The Walking Dead

[Gwardinen]

And the stair climb to the second floor to check on poor Mark. So awesome. I gave him some of the only food rations though, wasted!

Me too! Although I didn't consider that until just now. Also, you are potentially a terrible person for thinking that.

[Cigol]

Bah

I gave both him and Larry a ration each... I was slightly disappointed to see that the energy bars I stored up from the first episode didn't carry over. I can explain it away as having been eaten over the time passed, but I thought they might be worth saving for the future and I didn't plan on telling anyone about them If I knew things carried over it's not like I'd be handing them out willy nilly in episode 2 either, since their value would be greater

[TurboPubx-16]

Spoilers for episode 2:

I very quickly made the decision to help Kenny kill Larry. In that moment I felt the risk was way too high to allow any possibility of him returning as a walker. My main objectives are to (1) keep myself alive, (2) keep Clementine safe, and (3) stay on Kenny's good side so we can get on that boat. Even if the chance of saving Larry dying was nintey-five percent, the chance of him biting one of us if we failed to revive him was 100%, consider how close we were and how small the room was. Now Clemintine is stuck in a tiny room with two zombies? I don't think so!

I also considered that, in light of the fact that everyone is infected, Larry is a ticking time-bomb. Considering his size and strength he could easily kill everyone if he were to die in his sleep back at base. Also, the last time I saved his life, he tried to kill me! It was an easy decision.

Guys, I love this game! I have just one criticism. When Lilly is confronting someone, she goes into this hysterical, hunched shoulders, I am pointing my finger at you! flourish that really takes me out of the moment.

[Lechimp]

Yes, TTG have confirmed there will be more seasons after this one.

I wonder if they'll go with a new set of characters for the next season. I guess it depends on what happens to the characters at the end of this season but it would also be cool to play as someone with a way different personality too.

[mikemariano]

Saw this from one of my Twitter followers:

It's a losing bet, Jake and Sean! Don't take it!

[Gwardinen]

Yeah there's no way you come out of that rabbit hole clean.

[Lechimp]

Maybe they could just end it with

? It'd make about as much sense as the original ending of the game.

[thainatos]

The Girlfriend and I just finished Episode 2 last night. Liked the first one more. Seemed like an intense and personal journey, while Episode 2 was more of a horror throwback.

Lee's reflection in the puddle while punching out Andy was a nice touch though.

[Salacious Snake]

My girlfriend has had nightmares from this game.

[Gditz]

So I finished both Episode 1 and 2 today and was blown away IGN.com I've never been a big fan of previous TTG games but the way The Walking Dead makes the player care about their choices is so simple yet effective. At several times my completionist mind kept asking me if I could have done more, if more lives could have been saved and if I could have kept everyone happy... Making me squirm this much about the fate of video game characters is cruel yet also what is truly fascinating about the game to me.

Started getting really bad vibes from the brother when we were searching the camp and Lee found the video recorder, said that there weren't any batteries in it and Danny answered "Good" or something to that effect. Loved the creepiness that family exuded even if it was a bit too strong in the end.

Anyhow, looking forward to the next episode.

[tankadillo]

I keep recommending this game to my friends, and I keep having a very hard time doing so. "It's an interactive movie that's mostly cut scenes with quick time events, a few simple puzzles, and moral choices! It's awesome!" Everything in that sentence immediately turns everyone off. I always have to follow up with "no guys I'm serious, it really is good! Trust me!" I need to find a better way to pitch this game.

[Twig]

I suffer from the same. It's awful!

"NO!! I SWEAR!!!" I scream, as they roll their eyes and walk away.

[Lechimp]

I'm usually just able to sell the game to people by telling them that it's a Walking Dead game and it's really awesome without having to describe the gameplay. Of course they love the gameplay but I try to avoid mentioning things like puzzles because I get the feeling people just end up thinking of things like Myst when I mention those.

[Twig]

Every time I avoid mentioning the gameplay, people ask about the gameplay. I guess no one trusts me well enough for that. ):

[Lechimp]

The only parts of the gameplay I've ever described are where you have to make hard choices like who to survive or who to give food and that usually interests them. I think it actually helps that the people I've talked to about it usually don't play that many games so they're more open to games that don't just involve shooting things.

[gregbrown]

Worth noting here that the iOS port is now out, so you can start pressing it on "non-gamers" even more easily. Works on both iPhone (4 & 4S) and iPad (2 & 3)!

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/walking-dead-the-game/id524731580?mt=8

[Cigol]

Did somebody say 'soon'?...

[Jake]

Episode 3's out today on PSN (North America), tomorrow on XBLA/Steam. I don't know when Europe/international PSN comes out.

[brkl]

You forgot your own store!

[Argobot]

Took advantage of the Steam sale and just bought the game (so now I feel a little guilty about not paying that extra $10).

[pabosher]

WHY COULDN'T THE GAME HAVE RELEASED ALREADY SO I COULD PLAY IT BEFORE I WENT TO LA I AM SAD FACE

[TurboPubx-16]

You forgot your own store!

The store you made... your own child Jacob!

[Upthrust]

Assorted thoughts, in no particular order. Big spoilers for everything in Episode 3.

I'm finally getting the hang of not asking every dialogue option possible. This game may yet train me out of my Skyrim habits.

-It's interesting how my own motivations have changed across the episodes. I had mostly forgotten about the boat plan when Chuck asked me what my plan was in Savannah, but I now realize it was the reason I began siding with Kenny about things. When he told me his plan at Hershel's farm I knew I wanted to get on that boat, but by episode 2 I mostly just stuck with Kenny because I thought he tended to be right and he and Lee were getting along well.

-I've figured for a while that I was going to have to decide between my own safety and Kenny's family, but I never expected that I would choose his family so easily, over and over. Every time I had a chance to urge Kenny to do something about Duck, I let it slide instead. Thanks for making me a good person, Video games!

-When Chuck tells you that anyone who wants one is welcome to a drink, I immediately went over to Ben. I figured the kid needs someone to treat him like an adult before he's going to start acting like one, and getting blitzed with a homeless man is as suitable a welcome to adulthood as any.

-Is there a handy metaphor for a situation in an adventure game where, instead of a newspaper-under-the-door situation where the answer is contrived, the problem itself is contrived? Getting the map from Kenny felt like that. Sure his family is dead, but he can't move to the side a little as his good friend Lee reaches past him? I guess it stood out because I tried to avoid picking up the whiskey (I didn't want Chuck to think I was stealing it, and I didn't want to deliver booze to a probable alcoholic).

-I like that race is being brought up again. I chuckled when Christa said Lee and Clem didn't look related to her, and again when Lee sheepishly admitted to being interested in Civil War history like an old white dude. This is just how race usually comes up in my day-to-day life -- not usually as an Issue to be Addressed, but something that it pops up and makes everyone feel at least a little bit awkward.

-Is there any difference between the tools you can grab from the train? I had the spike remover with me the whole time, but when I realized I was going to use it to prop open the door, I tried going back for the busted monkey wrench.

-I like Omid's reaction if you save him first. I suspect a lot of the people who saved him first weren't thinking about gender at all, but gender relations are probably on the guy's mind pretty frequently, since he's being led around by a girlfriend who seems better-suited for the zombie apocalypse than he is.

-Countdown to tears: complete.

PS:

The Telltale forums are creepin' me out. People have some pretty strong murder fantasies.

[Cleinhun]

I know it's possible to replay the game or look up alternate paths on youtube or whatever, but too me that feels like cheating. I spent most of ep. 3 wondering what would have happened if I had made *unspecified important choice* differently, but I kind of like the idea that I don't get to find out.

Also, I think this is the first time in a video game where I've made a decision based on me being angry at a character.

-Is there a handy metaphor for a situation in an adventure game where, instead of a newspaper-under-the-door situation where the answer is contrived, the problem itself is contrived?

This episode did seem more "adventure-gamey" than the first two in a few places. Did other people get that feeling?

[arccos]

This episode did seem more "adventure-gamey" than the first two in a few places. Did other people get that feeling?

Yes, but I came from the mindset it was more of an homage to classic adventure game puzzles. And it's something to break up the tension and pace the game properly.

The "rub a pencil on the etched paper" puzzle made me laugh out load. Jeeze... I've done that probably half a dozen times in adventure games. The funny part is I can't even get my cheques to properly duplicate onto the copy paper when I write one.

At times I do feel like the game could have been better if it wasn't approached from the angle of needing the puzzles, but I don't know if they would have ever been made if they had to be in some sort of "Story" genre.

Edit: After a bit of a lull in the story with Episode 2, I feel like Episode 3 was as good if not better than Episode 1. Which is to say, outstanding. Maybe because 2 didn't have that much "stuff" going on?

Two things that do annoy me, though: The pictures when you start the episodes are spoilers, and the ending "Next time on The Walking Dead" are full of them. I tried to exit out during the preview of the next episode a couple of times, but I lost progress. Bummer. So now I scowl, take off my headphones, and turn off the monitor for 5 minutes while it runs through them.