The Walking Dead Game Narrative

Dylan Broussard

Tanya Sasser

English 101

24 September 2015

The Walking Dead Game Review

The Walking Dead, a game by Telltale Games, is a game based around a zombie apocalypse that has started in modern day Georgia. You play as ex-history professor Lee Everett. You and your new friend Clementine, a nine year old orphan, must now survive this new way of life. The Walking Dead is different from other games. You as a player get to design the story. The things you say, the actions you do, and every other choice you make will affect the outcome of the game. The developers used plot, characters, and mood/atmosphere to effectively create a exciting and action packed game.

The plot of The Walking Dead is pretty simple to understand. You, Lee Everett, must survive a zombie apocalypse. You start out with nothing, but depending on the choices you make, you might gain friends and other things to help you on your journey. I liked that your choices affect the outcome of the story. Whether you are nice and honest to everyone or you choose to become a hateful liar, the story might change. I am glad that I could feel as I was a part of the story. I felt that I was in Lee Everett’s shoes.

screenshot from The Walking Dead

For example, in this photo you have the choice of what to say to Clementine. These choices not only affect the present, but will affect your future The choices that were made were my choices. Overall, being able to partially be a part of a character’s life and feel what they feel is what I believe made this game’s plot amazing and why it won Best Game of the Year in 2012.

The mood and atmosphere of The Walking Dead brings the game to life. Mood is defined as, “a state or quality of feeling at a particular time”(Dictionary.com). Things like anger, happiness, confusion, and sorrow are a few examples of the many things you and the characters might feel during gameplay. As you played The Walking Dead you feel like you were in the movie theatre, watching a horror movie. You felt scared. You felt the suspense pouring out of the screen. You felt the tears of the characters as they wept. It was all I asked for in a game and more. I believe that I felt the most emotion when Kat took Duck into the woods to kill him but killed herself instead, and you sat there and watched him cry as he looked over his wife’s dead body, trying to decide if he wanted to, or could actually kill his son.

kenny crying about his son's death

Each character and the mood they bring to the story are all special in their own way.

The characters of The Walking Dead each play a specific role in the game. The things said could either make or break a friendship. It is amazing how each and every character reacted to the speech choices you made. I really wish you could play through the eyes of each character.

walking_dead characters

I understand that this would of been hard to do since characters were dying or leaving left and right. It was nice to be in the shoes of a character such as Lee. It made you think of choices not only of what is best for you, but for Clementine as well.

The Walking Dead was a very intense game that puts you on the edge of your seat wanting to know what is in store in the next episode. It has a creative story that is warped around the choices you choose to make. It has atmosphere that will drive your emotions wild. It also has very unique characters that make you question human nature. It is an incredible game that should be played by everyone.