The Walking Dead: The Game - Season 1

Hardly a game. This point and click 'game' is essentially an interactive film where the player chooses from speech opinions which have moderately significant impact upon the narrative. Some of these decisions include things such as choosing which character to save out of two which need help, and breaking a promise made to another character in order to do what you think is right (you can also choose not to promise anything initially, resulting in the character you asking for the promise disliking you, but saving you from greater dislike later), etc. The player's choice of speech and actions for the protagonist changes the way in which non-player characters will behave around and towards the protagonist. The ending will likely stick with you for your the rest of your life.

Anyone following the gaming world will probably know this game has received Game of the Year awards left right and center. It very much deserves these awards and should be regarded as an industry-changing game in storytelling.

Simply put it follows the story of Lee Everett - a convicted murderer - when the zombie apocalypse comes crashing down on the world. He finds an 8 year old girl called Clementine and the story follows their fight for survival while finding other survivors to go on with.

I have to give this game 9 stars overall as there are a few things that unfortunately make it a little less than perfect. These are mostly technical though.

Pros:

• The story. The Walking Dead's story is one of the best in the gaming world by far in my opinion, and you'll hear a lot of people saying the same thing. A lot of people focus on the Lee/Clementine aspect of it, but I personally enjoy everyone's contribution to the story equally. It wouldn't be the same without them! As expected with a zombie game it's not going to be a happy story. It's very heavy at times and faces a lot of morally disturbing questions. At the same time it lets you question your own morality if you do play this as if it were real life (which I highly recommend you do). The ending is so beautifully done both visually and musically and it'll certainly leave an impact on you for a long time after.

• The characters. Some you'll love and some you'll hate - but only if you instinctively hate them or the game WANTS you to hate them. Never the kind of hate for badly constructed characters. The characters are believable and could be very relatable to some people. The voice actors did a wonderful job on this game.

• Music. What more can be said here. The game has a fantastic at at times very emotional score.

• It is a choice based game. Player based choices run through this game's entirety. I particularly like how it tells you what percentage of people did the same as you at the end of each episode.

Cons:

• On my PS3 disc version of the game at least it can run a bit sticky sometimes, especially if it's been on for a while. What I mean by this is during cutscenes the screen will freeze up quite a bit and be very 'jagged' playing. This is a common complaint among disc players so it's not just a problem with me.

• Not-so-seamless loading screens. After key points where tensions are running high, the mood is somewhat broken by quite frequent and noticeable cuts to loading screens.

• Your choices don't really matter in the bigger picture. Now I wasn't expecting choices on the absolute massive scale of something like Mass Effect, but really... your choices don't matter in the long run. You don't even get one single alternate ending no matter how drastically you change your gameplay. Sure your choices will decide if someone likes you or hates you, and if one person does something instead of another. But it doesn't change the overall story at all.

These cons are not enough to detract from the sheer power of the story though, and although they may sound bad I really wouldn't worry about them ruining anything. You should definitely give this game a try, I'm sure you'll be hooked!

I love how they handled the characters very well, showing hate and love relationships and giving the reason why what they are. Playing as a character trying to keep everything together and makes the hardest decisions is like real life. It may not affect the story because it's not about the destination, it's the journey. It's like a train track: there are two path you can take, but no matter which one you take, you'll arrive at your destination. The game mostly affects the characters and you as you play along. It's emotional, depressing, and probably the game that had made anyone cried in a video game in a while.

The Walking Dead is one of the best games of all time. It's possibly the best Telltale game, alongside the Walking Dead season 2. It's emotional, poignant and most importantly, incredibly human. The story follows Lee in his struggle to care and nuture for Clementine, in a new world that's cruel, depraved and twisted. Lee, at face value, is a jealous murderer, and someone who would be regarded as scum and looked down upon in the normal world. However, past the surface, Lee is actually a good man, a man guided by principle.

The theme, Alive Inside, is nothing short of a masterpiece. It's genuinely comparable to some phenomenal violin scores, such as Schindler's list. It captivates everything the game is about: Loss, adversity, faith and hope.

The main downside to the Walking Dead is that it's not really a game. It's an interactive film, the game elements are lacking. Nevertheless, the story is tells makes it's more enjoyable than playing most video games.

To conclude there's several aspects which make the Walking Dead a masterpiece. There is hundreds and hundreds of video games out there, each with a plot that's easily consumble, and quickly forgetton. The Walking Dead seems to leave a permanent impact, a story buried into the mind of the player.

I have just completed this game, and it is a brilliant ride from start to finish. It felt more like an interactive movie/TV show than a game, but for me it was better than the TV show. It makes you invest emotionally in the characters,which makes all the tough choices all the more difficult, every episode had it's standout and unique moments, whether it is the farm, Crawford etc.This game had it's great share of calm and nail-biting moments.Ending of this game is one of the best that I've seen in any media and the soundtrack complimented it greatly, just like it did for the rest of the game.In the end, this game gets easily in one of the best games I have ever played.If you like good stories, apocalypse or zombie stuff, then I highly suggest this game. It's a 10!