The Walking Dead: The Game Review

Format: iPad, iPhone

Developer: Telltale Games

US iTunes, App Store, iBookstore, and Mac App Store

If there is one genre from when I was a kid that seemed to have been lost it was the point and click adventure. Well lucky for us the good people at Telltale games have brought this style of game into this century. They have made games based on Jurassic Park, Back to the Future and of course The Walking Dead. The Walking Dead has been a very popular comic book for years now not to mention its hit TV show. Well this game here is its very own story set in that same universe. The Walking Dead has won numerous awards in 2012 including being named game of the year.

The Walking Dead looks fantastic lets just say that right of the bat. The whole world that Telltale games has created looks great. As do al of the games characters. Make no mistake this is a very cinematic game and each area is just full to the brim of great little details.

The core game play of The Walking Dead is most certainly that of an old school point and click adventure. Where you make your character walk over to things then tap on them to find out what they are and if they are of use. The other part of this game of course is dealing with the walkers (zombies when it is time for you to fight off a zombie this is done through a quick time event where you will need to swipe the iPad screen.

So while the games graphics are great and the game play is also a blast there is one main reason that The Walking Dead has been cleaning up at various game of the year award shows and that is the story. The guys at Telltale Game have done a wonderful job of creating a cast of characters that you actually care about. Or at the same time hate, but hate in a good way. The writing and dialogue here is absolutely first rate.

One really cool thing is that what you do does actually make a difference and can shape the story in a certain way. This ensures that The Walking Dead will have some great replay value. The way that the game is split up into episodes sounds like an excuse to charge people a fortune to finish the game, but it surprisingly works very well.

Each episode ends of a cliff hanger and I dare anyone to play the first episode and not want to know what happens in the next one. You can get a good package deal on all the episodes as season one is now complete and for a very short time Telltale are offering the first episode free of charge.

What I think is really great about the story here is that you do not even have to be a fan of The Walking Dead to appreciate it. Just someone who likes a good story will appreciate this game. I am sure that many people expected The Walking Dead game to be mindless zombie killing (although there is plenty of zombie killing) the main focus of the game is all about its story.

The Walking Dead is a master piece of a video game and most certainly worthy of its game of the year status. Rumours are flying around that a season two is well under way so you better get this downloaded now. If not expect to see a zombie at your door looking to eat your brains.

US iTunes, App Store, iBookstore, and Mac App Store