The Walking Dead Episode 1: A New Day

A lot of zombie apocalypse games have you gunning and cutting your way through hordes of zombies, and while you will be killing zombies along the way talking is the best part of The Walking Dead: The Game. People who have read the comic or watched the television show will be able to relate to the game because it simultaneously follows both. The Walking Dead: The Game isn’t about shooting your way through massive hordes of zombies but instead focuses on the relationships you develop with other survivors and the difficult decisions you will have to make during your fight for survival. Episode 1: A New Day introduces the protagonist, the start of a series of difficult decisions you will be making, and the group you will be surviving with.

In Episode 1: A New Day you take control of Lee Everett, a convicted prisoner sentenced to life in prison for murder. As police cars and helicopters run by in the opposite direction Lee discusses his situation with the officer in charge of his transport. Suddenly a Walker walks onto the road and causing the car to tumble into the forest, giving Lee a chance at freedom. For the next two to three hours of this episode you are charged with protecting a little girl named Clementine whose parent are missing and presumed dead.  This episode gives you a taste of difficult decisions will be making and how those choices will develop relationships with the strangers around you.

As you interact with people you will be able to make decisions that will affect how people will treat and understand you. Each person you talk to is well-voiced and has a specific personality. Each person has stance on each circumstance, making them feel natural and alive. When someone ask you a question you have up to four choices to make in a limited amount of time, and once you decide you can’t reverse it. An indication appears on the upper-left of the screen when a significant decision is made and states how each character will remember how you reacted in each conversation. There is no right or wrong answer to each choice but it will determine whether you make a friend or enemy. While some of these decisions may only have minor consequences within the episode, at the end the developers show a small preview of Episode 2: Starved For Help and how the decisions you made will have long term effects, encouraging you to play again.

The visuals share the same level of quality as the dialogue. The characters and environments are wonderfully with cel-shaded animations. Think black lines are shown on vibrantly colored characters and objects. Familiar locations like Hershel’s Farm are bright and colorful while new locations are littered with visual stories of people desperately looking for ways to survive. 

While the characters, the visuals, and the voice-acting share similar high standards the gameplay is shallow and suffers from slight hiccups during certain sequences. You move Lee using the left thump-stick and use the other to navigate a targeting reticule to interact with certain objects and enemies. Each environment is littered with a series of intractable objects that can be used for information or solve puzzles. Small puzzles are present throughout the game but rarely require much thought. When you encounter a frantic scene you will have to navigate the reticule quickly to kill walkers, make difficult decisions, or grab items. During certain scenes the game does stutter for a brief moment, but these are rarely a problem.

Quick-time action sequences will appear in the more tense moments. During certain situations you will be tapping buttons or using the targeting icon to kill zombies. You are given a few precious seconds to react to the oncoming threat or join the Walkers. Other choices involve you making a quick and desperate decision to save one person over another. These are the most demanding decisions as you are choosing to save and kill one person. None of these moments are challenging and are place to appeal to causal gamers while at the same time keeping you alert.

Telltale games have done an excellent job of starting The Walking Dead: The Game with Episode 1: A New Day. This isn’t a challenging game but the story is well-crafted and that built on the same demanding character development that is expected from the The Walking Dead series. Although Episode 1 is short it does open with a believable cast of characters and an introduction that leaves you wanting more. The Walking Dead: The Game isn’t about mass mayhem and a lot of killing like other zombie games but about how people react and develop when the world ends.

Adam Siddiqui, Noobfeed. (@youtube)