You know the drill by now. Telltale releases a new episode of The Walking Dead, and Geekscape gets a zombie hard-on about it while swearing we’re not on the company’s payroll (really… we’re not!).

If you’re hoping for anything different this time around, you might as well go read something else (I’d recommend our weekly Walking Dead column, or at least something on Geekscape). Or you could simply put up with it and listen to how freaking INCREDIBLE this experience was, especially now that it’s come to an end. And what an end it was.

So let’s get to it! There will be light spoilers ahead, so I’d refrain from reading until you’ve finished the episode!

The first chapter of Telltale’s The Walking Dead launched just seven months ago, but it feels as though it’s been years: it seems so long ago that Lee was a prisoner in that police cruiser: it’s been nearly a lifetime since he found Clementine hidden in that treehouse: ages have passed since the group was starving in the motor pool: Duck and Katjaa left us abruptly so very, very long ago. This is a testament to the unparalleled character design of the title: none of these individualss existed just seven months ago, but now each and every one of them seems so real and so different than when we were first introduced to them. The simple fact that I feel as though I personally knew these characters is an accomplishment that in my opinion, no other game has achieved before. And it’s also why it’s so hard to say goodbye to them (and we’ve said goodbye to most of them)!

As amazing as Telltale’s The Walking Dead is, it’s also an extremely hard game to review. Not because I don’t know what to score it or something silly like that, but because if I reveal one major spoiler and one person decides to read this before playing, I’ve ruined the entire experience, and I wouldn’t wish that upon my worst enemy (well, maybe that one ex-girlfriend). The Walking Dead is all about your experience. Not how it ended for me, not the decisions that I made, but you, and only you. It’s like The Sixth Sense: you don’t walk around asking people if they’ve seen it, and then blurt out the twist if they say that they haven’t. If that sounds like something you would do, then you’re an awful person and I hope someone ruins this game for you, but it’s not going to be me.

As the fourth chapter, Around Every Corner, came to a close, our survivors were left in pretty dire straights. The final moments of the episode were among the most jaw dropping we’d seen so far: a horde of walkers on route to Savannah, Clementine kidnapped, and Lee with a fresh walker-bite on his wrist… Yes. The main character… that you’re playing as! LEE WAS BITTEN! HOW COULD THAT HAPPEN!?

I had so many extreme emotions going through me in those closing moments. I was angry because I liked the character so much, and unless his hand was quickly removed (which these survivors don’t have a clue about), things were not going to end well. At the same time, I was excited: it’s not often that games surprise me anymore, and this was something that I never, ever saw coming. Where could things possibly go from there? This had to have a happy ending, right? After all this game had put me through, I really should have known better.

No Time Left fittingly wastes no time getting started. Within moments, we’re forced to make arguably the toughest, most cringe-inducing decision of the entire game’s duration. A decision has to be made about Lee’s bite, and just like the beginning of Episode 2, during Ben’s introduction with the bear-trap, the decision to remove a limb is a tough and grisly one (and one that Telltale is going to make us experience every moment of). As disturbing as AMC’s The Walking Dead can sometimes be, you’re still just a passive TV viewer. Here, you’re not just watching, you’re making every tough decision, stabbing every walker, removing every limb with a bone-saw and oftentimes worse. Your choices effect the group, it’s your fault when others die, and it’s you and the people close to you that will suffer if you make a bad decision (and you’ll make lots of them). In writing this review, I realized that I often spent more time thinking about how to react to something while playing The Walking Dead than I do in real life. That’s another testament to how well this game is crafted: I’m constantly worried that something I say will be taken the wrong way, and I sincerely care about what these character’s think of me. Is that messed up or what?

No Time Left takes The Walking Dead‘s already fantastic presentation, and somehow makes it even better. It’s hard to put a finger on, but something here just felt different, maybe because it was a constant process of saying goodbye to characters we’ve grown to love. Vocal performances were nearly perfect (as they have been in every episode), and music and sound effects were also at their best. The cinematography of this episode is what really impressed me: as Lee escaped up the hospital’s elevator shaft in the introduction, with light rays shining through the dusty halls of each walker infested floor, I realized that the world of The Walking Dead has never been more beautiful.

Unfortunately, No Time Left was also the shortest episode of the bunch. I say unfortunately only because while I couldn’t wait to see the conclusion and where our characters would end up, it was an experience that I never wanted to end. The plot of the episode is the rescue of Clementine from her unknown kidnapper and the story makes a straight b-line to this confrontation. While short, the pacing of this episode is perfect, and I felt as though if a single moment had been cut, we’d be losing out on something meaningful. Every line of dialogue, every tough decision I was forced to make (did they seem tougher than ever to anyone else?), every second that passed was absolutely essential to the plot and understanding of this bleak, bleak finale.

And the finale is bleak. As I said earlier, chances of a happy ending to this story ended when you pressed the ‘Start’ button. Even though the episode was the shortest, it also includes the best moment in the entire series (of which there were many): Lee coming face to face with Clementine’s kidnapper. This sequence not only ties the entire series together, it also plays completely on the specific decisions that the player has made going back to the beginning of the first episode. It’s an incredible, self-referential moment that twisted all of my previous choices and threw them back in my face. While it brought back some very dark memories, the sequence acted as both a story summation, a psychological profile and a chess game at the same time. I don’t recall another game that had ever put me in that position before and it’s yet another testament to how the Walking Dead has taken the Adventure Game genre to another level.

As always, I played the PS3 version of the game. As is common with playing The Walking Dead on the platform (again, I’ve only played on PS3, so I can’t vouch for other versions), there were occasional technical issues that kept the game from being perfect. For me, the framerate dropped a little more often than I’d have liked, and as I’ve mentioned before, there were sometimes brief pauses while the console loaded the next camera angle. Annoying and distracting, but not nearly enough to be very detrimental to the experience.

As the episode progressed I slowly realized how things were going to end and I was both shocked and helplessly drawn to the inevitable. When the time finally came and my assumptions were correct, it hit me much harder than I’d expected and for the first time ever, a video game brought tears to my eyes. Yes. Actual tears.

As the final lines were spoken and the game faded to black for the first time without a ‘To Be Continued’ message, I realized that I couldn’t have asked for a better conclusion. The credits rolled and I was mesmerized, frozen. The Walking Dead was not only the best game I’d play this year, but one of the best gaming experiences of my entire life. I just can’t believe it’s over.

Thanks Lee. Thanks Clementine. Thanks Telltale.

I can’t wait to experience it all again. I can’t wait to make different decisions just to see how things turn out. Most of all, I can’t wait for the announced Season Two! 

The Walking Dead: Episode 5 – No Time Left scores a heartbroken 5/5.

PS: Make sure to stay through the credits. You can thank me later.

It felt like October would never arrive. Not that there’s anything particularly wrong with September: it’s typically a nice crisp end to those unbearably hot Summer nights. But October meant it would be time for another episode of Telltale’s The Walking Dead. 

Telltale pulled another fast one on us. Just as with episode three, the release date was announced only a day before the episode was actually set to come out. As I mentioned after the date was revealed, I absolutely love that they’ve been doing this: when I saw the date, I said “OH SHIT” instead of “Oh Cool, just a few more weeks”.

In case you need a refresher, Geekscape is IN LOVE with this game (check out our reviews of the previous three episodes here, here, and here). Jonathan has called the Telltale series “the best iteration of The Walking Dead” on numerous occasions, and I’ve gone on to declare it my favorite piece of zombie fiction period. I’ve played a lot of games this year, but at this point The Walking Dead sits atop the pile as the best gaming experience I’ve had in 2012.

There are light spoilers ahead. If you’ve managed to listen to all of our praise without yet playing the game: first, what is wrong with you? Second, stop reading this and go play it unless you hate things that are awesome.

The end of Long Road Ahead (hopefully you’ve picked your jaw up off the floor by now) found our survivors arriving in the city of Savannah. The alone, broken soul that used to be Kenny is determined to find a boat in the river city to take himself and the rest of the group far away from the horrors that they’ve faced. Clementine has also been talking to a mysterious male on the radio, who can’t wait for her to get to the city.

In playing the previous episodes, you likely know pretty much what to expect from this one: great writing, characters that you really care about, countless gruesome, disturbing moments, and a conclusion that will stick with you for days and leave you itching for more.

The episode begins with the group walking into Savannah on their mission to reach the river. Not even a few minutes after entering town, shit goes down and hordes of walkers shamble towards the location of the survivors. This forces  Lee and the others to break into a nearby house through some pretty disturbing means. The house becomes a makeshift base for the survivors, but they won’t stay a unified group for long: while some group members wish to leave in search of a boat, others want to stay to take care of the injured.

Just like in previous episodes, Around Every Corner does nearly everything very well. The game looks great as always, with its uniquely styled cel-shaded look. Voice acting is among the best in gaming: even with the distinct visuals, I found myself often forgetting that I was looking at something animated, the performances are simply that believable. The plot is strong, but at the same time does not seem as well paced as the previous episodes. This one also lasts a bit longer than past chapters, though I almost wish that it didn’t: I felt like certain scenes dragged on for longer than they needed to.

I also came across a few technical issues that were not present in Long Road Ahead (though Starved for Help did contain some of them). Gameplay was often very choppy, with cuts between camera angles sometimes freezing the action for a second or two before buffering enough to continue. I also had an incident where a muzzle flash decided not to go away, and instead chose to light the remainder of the scene very awkwardly. Of course, neither of these are game breaking issues, but do add a high level of distraction to an otherwise extremely polished experience. Hopefully any issues present here will be resolved for the release of the finale, No Time Left. I played the PS3 version of the game, so I cannot vouch for whether or not these issues are present in other editions.

Just as with prior episodes, the best part of the Telltale version of The Walking Dead is the level of control that you feel. You are the leader of this group, you are responsible for everyones well being, and if anything happens, that’s on your head. I can’t think of any time in my many years of game playing where I have felt like this, or especially where I have cared about a group of characters as much as I do here. I swear Telltale, if No Time Left brings any harm to Clementine, there’ll be hell to pay.

I also love the very noticeable ways that the games characters have grown: Clementine has morphed from a scared little girl to a brave as hell, extremely useful member of the group, and Lee himself has adapted from a man, damaged and bitter from his past, to a father and leader. These are characters that feel human and real, and since you’ve been through so much together, it feels like you personally know them. I have never had this feeling, with any other game in history.

Around Every Corner definitely hits its high point with its conclusion. Unlike previous chapters (which felt much more resolved when the credits rolled), this one ends with a scream-at-your-TV cliffhanger just a few moments after a FREAKING MAJOR plot point.   I seriously have no idea what could possibly happen in the finale, and I both don’t want to find out (out of fear for my beloved characters) and cannot wait.

It had to be impossibly hard to follow the nearly perfect Long Road Ahead, and while not entirely successful, Telltale still gave us a great chapter here and a nice calm before the final storm. Overall, I feel like The Walking Dead: Episode 4 – Around Every Corner was probably the weakest episode of the game so far. Of course, when you’re talking about the weakest link of the best game of the year, it is still and incredible experience. In my opinion, it simply didn’t flow as flawlessly as previous episodes have, and the overall plot was not nearly as interesting as those that we’ve received in the past. That being said, the conclusion of the episode was quite possibly the strongest yet, with an insane cliffhanger that simply leaves you itching for more.

And itching I am. As much as I do not want this experience to end, I cannot wait for another taste.

The Walking Dead: Episode 4 – Around Every Corner scores a solid 4.5/5. I’ll say it again. Talltale’s The Walking Dead is the best game that I’ve played this year. I cannot wait for the finale, and I am insanely glad that we’ll be getting a second season.

Now Telltale, just keep Clementine safe. Or else.

In early April and July, Jonathan reviewed Episode 1 and Episode 2 of Telltale Games’ foray into The Walking Dead universe. To refresh your memory, he wholeheartedly recommended it, gave it a perfect score, and basically told you to buy it if you’re a fan of things that are wonderful. I did… and now it’s time to reflect on the recently released Episode 3… which is possibly the best episode yet.

In Jonathan’s reviews, he called Telltale’s game series “the best iteration of The Walking Dead”. I feel even stronger than that about it: The Walking Dead by Telltale Games is my favorite piece of zombie fiction. Period. It’s also one of the best gaming experiences I’ve had all year.

Now be warned! There are spoilers ahead. If you haven’t played the game yet, do not read beyond this point. Just do yourself a favor and play it!

As we told you back in July, Episode Two – Starved For Help was insane. It upped the ante on literally everything we were introduced to in A New Day. It was more intense, it was more disturbing, the decisions were tougher, and we really got a sense of just how bleak this world was becoming. The episode was stunning from the get go and was full of literal jaw-dropping moments. I’m getting chills just thinking about it again.

Again, the episodic layout works perfectly here. At the close of Starved For Help, I was itching for more, which makes the journey feel so much sweeter when the next episode finally arrives. Long Road Ahead was set to release by the end of August. The end of the month was here, with no sign of the game, when all of a sudden it popped up on PSN! What an awesome surprise! Of course, there’d be many more surprises to come as I started up the episode…

The chapter opens a week after the events of Starved For Help. The group is still taking shelter at the motor inn after retrieving a wealth of food from an apparently abandoned station wagon (which I was against at the end of Episode 2). We can see that the group has had trouble however, as the outside perimeter is littered with arrows and debris from battles against passing bandits.

In Macon, Lee and Kenny are off in search of medical supplies from the pharmacy. It’s here, within a few minutes of beginning the episode, that we’re already shoved into a tough decision. A young woman bursts into the street, screaming for help, hurt, walkers in tow. She’s quickly bit. So what do you do? Do you do her a favor and put her out of her misery with a bullet but risk that the walkers will be drawn to the sound? Or use her to keep the walkers busy so we can safely grab any supplies that are left?

Remember, you’re playing a video game, so the choice should be obvious: do what’s best for your character. The screaming girl isn’t real. She never was and never will be. She doesn’t even get a name. Yet for some reason I care. She’s only introduced seconds before you’re left to determine her fate, but I feel sorry for her, and morally, I feel like I need to help her. And as the decision meter dwindles, I have to make my choice quickly. Again, Telltale does a great job of making you responsible for the outcome… and this opening decision is the easiest one of the episode!

Have I mentioned how stressful this game is? I dread having to make decisions in The Walking Dead more than I do in real life. I’m constantly wondering how different the outcomes might be if I had made a different choice. Sometimes, the game notifies me with a message stating what characters will remember which of my decisions and I immediately wonder, was this the best outcome?

I often found myself wondering things like “maybe if someone else would have lived, Ben wouldn’t be giving me a deathly glare right now and maybe Clementine wouldn’t look so sad all the time. Maybe someone else wouldn’t have to die.” As mentioned in the previous reviews, the choices you’re presented with are hard, game altering, and permanent. If you make a poor decision and it gets someone killed or hurt, there isn’t any going back from there and these decision carry over from episode to episode, effecting who is left in your party to help you and providing you with different story lines. For example, I chose to save Doug and not Carley way back in Episode 1, and although he’s been a big help, Jonathan saved Carley and it opened the possibility of a budding romantic interest in Episode 3.

Are there negatives? What few there were in the first two episodes seem to be fixed here. Playing the game on PS3, the only issue I had with Starving For Help were some technical ones. The game was very choppy, sometimes pausing for seconds to load a different camera angle. It was by no means a game ruining problem, but it was annoying, distracting, and definitely did take away from the flow of the game. I’m happy to say that these issues appear to be resolved, and Long Road Ahead was a buttery smooth experience.

As for the story and gameplay, both are further improved. It isn’t long into the chapter before literally everything goes to shit for the group of survivors. There’s a suspected traitor in the group – someone is stealing from the already short amount of supplies. The survivors quickly jump into blaming Ben, the most recent addition. But before we have a chance to resolve anything, the compound is attacked by bandits, which in turn brings in the zombies, drawn by the gunfire.

The sequence does do two things new to the series. You get a first person shooter perspective as you shoot at bandits and zombies from behind cover to try and rescue the other survivors. You also get to play as one of the other survivors for a brief turn. But the protective walls of the motel are down and the chaos forces the already splintered and tense group to pack into an RV, leaving everything behind in an attempt to escape with their lives.

At this point, I’m already stressed out and I’ve only gone through the Episode’s first set piece. I’m on the edge of my seat and I have no clue about how the plot is going unfold. And there’s still the matter of the traitor in our midst. Telltale has done an incredible job in presenting the game. I don’t remember the last time that a zombie survival story felt so fresh, and I certainly don’t remember the last time I was as attached to characters as I am with these ones. Just when you think that you’ve put some distance between yourself and the bandits, and that things may be starting to cool off, Telltale punches you in the gut with an even more intense situation than the one you just witnessed.

Even moreso than the presentation and gameplay, this is where Telltale’s series really  shines: the writing. As if Episode 2 wasn’t filled with enough shocking and stressful moments, Long Road Ahead doesn’t go 10 minutes without throwing you a serious emotional curve-ball. Literally no one is safe in the storyline and I spent much of my time playing with my jaw on the floor or yelling at the TV. The characters are detailed, believable and three dimensional, one minute acting as your advocates and sometimes as your opposition.

And again, you feel actively responsible for all of them, because they are still the living. To reiterate our previous reviews, the game is incredibly good at making you feel like your decisions matter. Choices have a lasting impression not only in the current episode, but subsequent ones as well. This makes re-playability very high. I can definitely see myself going through the title a few times to see just what could happen if I make different choices.

Eventually, the survivors find a train, and after some trial and error, manage to get it running. It seems as though they’ve hit a stroke of luck, as it looks like the track is set to take them exactly where they want to be: the safety of the ocean and a boat. Even a helpful hermit who calls the train home has offered to come with them and assist where he can.

Hopefully by now you’ve learned that things will quickly go from bad to worse again… and the most shocking moment of the episode is yet to come. In fact, this heartbreaking moment was the highlight of the episode for me. Just when you think things couldn’t get worse for the group… when you think that things have to turn around, that they couldn’t possibly become any bleaker, they do. And in this moment (you’ll know the one), Telltale puts the gamer in the center of a situation that neither the Walking Dead comic or TV show have come close to handling. It might be the biggest moment of the entire series.

As I stated earlier, I love what Telltale has done here. They’ve taken a tired genre (zombie, not adventure), reinvigorated it, and turned the experience into pure gold. Everyone involved should be extremely proud of themselves, and every adventure fan, zombie fan, and gamer in general owes it to themselves to pick the series up. I wish I could be more critical, perhaps find some negative points. And I swear that I’m not on Telltales’ payroll. But put plainly, The Walking Dead game is a brilliant experience, from the moment it opens, until the second it closes. And I can’t wait for Episode 4 to get another taste.

The Walking Dead: Episode 3 – Long Road Ahead gets a 5/5… easily (just not so easy for your nerves).