The Walking Dead tugs at your heartstrings in so many ways as it provides one of the most memorable entertainment experiences of 2012.
The Walking Dead gameplay is still the same thrilling experience. The core of your adventure is focused on you making decisions using the Mass Effect-inspired pop-up wheel. All your actions will be QuickTime focused, but are still emotionally engaging that you don’t mind sitting back and allowing the action to unfold.
Episode 5 just misses on being a complete game due to presentation issue. Once again, the all-star voiceover cast returns along with the graphic novel art style, however technical glitches that have been a constant issue thoughout the series resurface. Frame rate does drop at times causing the game to briefly stutter before a scene loads. A couple of times character lips aren’t synced up to the script, which takes you out of the atmosphere for a brief moment. In the end, that’s not what I am going to remember about The Walking Dead. What I am going to look back on is the barnstorming finale that will be talked about for years to come.
As the final minutes come to a close in season one of the Walking Dead, Telltale Games managed to save their best tricks for last. Paying tribute to iconic horror movies, Episode 5 saves the most badass zombie fight, dialogue options and the best Clementine and Lee moment for the very end. When the music goes away, it makes the final moments unforgettable. I have never cried from a video game, but The Walking Dead broke me down and left me in shambles as the closing credits appeared on the screen.
Since completing The Walking Dead, I haven’t stopped thinking about Lee and Clementine and how it profoundly affected me. As we have embarked on this great journey, we have been delighted with this year’s most likely Game of the year winner. Telltale Game’s The Walking Dead series not only rejuvenated the adventure game genre, but has also set a new precedent for video game storytelling. The only aspect that disappoints me about the Walking Dead is that season one has come to a close, the long wait for season two has already begun.
Score: 9.5 / 10
