The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead is the highly praised arcade hit that has won countless amounts of GOTY awards (over 70!), Well the exciting news is that the On Disc edition has now been released with all 5 episodes on 1 disc. The Walking Dead is a game based on Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead Comics and also ties into the TV show every so often. It’s a point and click adventure so don’t be expecting to run through countless zombies whilst simultaneously gunning them down.
 
The key idea of this game is all about moral decision making, when each crucial decision changes what happens in the game really entails each player to have a separate emotional attachment to their own game. Your choices, both large and small, have repercussions, and can change the course of the remainder of the game even if it’s only a slight shift. Split-second choices made later in the game can rewrite how people react to you regardless of how you've treated them up to that point, making each and every action all the more important. Inaction, too, is usually an option, amplified by the inclusion of a timer that makes it possible to completely miss a chance at making a decision, forcing you to sit on the side-lines and watch whatever your indifference has brought. It’s decisions like this that make the game play so deep and immersive unparalleled by any other game to date.
 
Incredibly strong writing and voice-acting give the narrative the spotlight it deserves. The main 2 characters (Lee and Clem) are so well written it’s impossible not to invest a strong emotional attachment for the two. The vast majority of the characters you interact with are well-developed, and it’s hard not to feel compassion for every character you meet, making you actually care about who you foster relationships with and who you choose to disappoint. What’s more, your actions have an impact not just on the events that you encounter, but in how people treat you.
 
The games graphics keep Robert Kirkmans The Walking Dead’s identity with some lovely comic book style textures and colouring. This makes the whole gaming experience feel unique, as if you are in the comic book itself. There is an incredible amount of replay ability in this game, for each option in the game (for which there are hundreds) it leads to a different story outcome, and so by the end you really want to see what you could of done differently and who you could of ultimately saved. 

The tense game play coupled with a surprising amount of story line twists, deep character development and moral dilemmas keep you hooked to this game until the ultimate tear jerking finale. This is a truly astounding game and one any avid gamer should pick up and for that reason I award this game 10 out of 10.