The Walking Dead by Telltale Games

You’re in a police car on your way to jail for murder. You’d think things couldn’t get any worse, but if you happen to be the main character in a zombie game, chances are you’re wrong.

The Walking Dead is a point-and-click adventure game by Telltale Games. It takes place in the world of the comic book series of the same name, but has a different plot and characters. As a zombie game, The Walking Dead is quite unusual. It really isn’t about zombies; instead, it focuses on the characters and how they cope with the zombie apocalypse. This isn’t a game where you slaughter hordes of undead (for that, I recommend Left 4 Dead 2, it’s fun!) If you see a horde of zombies approaching, you run.

Another unusual feature of the game is that it’s episodic. The first season consists of five episodes, of which three have been released so far.

The game progresses mostly through discussions and lighting-speed decisions you have to make. In discussions, you only have a limited amount of time to choose your reply, and what you say has a significant effect on the route the story takes. Occasionally, you find yourself facing hard decisions. Whose side do you take in a fight? Do you put an infected out of their misery? And worst of all, who do you save from the hungry zombies?

In the game, you take the role of Lee, a convicted killer who, in the face of the zombie apocalypse, ends up taking care of a young girl called Clementine. She’s the cutest little girl you’ve ever seen in a game; she’ll melt your heart. While playing the game, I ceased thinking about the game and found myself worrying about Clementine and how she’s coping.

Clementine's going to be a badass when she grows up.

The other characters are great as well. They’re agonizingly human and don’t always act rationally. At times you find yourself torn between two friends, and no matter what you do you will hurt someone’s feelings. Staying neutral will often backfire.

All of the three episodes released so far have been great, and will have you on
the edge of your seat. In my opinion, Episode 3 is the best so far, but also emotionally the heaviest. I found myself reaching for the tissue box several times, and I can’t say that for many games.