Telltale take a lot of stick for their point n click style gameplay and while I too struggled with Jurassic Park’s controls, it appears they took on most of the criticisms and overhauled the control scheme for The Walking Dead – based on the comic / TV Show.
What The Walking Dead does in two hours is absolutely sell you a concept. In comic book style graphics, the world is real yet stylised. The characters are wonderfully portrayed and most importantly the fear is constant and that is because the entire game is timed. Crammed with quick time events which see you move a cursor with the right analogue stick, the games camera with your left and press symbol buttons to perform actions, whenever the action is going you have to react quickly. Finding what to do is not as fiddly as it sounds because you have a display scheme option which highlights all object points needed. Also welcome is the fact your crosshair for interacting with objects is now far larger than it was in Jurassic Park and the game is far more a joy to experience in this new scheme. While this itself is nothing new, having a timed conversation system definitely is. Throughout the episode you are given several different forks in your path to take – most of which will dramatically change who lives and dies and where you’ll venture off to. There’s never a clear right answer as most of the time you’ll be choosing answers to side with other survivors and thus gain their trust and loyalty at the expense of others. Many games have these moral choices now days as it seems to be all the rage, but few are able to convey it so viscerally as The Walking Dead.
To cap it off the voice acting is exceptional and story is very well presented. You will not find puzzles here at all, this is one of those games where you’ll be involved in the story elements and trying to save as many of your motley crew as you can.
Positives
~Fantastic visual style
~Expertly written and acted
~Some genuinely surprising shocks and twists
Negatives
~Will not appeal to be people who hate linear games
~No puzzles really to speak of
Conclusion
After just two hours with my survivors, I am rooting and cheering most of them on. I was hooked from start to finish and cannot wait for the next instalment. I’ve got my quick time fingers ready!