by putting her out of her misery.

The moment kicks off a tense setpiece that mixes up the "fast decision" dialogue choices seen in past episodes with the game's item gathering system. Mechanically, it's a tad wonky, as the on-screen timer counts down quickly and (on consoles) the analog sticks feel sluggish. It's an artificial tension-raiser. Upon returning to the camp, times are still tough, and a few tangled plot threads fray into something much bigger. The game does an effective job of weaving the interpersonal relationships of survivors against the ongoing hazards just outside the group's confines.
Long Road Ahead does an excellent job of juxtaposing multiple playstyles. While some elements--most of the shooting, but especially first-person sniping, and a terribly annoying zombie audio glitch--fall mechanically short, the dramatic beats that Telltale hits with this episode are powerful and heart-wrenching. At the point at which the episode stops, the momentum, like the pack's train, has gained so much speed that you won't want to stop. Episode 4 can't come soon enough.