The Good, The Bad and The Walking Dead

So with the success of AMC’s the Walking Dead many developers have been pitching their ideas to create a game based on the series for some time. Finally we are now being fed tasty snippets of information relating to the series tie in from Telltale Games. The Walking Dead: The Game as it’s being called will be an episodic series available via download and will tie in with both the Television adaptation and the original comic book series by Robert Kirkman.

Available via Xbox Live Arcade, PSN, PC, iPad and Mac the first episode is due to be released sometime in late April 2012 with a further 4 episodes due at various points later in the year.

Although the game is set in the same universe the story will not directly follow the plot of the comics or the TV series. It will actually take place during the initial infection period when Rick Grimes is still in a coma.

This article will not spoil any of the storyline elements but will discuss points raised in the trailers and press releases. As this is the case those whom want to go in without any knowledge of the adventure should probably stop reading now.

The game itself will follow a similar platform to Telltales previous episodic outings; like Back to the Future and Jurassic Park this game will follow a decision making path with quick time events as opposed to being an action centric adventure.  You are likely free to explore 3D worlds but much of the gameplay will involve making choices and finding objects to progress through areas.

The moral choices dynamic will involve very bleak and consistently ‘grey’ decisions that will impact the game in numerous interesting ways. This will follow the same formula as the hugely successful Mass Effect games as a decision will always come with ramifications; a character saved in episode one may come back in later sections to help/hinder your progress.

While the game is set in the same universe the protagonist of The Walking Dead: The Game will be a completely new character. His name is Lee Everett, a convict and in most cases an opposite to Rick Grimes himself. At the beginning of the game Everett is being taken to prison after being found guilty of killing his wife. Obviously he breaks free and will shortly afterwards stumble upon a young girl hiding out in a tree house. She is being described and the bit of light in an otherwise bleak, destroyed world and is being used to add a protection element to the proceeding.

Although the game will not direct follow the plot of the comics or TV series there will be some areas of overlap; common locations will be replicated in the game and some of our favourite characters are due to make cameo appearances. The world Everett will explore is in an around Atlanta and will follow a lot of the courses already known including the city itself and Hershels farm. We are also due to meet Glenn, Hershal, Lilly and even Rick along the way.

The game is shaping up to be a lovely addition to the universe that will hopefully give us a bit more depth about some of the characters, the world around them and also the overarching storyline. To say I’m excited might be a little bit of an understatement.