The Walking Dead Episode 3

I love adventure games.  I love zombie games.  Two great tastes that could go great together.  And now, from Telltale Games, comes the adventure game version of The Walking Dead.  Adapted from the comic book (sorry, meh Walking Dead TV show!) The Walking Dead tells the story of convicted murderer Lee and his cadre of the living as they do what they can to survive in the early days of the zombie apocalypse.  This five-episode adventure game recently wrapped up its half-way point and, honestly, unless it poops the bed on the last two, this might be the best game of the year.

Simple button presses kill zombies.  Doesn't change the impact of your actions, though.

First off, this is not a hard game.  You walk around, talking to characters, occasionally using inventory items to solve very logical puzzles, and working through a few easy action scenes.  Someone used to hardcore games might even claim that Walking Dead isn't a game but an interactive movie. While this critique may have some merit, when every interaction carries as much weight as the choices I've had to make, I'll tolerate some longer cinemas. But don't think you should get up to grab a pumpkin beer while the game goes to cutscene: you may need to make a decision at any time and, if you miss it, you'll feel the consequences the rest of your game.

And it's these choices that make Walking Dead such a visceral experience.  While Lee is my avatar in the game world and my choices will define him, I am not him.  It's a lot like a video game version of Being John Malkovitch.  The game calculates every decision I make to determine how other characters will interact with me and in what happens next. This holds true not just for big decisions like, "Should I shoot this crazy lady yelling at me?" but to the smallest ones like, "Will I share a drink with this homeless man?" to game-changing decisions like, "Should I drop this air conditioning unit on this guy's head?"  Unlike many games that tout their great choice-making systems, often boiling down to Kick/Don't Kick the puppy-level choices, The Walking Dead presents actual difficult choices that mimic what the end times might look like.  There isn't enough food.  Not everyone will get his or her way.  Many characters will die.

Yes, the children characters aren't safe either.

Perhaps some players will be frustrated with the tragic tone of the overall story.  Perhaps some players will detest the fact that it's impossible to go back and change your actions.  If you take to long to tell your buddy Dale that you support him in his power struggle against hardcase Lilly, the characters will assume you are a waffling wuss.  No do overs.  While I usually despise the sense that I've missed something in a game or that I made the "wrong" choice, I find myself not caring one bit.  My choices are just a part of my Lee's story; as far as I'm concerned, that is THE story even though it won't be yours.

My only gripe concerns the timing of some of the emotional peaks and valleys of Episode 3.  Some really heavy decisions occur about half-way through the three-to-four hour runtime of the game leaving some of the less intense end events feeling minor and anti-climatic in comparison, though still enjoyable.  Aside from that, I highly encourage anyone with an interest in games, conversation systems, zombies, or stories of any kind to pick this up on Xbox 360, PS3, PC, and iOS for the low low price of five bucks (well, 15 to get all three).  It's an Amazing experience.