"The Walking Dead": Not Your Father's Zombie Game

If you ever read those “Choose Your Own Adventure” books as a kid, imagine one with terrifying zombies and great character development. But instead of a book it’s an interactive game that brings the characters to life on your screen. That’s “The Walking Dead” video game in nutshell.

Developed by TellTale Games, “The Walking Dead” is based on the popular comic book series of the same name by Image Comics. The downloadable game is split into five episodes; the first, ‘A New Day,’ was released last week on the PlayStation Network, Xbox LIVE Arcade, PC and Mac.

Lee fighting off a walker. Image credit: PlayStation.com

"The Walking Dead" video game is set in the same continuity as the comic series, with the events considered a canonical prequel to Rick Grimes’ adventure. The game follows a new character--escaped convict Lee Everett--and ‘A New Day’ features appearances by well known characters from the comic, including Glenn and Hershel Greene. Because the game is not based on the television series, viewers that haven’t read the comics might not recognize Hershel, who differs somewhat in appearance and personality than how he is portrayed in the series. Glenn, however, is similar enough (Asian guy with a baseball cap.) Hopefully more faces from the comic will be seen in future episodes.

“The Walking Dead” isn’t the traditional survival horror game I expected when I first heard it announced. Like the comic and television series, the game is more about the character’s interactions than fighting off zombies. The game is also about slowly unfolding the mystery of Lee’s past and whether he is a good guy or not. So rather than being reminiscent of games like “Resident Evil,” it is more in the interactive movie genre like the critically acclaimed “Heavy Rain.” But “The Walking Dead” feels even more like an interactive movie--or maybe an interactive show in this case--because the graphics look more animated than realistic. This is meant to be reminiscent of the art in the comics and mixes well with the game’s more story focused game play.

Like with “Heavy Rain,” the player’s choices in “The Walking Dead” affect how events unfold and how other characters act towards Lee. At certain points you can decide whether to be honest or lie when asked questions or what actions to take when a zombie finally gets around to attacking someone. Attempt to save one person and you’ll make an ally, support someone’s plan of action over another person’s and you might make an enemy. The game gives you only about 30 seconds or so to make decisions so much like real life (unless you stop and restart) your path can be dictated by split second decisions.

The other games are supposed to be released over the next few months so time will tell exactly how different choices affect the course of the game overall. But this type of gameplay definitely increases the replay value. I’m already wondering how things might be different if I had Lee be more honest here or dishonest there, so I can definitely seeing myself playing this game again a few times.

Despite the heavy focus on story, the game does have its share of startling and chilling zombie attacks, where split second timing is really of the utmost importance. Although the controls are fairly simple, I fumbled a little the first few times I had to fight off a zombie because I wasn’t always sure what I was supposed to do.

Certain buttons have different uses in action scenes versus scenes in which you explore rooms or interact with other characters. The game has general instructions that are accessed in the main menu, but they don’t explain what each button does for each scenario. However, it won’t take long before you will be punching, kicking and bludgeoning zombies like a pro.

“The Walking Dead, ‘A New Day,’ costs $4.99 in the PlayStation Store and 400 points in the Xbox Live Marketplace. A “Season Pass” is available for $19.99 in the PlayStation store that includes the first episode, pre-purchase of the additional four episodes and an exclusive PlayStation 3 premium theme. A Season Pass for the five episodes of the PC or Mac versions can be purchased for $24.99.