The Walking Dead- Game “A New Day” by Tell Tale Games (TTG)

Article by Chet Royer

Have you ever had that fun conversation with your friends about what you would do during a zombie apocalypse? How would you survive? Well Tell Tale Games has released a game that will allow you to answer those questions and not speculate anymore. This game is The Walking Dead based on Robert Kirkman's comic book with the very same name. My name is Chet, a.k.a. Ninja101 and this is my review of this episodic adventure game.

For those of you who do not know what The Walking Dead is; it is a comic book series created by Robert Kirkman that is set in your basic zombie apocalyptic world. The difference between this comic book and other zombie stories is how Kirkman tells the story. Also, if you don't feel like reading comic books, there is a TV series of the same name, which is just as good. Now we also have a new way to experience Kirkman's zombie world via video game. It is important to note, unlike the TV series, the video game is canon to the comic book story line. Which means that the events in the game correspond with actual events in the comic book.

Now that we cleared up the trivial information, let's talk about this great game brought to us by Tell Tale Games. The game is actually not really a full game. It is being released in episodes. The episode we received, in April, was called “A New Day.” There will be 5 episodes in all and each episode cost $4.99. There is also a special offer called the season pass which cost $19.99. You get access to all the episodes (when they are released) and some themes for your xbox360 or playstation 3 (I am not too sure what PC players receive in the season pass). You are also getting an episode for free ($5 x 5 episodes = $25 > $19.99). So, I suggest trying the free demo before buying the first episode. I knew I would love the game from the start so I got the season pass for sure. It took me about an hour and a half to finish the episode but there is so much replay value in the game. So, I think $4.99 is not too steep for this game.

The story of this game is actually very well done. It's just as good as the comic book if not better. You play as a man named Lee Everett, who has currently been arrested and convicted of murder. You are being driven to a prison by a rather chatty police officer. Then suddenly he runs into a person crossing the road. The car then goes off the road and tumbles down a hill. One amazing thing the game developers did was that they showed you the state of the police officer during the tumbling of the car. You clearly see that he was still seated because of his seat belt. However, when you awake from a daze in the back seat of the car, you see the police officer is clearly a good 15 feet away from the car, face down in the dirt. Welcome to the Zombie Apocalypse! Now your main goal is to survive and find your family. I don't want to say much more about the story, because it would spoil it. There is also the fact that this game is a good 85% all about the story.

So when you think about zombie video games, Resident Evil comes to mind along with Dead Rising and Dead Island. These are essentially your usual action adventure games. Tell Tale Games chose a different path with The Walking Dead. The game plays out like an actual TV show. You are watching a story that allows you to interact with it and alter it's plot. The interactions feel pretty good and are very well placed. The way how you progress in the game is through watching a cut scene that gives you full access to the dialogue choices for Lee. In some cases, you actually have a time limit to make a choice in the game. The cool thing about the choices you make is that none of them will result in a “game over,” but they will heavily influence the story you see play out in front of you. An example would be when you are given a choice whether or not to look for help during the day. I chose to look for help in the day. I may meet totally different characters during the night or I may even have to fight more zombies! After that sequence, you are then given time to explore and interact with other characters in the game. I don't think I have ever played a game that payed so much attention to character interaction. Every single interaction you have with a character is significant.

For example, you meet a family in the game. If you check up on their son often, the game gives you a notification saying that the father recognizes the fact that you care about his son's well being. Simple things like this, effect the story and future character interactions in the game. That is pretty much the flow of the game. The action sequences feel suspenseful but don't offer much action for those expecting to run and shoot zombies in the head. However, the story and flow of the game is so compelling to the point that you do not need those kind of action sequences. There are also a few puzzles that are not too difficult to solve, but are fun none the less (except the silly radio puzzle). It is almost reminiscent of another story driven game known as Heavy Rain.

When you have a game that is heavily story driven, it should be pretty to look at, right? Heavy Rain is a gorgeous game with realistic graphics. Tell Tale Games chose to make the game into a three dimensional comic book. The environment is vibrant and has that comic book style shading to it. This shading is made via cell shading. The characters match the environment perfectly. They look like they “come right out of a comic book!” (sorry couldn't help plugging that movie ref...) The emotions of the characters are very well done. Along with the graphics, the voice acting is great. Everyone feels like a unique character with their own personalities and beliefs. All of these great things make you want to interact with them even more to see what you can learn and how you can help them.

I don't think there is anything bad I can say about this game. If I am being picky, the music feels like the usual mood setting music. For a game that has many unique features, the music should be unique as well, right...Man this game is great without it. I can not wait for the second episode, “Starved for Help,” to come out. If you like video games and/or zombies, get this game. If you like a good story, get this game. If you don't like video games or zombies, get this game...it will make you like them. Well that's all I have to say about this game. Enjoy!
© 2012 Linda Thai

Thank you Tell Tale Games (TTG) for letting us use the images and logo above!