Horror films are not the only one to display zombies and shake the audience. This is also the field of video-games, which recently bet on the undead trend. Most of them belong either to the FPS (First Person Shooter) like Left for Dead, or Survival Horror Role Playing Games (Dead Island). One of these games, which will be released in 5 distinct episodes, rose great awareness and explores a new way of the gaming experience: the comic-based The Walking Dead.
You are Lee Everett, a convicted criminal, in a world devastated by the undead.
Don’t be fooled by the CEL shading cartoonish style of the Telltale game. It takes gaming experience to a new level. It’s about zombies and gore death scenes, but also about the audience feelings. A main character facing a zombie outbreak with a bunch of survivors looks classic. So what is new?
Actually, the player has a full influence on the story and relationships between characters: through QTE (Quick Time Event), he has to make quick choices that will influence the game story, the main character’s reputation and guess what, there is no right choice. That’s how the game runs deep, thanks to emotionally developed characters by getting to know them, along with great voice acting, makes this end of humanity believable. The gameplay is simple. It is graphically violent, sometimes disgusting, sometimes deranging.
The Walking Dead PC Trailer episode 2
With a second episodes recently released, the game focuses on human relationships and shows that zombies are not always the real danger. Difficult and essential decisions, rifts between characters take to guts. People treat you differently according to your acts and how you care about them.
Two different players at the end will have a completely different friends, foes, storytelling. The stress, the short time left to take decisions and deep story telling take gaming to a new level. No one escapes unscathed.
Along with numerous nomination and awards, The Walking Dead Game will soon be followed by a FPS version, which is announced for 2013.