Developer: Telltale Games
Publisher: Telltale Games
Price: 400MSP

Summary
The Walking Dead Episode 1 is the first instalment in a five part episodic game made by Telltale games. The game is based off The Walking Dead comic book series by Robert Kirkman - keeping a comic book style with a focus on facial expressions and emotions of characters. There is also a fairly popular American TV series based off the comic.

Story
You play as Lee Everett, a man being escorted to prison as he has been declared guilty of murder. His life may seem bad right from the get go but five minutes into the game the car swerves to avoid a zombie and crashes; now he has to find out where he is, where he is going and what is going on.



Throughout the story, Lee is faced with many tough decisions and as the player you select which choices he opts for, with characters noting choices which may affect behaviour towards Lee at a later point. Some result in minor changes - whilst others have a larger effect - making the story slightly different for each player. At times, some of the larger decisions can pull some emotional strings as you feel Lee’s strife and try to make the best choice – often not in a black and white situation.

Gameplay
The Walking Dead handles much like other point ‘n’ click games on the Xbox 360 (with you moving the character around the area, interactive objects pop up when you are near) but with some fairly unique extras. During conversations the player must press one of the face buttons which corresponds to the desired choice and Lee speaks the line; this is done smoothly and never feels like the decisions are holding up progression of the story. My favourite gameplay feature was the addition of brief quick time events which occur during combat or tense situations. These interactions make the player feel more involved in the events and create a sense of understanding with Lee Everett and his predicaments throughout the game.



Graphics and Style
The graphics take the form of a comic/cel-shaded style which fits the feel of the game well. Everything is well presented with particular detail given to the facial expressions. You can easily read the emotions of the characters and see the reactions of characters to dialogue by other characters or decisions made by the player. These reactions heavily reinforce the production of an emotionally gripping tale.



Music
Music is pretty much absent throughout the game save some atmospheric ambience but the voice acting is executed well. Each character has a suited voice which also fits very well with the facial expressions to represent the thoughts and feelings of the individuals in every situation they become faced with. Every line is spoken aloud, so no dialogue reading necessary to get the full experience here.

Longevity/Replayability
The Walking Dead Episode 1 will only take 2-3 hours to complete and has little replay value as the choices each player makes the first time round are likely what the player felt was best for each situation. Some gamers may want to run it a second time making different selections for all of the major choices to see how differently the story pans out; however this adds little to playtime and ultimately the result will be very similar to the first run.

Overall
A heavily story driven and emotionally gripping game which should appeal to not only fans of the genre or comic, but also any gamers who enjoys a good story or games with a zombie theme. Graphically well-presented facial expressions are accompanied by great voice acting, providing an enjoyable experience from beginning to end. A short experience with very little replayability however the first part sets up well for further episodes. At a price of only 400MSP, players can expect good value for their money.

Rating: 8.5/10