After their recent ventures into turning the franchises of Back to the Future and Jurassic Park into Point and Click Adventure games, Telltale Games have decided to enter into the apocalyptic realm of The Walking Dead. Originally a series of comics and now a popular TV series, it seems now that the latest incarnation of the franchise is a series of adventure games split into 5 episodes starting off with Episode 1 - A New Day, and for only 400 Microsoft Points an episode, you really get your money's worth.
You take on the role of Lee Everett, a convicted criminal on his way out of Atlanta (in handcuffs) when the dead start rising. Suffice to say he finds himself trying to make sense of the changed world around him with help of people he runs into. I'm deliberately trying to give away as little plot specifics as I can with good reason. The best thing about The Walking Dead: Episode 1 is it's story and characters, with Lee being one of the most interesting of the bunch as is troubled past is slowly revealed and his father/daughter relationship with fellow survivor Clementine is brought to life thanks to great writing and voice acting. You'll also run into a couple of characters from the Graphic Novels/TV Series (the former being the universe in which this game takes place in) and better still you'll have to make some frantic, hard and grim choices through gameplay and conversations.
If you've played any of Telltale's previous titles you'll be familier with how the gameplay works, this time around you're given direct control of the character. You'll still be clicking on various spots in the environment to either pick up/bash/examine/talk to objects/people/zombies but this time you'll be doing it in some distressing moments which means you'll have to be pretty swift with the cursor as well as be ready for a couple button mashing sequences. There is also a dialogue system in place almost identical to one seen in Alpha Protocol, in which you're given a list of things to say but a timer counts down giving you only a few seconds to select your choice adding to the level of urgency. You can also have the option of having helpful UI which will tell you exactly which parts of the environment can be interacted with and also which of your dialogue choices will affect conversations later in the episode, for example, telling another survivor that you're not Clementine's father will create different lines of dialogue later on and it's own consequences to boot.
The one part in which The Walking Dead: Episode 1 - A New Day is held back, is the bevy of technical and graphical issues (for the Xbox 360 version anyway). In fact it's a shame because the game sports a detailed cel-shaded art style that gives it personality and is very reminiscent to the comics that it's based on and canon to, but low-resolution textures, frame rate drops, hitches between scene transitions and some horrible audio problems nearing the episode's climax really sullied my experience.
Although the game's technical issues really bring it down, for the cheap price that it is, The Walking Dead: Episode 1 is a great way to start the episodic series off, with a fantastic character driven story that is rare for an XBLA title, especially when you decide how the story unfolds differently depending on your actions. If you're a fan of The Walking Dead, Zombie movies, story driven games and/or point and click adventure games, Episode 1 will keep you engrossed for it's 4-5 hour length and when it's all over you'll be craving for more just like a zombie would be for the proverbial brains.
- UKSamwise