The Walking Dead | Reanimating The Adventure Game Genre

October 16, 2012 by Michael Flusk

The Walking Dead returned for a new season this Sunday which means there are tons of fans out there as hungry for new content as zombies are for human flesh. If you share an affinity for The Walking Dead television series like millions of other people, then you need to take a look at the Telltale game series sharing the same name.

The Walking Dead is a third person adventure title based off the storyline in the famous comic, much like the show. Primarily this is a traditional adventure game, but it has much more to offer. Players will need to be alert during cut scenes, as they are sometimes required to react to quick time events used in certain action sequences. Players will also choose from multiple ways to respond to characters and therefore affect the outcome of the storyline. The game itself is pretty simple but truly delivers the frightening moments you’d expect with something trying to suddenly bite your neck off.

The Walking Dead allows you to interact with characters and items you come across throughout the game. Players will be forced to utilize what they find at times and do so quickly, because this game truly simulates a zombie apocalypse at times. If players take too long with their inventory a zombie could easily catch them off guard and end their run. So the game forces you to not spend time in cluttered menu screens, a unique quality. This is unlike your normal zombie game. If you require the constant dropping of undead enemies such as in games like Left 4 Dead, you might be left disappointed. On the upside the game focuses on your specific decisions, shaping the outcome of the storyline and your overall character, something many gamers would prefer in adventure games.

This is a five episode game series concluding by the end of 2012. Just last week, Telltale Games released their fourth installment “Around Every Corner” and it is a fantastic addition to the series. The new episode continues the story of Lee Everett, a convicted killer who was being transported to prison when the apocalypse went down. Within the first few minutes you take full control of Lee, setting off on the most dangerous of adventures.

“Around Every Corner” begins with Lee and his poorly managed group arriving in Savannah, Georgia. There are obviously zombies everywhere making their travel just as difficult as previous episodes. The new focus is that you find an 8 year old girl named Clementine, who you must actually rescue and protect from the massive amounts of oncoming undead. It brilliantly feels like a real scenario and has the power to drag players into the game, a quality shared with the most popular basic cable drama in history.

With such specific choices shaping the game’s storyline, there is clear replay value in a title that costs $4.99 per episode (or $19.99 for the full season, PS3 only). The titles can be purchased on most platforms including the PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Marketplace and PC sources like Steam. If you are one of the 10.9 million people who tuned in for the Sunday night premiere of The Walking Dead then it would benefit you to at least check out the trailer to a surprisingly successful zombie game.