The Walking Dead

For Telltale, The Walking Dead was where the company really hit gold. Sure there were good games on the way but it was their zombie apocalypse adventure, with well written characters, emotionally driven set ups and extremely difficult story changing decisions that were forced upon the player which allowed this particular series to stand out amongst the crowd (even winning Giant Bomb's Community GOTY 2012 by a landslide).

So it is not really a surprise that it was announced we would be getting a second season of the game sometime in the future. But that inevitably anticipated installment is going to take some time to get here and in order to keep the fanbase's interest engaged, Telltale have released a bonus episode to compliment the excellent first season.

Unlike the rest of the series which followed a set group of characters (with a singular controlled protagonist), over a certain amount of time, 400 Days takes it upon itself to be an anthology series.

We are introduced to five new main characters, each with their own story that takes place within the first 400 days of the zombie plague outbreak. This is an interesting choice which has both positive and negative outcomes for the installment.

On the plus side, the player can be presented with a wide variety of situations without needing a huge explanation as to why such a scenario is presented. One moment you are on the run from an unknown hostile force then the next you're having to make a tough choice on the behalf of a group of survivors. The game also doesn't have to be played in order as none of the segments are joint to each other.

The episodes also move along at a cracking pace and quickly get into the action or decision making. If you enjoyed the Walking Dead for the incredibly hard moral choices it presented, you would think that this was going to be an excellent addition to an already stellar adventure.

This leads into the negative aspect however. As you can tell from my title, it took me roughly 90 minutes to playthrough the entire DLC. That's roughly 15 minutes with each character, when the epilogue that shows you the results of your overall choices is taken into consideration.

While each of the five characters are given a massively different scenario story-wise, the structure of each one is pretty much the same. You are quickly introduced to the character, given build up to a major decision and then have to make the terrible choice. Sometimes there will be a small quicktime event to change it up a little but essentially it all plays out the same.

If 400 Days shows something about the hard choices the player has to make in The Walking Dead, it is they are nothing without the well thought out character development seen throughout Season 1. 15 minutes is just not long enough for you to feel invested into each situation (at least not to the extent the game is famous for).

While the choices probably will matter down the line (the characters in this installment will probably have some role in Season 2) it feels more like you are being told to hurry up and get on with it so you can experience the next character rather than having an emotionally driven choice being presented before you.

I should probably mention you are still presented with the rewind action from the main game. So if seeing multiple outcomes is your think you can maybe stretch this out for another 30 minutes.

So should you buy this? If you have pretty much made your mind up and going to purchase Season 2, go right ahead. For all its flaws it won't affect the experience you've already had with the main game and at worst will still (likely) add some build up to the next season.

If you're undecided or don't want to invest any further in the series, then I would advise a miss. It won't change your opinion or encourage you to stay on. It just doesn't offer enough. It's not a bad little add on if you like what you were playing but doesn't do enough to sway an opinion.