The Walking Dead: The Game

While I was logging out after playing Dota 2, I noticed Steam was showing some The Walking Dead video, and realised it was a game. Now, I tend to be a fan of zombie games, because of the hack-and-slash action you get (such as Left 4 Dead). Yet, I enjoy zombie games that actually have an element of suspense and storyline, which L4D lacks. And The Walking Dead: The Game, is the answer to all prayers.

This game, it seems, is released by "episodes", a total of five. I've only played the first episode, and I must say, it is really good. Better than the television show, in fact. There are moments in the game where you make the tough choices like who to save and what to say, which apparently affects the outcome of your story. And the game is related to the show, as you see familiar faces such as Glenn.

You control Lee, and you are on the way out of Atlanta in a police car for a crime which subtly gets revealed as you progress. Just as things were getting dull in the police car, it runs into a person. A dead one. And that's when all hell breaks loose. You wake up from the crash, only to find your policeman turned into a zombie, and the run begins. You meet people, lose people; make friends, make enemies. The story for the first episode was pretty solid, and everything feels so realistic.

Gameplay-wise, it is not as fast and enjoyable if you like Left 4 Dead, where you run around and spam bullets on zombies just to feel good. This game is slower, with things like mashing the Q button to stop a zombie from feasting on you, and a simple way to attack zombies. Sure, you don't get to use a gun and shoot the crap out of a zombie, but you do get to use tools like a screwdriver or hammer to crack open a skull. I guess it is good to keep out guns as much as possible, as we do not want this game to be just another L4D game. This game balances the elements of story-telling and suspense to keep players thinking, instead of running around and shoot anything that moves. Honestly, there were times I was on the edge of my seat, waiting to see what would happen next.

My only problem is that you must pay to download this game, and I'm not so rich. So I downloaded the game. But there is only 1 problem I fear: when the next episode comes out, will it be able to read my saved data from the first episode (which is pirated)? I hope so.

And Carley is pretty hot! Probably the reason why I chose to save her and not Doug. Heh.

I think that for around 500MB of download, this game is worth the time. It really pulls you in and feels realistic. Zombie fans can really enjoy this game, and I honestly cannot wait for the next episode to arrive!