Caution: The following articles will have massive spoilers for the storyline of the Walking Dead video game. This is not to say this is how your playing the game would happen, but these are the events that occurred when I played.
Any time a game begins with you in the back of a police car, that can't be a good thing.
This is how this game opens, though, and it's pretty clear from the start that my character's life is already reaching some monumental lows. Unfortunately, I don't know a thing about him, so I guess I have to chat up the sociable driver. So, obviously I did something pretty bad, but the game isn't telling me much. It seems the cop and I are from Macon, so that's something. Town's gotta be close by.
Oh, and I guess I am or was married at some point, the wife's caught up in all this, too.
The dialogue between the cop and my character is actually rather nice. If I'm going to get a narrative setting up the plot, it's actually nice that I'm only being told things that might have made headlines, or that details are left out because we both "obviously" know them already.
Well, unless the whole thing's going to be taking place at Cell Block D, I expect the plot is going to intercept my little road trip any minute now.
...yup, any minute now.
Aaaaany min-there we go.
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| Please assume crash positions. |
Okay, so since I know this is a zombie game, I can tell this is where things are going to immediately turn bad.
The game plays up some great tension here, as you have to free yourself from a crashed police car, get some shotgun shells, and then get the keys to your cuffs. I'll admit, the fact that I dropped the keys the first time I tried to unlock the cuffs made me snort in a "oh, really?" sense? But when you have to reach down near the cop's head and the spooky music kicks in...I actually felt tense for a moment.
The first jump scare of the game is also well played, since it doesn't immediately give you the option to "apply boot to face" or "beat it with a tree branch." The lack of combat options really plays up the idea that I have no idea what's happening and I'm panicking.
Oh, frick, more are coming. Gotta run.
The game has really set the mood quickly. I'm injured, I'm scared, and I'm managing, at best, a slightly quicker stumble than the zombies as I flee.
Once you're safe...the tension stays high. It looks like a normal suburban neighborhood...just a little too quiet is all.
I think that game developers know that the best way to freak out some adults is to indicate that children are in danger, and the inside of this house does it really well. Phone messages from worried parents, tiny bloody handprints on the floor, it all builds up to really hoping the game doesn't get too graphic.
Oh, hey, we get to meet Clementine, and I guess my name's Lee. That's kind of cool, only really introducing me to my character when he's introducing himself to someone else. Smart kid, hiding in her tree house. I guess I'll just head out a-
HOW DID YOU SNEAK UP ON ME?
So I guess this is where real combat comes into play. It's new, having to line up the cursor on the screen with a moving target and mash the correct button. Especially when it's things like "kick zombie in face" which tends to just stall them. Of course, considering my next action is to beat a zombie to death with a hammer, I can vouch that the game doesn't skimp on the blood and gore.
Now, next comes a small conversation with Clementine, where the choice system really seems to come into play. Whatever answer I give her when she asks if I killed "it," she'll "remember." That's the big deal here, is that people remember what I say, and if I change my story or lie, they'll change their opinion of me.
...if I'm going to be watching this child, I think I better do everything I can to make sure we get along.
When your first big choice comes up ("leave while it's day" or "wait until night"), I chose the first option, because seriously, who decides to wander around in the dark when there's monsters? This, I guess, leads me to meet Shawn and Chet. Not sure would've happened if I waited, except there's probably a good chance they'd be eaten by nightfall.
Okay, so a quick ride out to a farm and- Oh, hey, Hershel!
Wait, so Shawn is- ....ooooooh.
Okay, so, anyway. We get a rough night's sleep in a barn, followed by the introduction to Kenny, Katjaa, and... "Duck."
I already don't like that kid. Terry and Katjaa seem okay. In fact, this is a pretty tidy group we have here. We got Lee, Clementine, Duck, Katjaa, Terry, Hershel, and Sha-
Dammit, Shawn!
Okay, so here's where I think I made a rather unpopular choice. I have to choose who to try to save, Shawn or Duck. I chose Shawn (and not just because I completely forgot everything from the book). Sadly, Duck does get rescued by his father, but Shawn dies anyway.
And that's the moment I realized that this game was willing to do something very few other games have done. I made my choice, The choice failed, but instead of the game just moving on, it makes sure to point out to me that Kenny saw me not save his kid, and he's going to remember that. However, I did defend him when Hershel blamed him for Shawn's death...maybe that got me some points.
That seems to be an early trend, trying to find the middle ground in disputes in a zombie apocalypse. The game has already presented some really strong personalities here, I'll have to act as the mediator, see if I can't keep people from killing each other.
A short road trip later, we're in Macon, where I meet radio newswoman Carley, supernerd Doug, their leader Lilly, Lilly's father (and bit of a jerk with a bad heart) Larry, and...um, Glenn. I don't learn much about Glenn.
Larry suffers a small heart attack, and I'm quickly given several missions to resolve: help Glenn get supplies, decide whether or not to give a dying girl a gun so she can end her own life, and find some pills to help Larry out.
Again, I guess I made the unpopular decision, since I let the girl we found have a gun so she could take her own life. I didn't really want to do the job myself, and if she wanted to die with some dignity without turning into a walker, it didn't really seem like my place to tell her she couldn't.
I hope I get tougher for this game, if I flinch every time something bad happens, I'll probably either start losing allies or risk losing Clementine.
There's a rather heartfelt moment where we meet the zombified version of Lee's brother, and Lee's apology to a creature reaching for his face to try to eat him is pretty touching.
Of course, towards the end comes the next big decision: Carley and Doug are both in trouble. I chose to save Carley...and looking back now I can't really determine why I saved her.
It could be because she accompanied me on the short quest to catch up with Glenn to get supplies. It might be that she has a gun, and that would come in handy. It could be because she knows my past, but hasn't told anybody yet. Maybe I can trust her more than I can the others.
Maybe it's because she's a pretty girl and I instinctively wanted to save her. Does that make me sexist?
...she does remind me of someone I knew a few years ago, though. Huh.
I do like Carley, though. She's tough, and while I did find it hard to believe that a woman who works in radio wouldn't know how to put batteries into an actual radio, she is a pretty sharp shooter and she doesn't flinch in the face of danger. And as I said, she knows I'm a convicted felon, but hasn't shared that information. She seems capable. I think that, of all the people in this group to entrust Clementine with, should I need to leave for a bit, I'd pick her.
Lilly, I also like. I don't envy her, being in charge of this group. The clashing personalities, her father being a jackass who's also a liability with his health issues, and just trying to think of how to keep everybody alive...I hope I can convince her I'm a friend. I think that once I worked on getting the pills for her father, we hit it off. Hopefully that continues. The less fighting, the better.
Kenny...well, you left us at the end when we could've used you, Kenny. I understand why you left, but man...bad timing.
Larry. I really want to bring you around to liking me, Larry. You're loud, you're obnoxious...and you did technically punch me in the face at the end of the episode to leave me to die (thank you, Kenny, for saving me)...but we can't lose you without losing Lilly, and we need all the able bodies we can get. There's got to be some conversation in an upcoming episode that will let me bring you around.
Kenny, Katjaa, and Duck...well, you're in a unique position. Kenny, your family also takes priority, but you're better off with the rest of us. I get you're independent and you have strong feelings about things, and you aren't going to just stand back while decisions are made that affect your wife and son...but again, I've got to keep finding that middle ground. Things will not end well if it isn't the dead we have to worry about, but each other instead.
Doug...I'm sorry, man. I had to choose.
And I'll have to live with that decision from now on.
Clementine...I won't let anything hurt you.
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