THE WALKING DEAD: SEASON ONE (X360)
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Publisher: Telltale Games.
Developer: Telltale Games. Released: April-November 2012. Genre: Point 'n' Click; Adventure. Other versions: PS3; PC. Posted 13th April 2013. By Shane Battams © 2013 |
The first season of Telltale’s The Walking Dead is filled to the brim with moments that shock, disturb and emotionally wreck the player, and it is these instances that make it stand above most games this year. Very few of these are covered in my full review so as to avoid spoilers. The purpose of this article, on the other hand, is to discuss some of these stand-out moments in depth. This article is those who have played all the episodes, and hopefully will stir some discussion – so tells us your highlights via the comments box! With that out of the way, let’s begin.
*DO NOT READ THIS if you plan to play The Walking Dead, frequent spoilers below*
I think Lee Everett is perhaps the most fully-realised character in recent memory. It’s interesting because though you control responses, Tellate still create a personality for him. You gain the sense that this is a very conflicted hero, feeling guilty for abandoning his family back in Macon and for murdering a Senator who was having an adulterous affair with his wife. You admire his drive to protect Clementine, who he feels his way of seeking redemption. It doesn’t leave too much to interpretation, yet gamers can shape much of his behaviour throughout the five episodes. Perhaps you will opt for the morally positive options more often than not. Maybe you’ll give Lee an extremely aggressive personality. Or, you can play the mute, opting for silence through most of the game. It’s incredibly interesting, and that alone gives way to multiple playthroughs.
The thing about TWD is that the choices you make often are never morally explicit. While it’s interesting to choose a side on games like Mass Effect or Fable, TWD runs with the idea that every choice has a consequence and will usually p!ss-off at least one person. During the first episode, Everett and crew stumble upon a drug store and barely escape a zombie attack. It is called into question whether Duck, the son of Kenny, has been bitten. You must then decide whether to side with Kenny and fend off the formidable anger of Larry, or agree with Larry and p!ss-off Kenny in the process. It’s a stepping-stone as to whether you establish a bond with Kenny, or if you give him a reason to abandon you once Episode 5 comes around. Larry’s brash dialogue is off-putting, but at the same time, you can’t help but worry if Duck has been bitten. Decisions get much harder from there.
*DO NOT READ THIS if you plan to play The Walking Dead, frequent spoilers below*
I think Lee Everett is perhaps the most fully-realised character in recent memory. It’s interesting because though you control responses, Tellate still create a personality for him. You gain the sense that this is a very conflicted hero, feeling guilty for abandoning his family back in Macon and for murdering a Senator who was having an adulterous affair with his wife. You admire his drive to protect Clementine, who he feels his way of seeking redemption. It doesn’t leave too much to interpretation, yet gamers can shape much of his behaviour throughout the five episodes. Perhaps you will opt for the morally positive options more often than not. Maybe you’ll give Lee an extremely aggressive personality. Or, you can play the mute, opting for silence through most of the game. It’s incredibly interesting, and that alone gives way to multiple playthroughs.
The thing about TWD is that the choices you make often are never morally explicit. While it’s interesting to choose a side on games like Mass Effect or Fable, TWD runs with the idea that every choice has a consequence and will usually p!ss-off at least one person. During the first episode, Everett and crew stumble upon a drug store and barely escape a zombie attack. It is called into question whether Duck, the son of Kenny, has been bitten. You must then decide whether to side with Kenny and fend off the formidable anger of Larry, or agree with Larry and p!ss-off Kenny in the process. It’s a stepping-stone as to whether you establish a bond with Kenny, or if you give him a reason to abandon you once Episode 5 comes around. Larry’s brash dialogue is off-putting, but at the same time, you can’t help but worry if Duck has been bitten. Decisions get much harder from there.
Lee faces a number of tricky decisions, more so as the season progresses and you become attached to the characters
Episode 2 perhaps highlights this best. Immediately from the outset, you must decide the fate of an individual trapped in a modified bear trap. As much as you can scramble to free him by trying to break the chain or cutting the tree, his fate becomes clear: you either have to amputate his leg or leave him there as zombie chow. This decision really doesn’t have a happy ending, and either way it leaves you feeling heartless afterwards. At the end of the Episode 2, you find an abandoned car filled with supplies. Kenny and his family are on it like a shot, but Clementine argues “we don’t know whose car that is”. I found myself siding with her, feeling that our bond together would be better than any food, and this decision has far-reaching consequences later in the season. But I also could see people thinking about survival first and foremost, and if stealing ensures that, so be it.
A difficult moment comes when deciding the fate of Larry, who suffers a heart attack as a consequence of the strain of being incarcerated with the rest of Lee’s group by a sinister family. Either way, Kenny smashes his head in, but much like before, your actions will have consequences on how Kenny, Lily and Clementine view you as the season progresses. My survival instincts kicked in, and I restrained Lily while Kenny dealt the blow. Now, if you were to have asked me what I would have done in Episode 1, I could smash his head in with no conscience. But as you learn that he is merely a grieving father trying to protect his daughter, the human side of me felt conflicted. Again, this decision has no clear moral boundary.
A difficult moment comes when deciding the fate of Larry, who suffers a heart attack as a consequence of the strain of being incarcerated with the rest of Lee’s group by a sinister family. Either way, Kenny smashes his head in, but much like before, your actions will have consequences on how Kenny, Lily and Clementine view you as the season progresses. My survival instincts kicked in, and I restrained Lily while Kenny dealt the blow. Now, if you were to have asked me what I would have done in Episode 1, I could smash his head in with no conscience. But as you learn that he is merely a grieving father trying to protect his daughter, the human side of me felt conflicted. Again, this decision has no clear moral boundary.
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The decisions you make are tough, but more upsetting is the prospect of death. Let’s be frank here: a majority of the people you encounter die. Telltale has crafted such human characters that their deaths leave you genuinely affected. And it takes its toll, because by Episode 4, almost all of the characters we started the game with are gone. Kenny and Clem remain, as well as Episode 2 newcomer Ben. The deaths of the people before, we learn, could have been avoided. Ben’s actions have huge consequences, and while it’s easy to remain angry at him, he was just trying to help. Is what he did any different to me and Kenny killing Larry?
Unfortunately, it feels as if Telltale took the reins on Episode 4 and begun to mould it so the final episode fits. The only main choice is whether you decide to save Ben, the aforementioned cause of four deaths, or let him fall to his death. Chuck, a homeless person introduced in Episode 3, dies no matter what. And one interesting character, Molly, disappears at the end of Episode 4, though do some digging around and you find out a very interesting backstory regarding her and the forces of Crawford. We begin to invest in Omid and Christa, both of whom are pretty likable despite their late-season introduction. It’s also difficult to play this episode at spots, partly because of horrific scenes such as burying a zombified child in the backyard, and partly because the relationship between Lee and Clementine is erratic during this episode.
Unfortunately, it feels as if Telltale took the reins on Episode 4 and begun to mould it so the final episode fits. The only main choice is whether you decide to save Ben, the aforementioned cause of four deaths, or let him fall to his death. Chuck, a homeless person introduced in Episode 3, dies no matter what. And one interesting character, Molly, disappears at the end of Episode 4, though do some digging around and you find out a very interesting backstory regarding her and the forces of Crawford. We begin to invest in Omid and Christa, both of whom are pretty likable despite their late-season introduction. It’s also difficult to play this episode at spots, partly because of horrific scenes such as burying a zombified child in the backyard, and partly because the relationship between Lee and Clementine is erratic during this episode.
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Episode 5 feels like the cathartic conclusion we deserve for investing in the first four episodes. Perhaps it is so potent because of the final moments with Lee and the Stranger, and Lee with Clementine. He knows everything Lee has done up until this point, including whether he stole from the abandoned car which belongs to The Stranger himself. He may praise you for leaving it alone, but then chastises you for any morally ambiguous actions which occurred beforehand. Considering how so much of TWD is morally ambiguous, you can’t help but feel awful after his verdict. And the last few minutes of TWD are so moving. The interaction between Lee and Clementine is hard to watch because we have seen these two grow a strong bond throughout this story. Lee’s death may seem linear, but it perhaps symbolises the line of fate. And, despite his search to find it, he can only claim redemption when he’s at rest. We watch Lee guide Clementine one more time, as he helps her escape, all the while knowing that he’s about to die. I opted for Clementine to kill Lee, as it seems only fitting after what happened with Larry. It’s still incredibly hard to watch, making me shed tears the first time.
So how about Season 2? I predict that we will be following an older version of Clementine through Season 2, which would be interesting for sure. Maybe decisions made in Season 1 will affect the events of Season 2, which would be incredibly dynamic. Perhaps Clementine will be either battle-hardened or traumatised by what she’s experienced in Season 1, or maybe Telltate will do something entirely different.
So how about Season 2? I predict that we will be following an older version of Clementine through Season 2, which would be interesting for sure. Maybe decisions made in Season 1 will affect the events of Season 2, which would be incredibly dynamic. Perhaps Clementine will be either battle-hardened or traumatised by what she’s experienced in Season 1, or maybe Telltate will do something entirely different.