The Walking Dead

[Gwardinen]

EDIT: Oh and I killed Doug . Can't be having any others on the team who know how to use batteries.

Our reasons continue to become more horrifying.

[Jake]

I was hoping we'd have more Doug-saving folk on the forum which Doug himself hosts. You guys are all letting me down!*

* I am actually enjoying watching all of you say you've killed Doug, knowing he is reading this.

[tabacco]

I was hoping we'd have more Doug-saving folk on the forum which Doug himself hosts. You guys are all letting me down!*

* I am actually enjoying watching all of you say you've killed Doug, knowing he is reading this.

Enjoy engineering the Thumbs website!

[Gwardinen]

As soon as I read those posts and tried to go to another thread I got a database error on the site.

My first thought was that Doug really is pissed.

[Tanukitsune]

Oh man, that was you in the game? And your voice? I had no idea! Ooops!

Wait, that means you can be saved? I thought it was like the tractor thing!

Screw the girl, she knows my secret! XD

[brkl]

I saved Doug.

The reporter first didn't realize the radio didn't have batteries, then put the batteries in the wrong way round. She would have gotten us killed over something stupid eventually.

[Jake]

Oh man, that was you in the game? And your voice? I had no idea! Ooops!

Wait, that means you can be saved? I thought it was like the tractor thing!

Screw the girl, she knows my secret! XD

It's not Doug's voice, but it is Doug's visage!

Observe, in this preorder video (which actually has nothing to do with Doug being in the game -- we just thought that would be cool, for obvious reasons, but the marketing guys ran with it and turned it into a promo):

[vogon]

I watched the Giant Bomb quick look of The Walking Dead this morning, and chuckled a bit when someone mentioned "Ol' Breckon down the road."

I am so not a zombie person, but I am tempted to get in on this from the good buzz it's been getting.

[SuperHarman]

Played through the first episode and it was great. Excellent job of mixing nice small and tense zombie scenes with some good character interaction.

Don't know if this has been mentioned elsewhere, but what are the chances we can get a black/white/grey filter so the graphics match the comics a little more closely?

[Salacious Snake]

Just finished the episode. Damn, that was good. It's so crazy how so few games even try to deal with the basic elements of human drama, like familial relationships and stuff like that. I guess there's Marcus Fenix's dad, but it's almost never present in games. That was one of the things I loved so much about Heavy Rain.

Also, it's action movie 101 that you need to make people invest in the characters, or it's not exciting to put them in dangerous situations. Games almost never even try.

Of course, movies barely do either sometimes. Michael Bay could learn a thing or two from this game.

[Lechimp]

I saved Doug.

The reporter first didn't realize the radio didn't have batteries, then put the batteries in the wrong way round. She would have gotten us killed over something stupid eventually.

Hey other guy that actually saved Doug! I also picked Doug because

the reporter threw a giant fit about saving the one girl and then also threw a fit about giving her the gun so screw her.

I really enjoyed the game. It's definitely one of my favorite things Telltale has done. I'm excited to hear about the Fables games eventually, I really enjoy the comics.

[Raff]

Is there any way I can buy just the first episode for PC? I'm not big into adventure games but want to give this a shot. Fair enough if not.

[Korax]

I ended up shouting at Clementine to just go to the bathroom.

Then in the corner of the camera I could see her walk slowly towards the door and instantly felt terrible and ashamed of what I had done, and had to watch in horror as she opened the door.

I told her to wait, and she still ending up wandering over.

I really enjoyed the game so far. I especially like that the progression of puzzles was a lot more logical and intuitive than I've found in pretty much any other adventure game (

I guess I have a TV remote now? Oh, In bet I can use it to turn on those TV's in the store front. But they aren't working that well... Wait! I can totally use that brick to smash the shit out of the window!

)

I do wish that the choice at the end supported not saving either of the two. Once I realized it was timing out, I figured I'd see what happened, and was disappointed by a game over screen and checkpoint reload. Was it a consideration at any point? I ended up saving Doug (dead [wo]men tell no tales, pun horribly intended).

[pabosher]

Save Doug!

(Fuck Doug, Save Carly.)

[a purple future]

Apparently Doug is currently at 26%. Fuck that, bullets run out. Smart dudes can fix things indefinitely.

also that chick not knowing how to put batteries in the radio really pissed me off.

You know, for how utterly sick I am with zombie crap, I loved this. Easily my favorite TTG project so far. It was arguably better written than the show, so good job there Famous.

Actually it looked like I picked all the least common choices except

lying to herschel

. Makes for an interesting psych profile anyway.

[twmac]

Liked the first episode a lot. Appreciated the achievements not being based on specific choices as I find that it ruins the experience as you find yourself doing things you don't want to do. Story was excellent and there were only a few jarring moments (Herschel didn't feel quite right or in character with the man you first see in comics).

I saved Doug (am part of the 28%) mainly for selfish reasons as I actually liked both of the people.

By the way, not sure the place they are holed up in at the end of the episode is particularly easy to defend.

When is the next episode out?

[brkl]

I was surprised to see Famous' lone name credited as writer. Good job :tup:

[Gwardinen]

I was just talking to Speedy about how I'm probably going to replay this episode on my own Steam account now that I own it, since I don't know of a way to coopt my saves from my friend's profile.

I don't have a particular problem with that, but now I'm starting to be swayed by all your arguments to save Doug. However, my intention is still to completely recreate the split-second decisions of my first playthrough, even if they were bad ones. It's just going to be harder to do that now that I'm starting to think losing Doug was a really bad idea.

[Salacious Snake]

Liked the first episode a lot. Appreciated the achievements not being based on specific choices as I find that it ruins the experience as you find yourself doing things you don't want to do.

Speaking of achievements, I'm playing the PS3 version, and the trophy notifications put me off. Unlike the Xbox, you can't turn off notifications, which drives me crazy. (There is a setting that sounds like it should turn them off, but it just disables friends-related messages.)

Heavy Rain did a great thing where it waited until the end of a scene, when everything faded to black, to drop all of that stuff on you. In this, I keep hearing the tinkle and seeing a thing pop up in the corner right in the middle of the drama.

[pabosher]

I've had this 'Reply to Thread' page open all day now, because I'm still finding it really hard to put my thoughts into words about this computer game. That may be because I've not written a review in a long time, because I haven't typed long posts in a long time, or because I don't really know how I feel about the game. So I'm just going to type and hope for the best.

When chatting with Gwardinen on Twitter earlier, the subject of undeserved pride came up. When I loaded up The Walking Dead for the first time, I felt a swelling in my chest as Sean and Jake's names slowly came onto the screen. I know it's ridiculous to feel proud for guys whom I've never met - whom I'm not likely to meet in the near future - or who aren't even really aware of me as person, but I couldn't help it. Being a fan of Idle Thumbs, agreeing (largely) with their expressed opinions on the casts, and having followed their careers somewhat - in a completely unstalker-like way - I felt proud while watching the opening cinematic. This, I'm fully aware, may shape my judgement somewhat. As computer and video games are a subjective art form though, screw it; it's all about the subjective experience.

I sat down and started playing The Walking Dead around 11:30PM last night. Two and a bit hours later, I suddenly look up: realising I've finished the first episode, and that it's now time to go to sleep. Very, very rarely do I ever complete games in one sitting - even the short ones. In fact, the only other game I think I've done this with was Minerva's Den, and possibly The Shivah.

I'll admit that I've not read the comics -- I am but a poor student; it took me ages to convince myself I had the money to buy this game -- but I have watched some of the TV show. It lost my interest a couple episodes into Season Two, but I hear that I'm not alone there anyway. Anyway, my point is that I'm not really huge into the whole Zombie/horror thing. Frankly, I find it dull and uninteresting. Yes, I'm well aware that the 'hook' of TWD is that it's all about exploring our humanity, and that's what I found interesting about (some very few) parts of the TV show.

With The Walking Dead game, I felt it really did succeed in some heavy fucking parts. When faced with the soon-to-be-Walker in the motel area, I felt I knew instantly what the 'right' course of action was - giving her the gun - but I felt anxious in case she turned and shot us all, or some other unforeseen circumstance occurred. When it became clear that she was going to shoot herself, I literally closed my eyes and squealed a little at the sound of the gunshot. I felt horrible, but like I'd done what was necessary. That was pretty powerful.

That isn't to say it was perfect, though. I felt that there wasn't enough time spent in the early section of the game, wherein you meet Clementine. I knew it was a bad idea to go out at night, but only because I'd seen the TV show. I felt like the game didn't really let me spend long enough in each location - I felt the same way about the farm, the motel, etc. That being said, I realise what a mammoth undertaking a game like this is for a writer. Although I experienced maybe 30 minutes in each location, hours worth of dialogue had to be written for each individual playthrough. As a player, I felt bummed in that I wanted longer; as an observer, I can easily see why the game's length is as it is.

As for the game's writing, I... don't know. I don't want to just say 'I was impressed', because that wasn't the case. I think, actually, my response is better, in that I never (bar literally one or two words) ever thought 'Lol, what a video game'. The conversations all felt natural and 9 times out of 10 I got exactly what I wanted to out of the conversation - the only other time being when chatting to Herschel, I wanted to say that there had been someone else in the car with me, but didn't want to admit it had been a policeman. When he picked up on the 'We' bit, it jarred in that I felt like what I would have said wasn't accounted for. To incite such a response has to take something pretty special, so well done on that front.

I feel like there's so much more I want to say, but wtf wants to read this shit anyway. I will say that I felt the overall pacing was really well-done, although for the final puzzle, when they say 'HEY SOUND GUYS YOU NEED SOUND NO SERIOUSLY SOUND" I was like "SERIOUSLY. I JUST FIXED THE RADIO. CAN'T I SWITCH IT ON AND CHUCK IT?"

It was a really, really, really good interactive narrative in that respect. I hesitate to think of it like an old PnC Adventure, because I never really got stuck nor ever had any time to think about things. It felt like a living, breathing, constantly moving world, unlike the original Monkey Island for example, forever stuck in stasis.

I feel like I've focused a lot on the negatives here, but I don't want to get across the wrong impression. I really NEVER finish games in one session, unless I REALLY like them. It was a superb experience and I can't wait until the next one. Even if it's not written by Sean.

It's also one of the rare games that has convinced me to start up a second playthrough just to do everything completely differently and see what would have occurred. So there's that.

[Gwardinen]

I would note it was Steam and not Twitter we were using as I remarked that I still don't use Twitter because I'm a Luddite or something.

I'm still trying to figure out whether the unearned pride we felt is a bad thing. Why shouldn't I be extra happy for Jake and Sean because I know a little about them? If I was reviewing the game or something then it would be an issue, but for now I'm just enjoying the feeling of liking a thing some guys I've listened to made. It's kinda like when an author you like suddenly has a bestseller (though I've no idea what kinda numbers the Walking Dead is doing, I hope it's doing well - which shows my objectivity is compromised anyway).

Honestly, Speedy, my favourite comment that you made came late last night, presumably just after you'd finished the game. It went along the lines of "so the Walking Dead is actually really good, who knew?"

Who knew indeed.

[Salacious Snake]

Nice writeup, Speedy!

I'm totally going to play a second time (mostly because I know my girlfriend is going to love going along for the ride), but I don't think I'm going to do much differently. All the choices I made kinda came from the gut, and I'd feel weird going another way just to see what happens.

Is that weird?

[pabosher]

Nice writeup, Speedy!

I'm totally going to play a second time (mostly because I know my girlfriend is going to love going along for the ride), but I don't think I'm going to do much differently. All the choices I made kinda came from the gut, and I'd feel weird going another way just to see what happens.

Is that weird?

I think so, yeah. I think your first playthrough should be completely instinctual, and your second more calculated and aiming to explore the gamey-ness of it.

That being said, if you're showing your gf the game, then I'd save the game-exploration stuff until the third playthrough or something. Just go with the flow when you're showing people.

[brkl]

I am de-spoilering the following for the sake of a bad joke.

I felt it really did succeed in some heavy fucking parts.

I wasn't expecting that in a zombie game

[pabosher]

You're a terrible human being.

Also, one thing I forgot to add: the voice acting/direction in this game is /really/ good.

Oh, and when you hear the voicemail messages at the beginning of the game? Chills, dudes. Chills.