Reflections: The Walking Dead and Becoming the Character

I’m not really a zombie person, and I haven’t read the graphic novels or watched the show, but I really love the Walking Dead games. I don’t know what it is about Telltale’s style… but it’s refreshing. I played The Wolf Among Us as well, and I knew that I just wanted to devour everything they put out. Really, all their games are are interactive stories. You don’t do much other than decide what your character is going to say and the every so often quicktime event. But these games are so engaging. Why?

Telltale games like The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us are packed with action and intrigue. There is really never a dull moment in the games. Once you think there is, you’re shown that there is no safety for any of the characters immediately. You get drawn into the game through your interaction with the characters. When I played the first season of Walking Dead, I became really attached to the character Carley. The interaction between her and the main character Lee was really interesting, and I felt as if my character was starting to develop feelings toward her. I thought that there could be a good point among all of the pain of the zombie apocalypse. But in a moment of chaos and high tensions, another party member shoots and kills Carley. I was devastated. Her death affected me fiercely. I had become attached to her. After all, I had saved life earlier on in the game. She wouldn’t have made it that far. Lee and Carley always stayed on each other’s sides during arguments amongst the group, and they had a special connection. But that was torn away from me. My goal of developing something that was good in this mess was destroyed.

It may just be a story, but it changed based on my actions. In Telltale games they really keep you engaged by making all your decisions count. They even treat their games as stories like tv shows, splitting them into seasons and episodes. All of your decisions carry over, and decisions you make can drastically change your story. After I played The Wolf Among Us, it was really interesting to talk to my friends who also played to find out what they did and how different their stories were. I also actually really enjoy the fact that the episodes are split up with staggered releases. There isn’t such a big gap in between them that players become disinterested, but enough time that Telltale can listen to the players’ opinions and put in things that they want to see. For example, the Carley/Lee romance would have never been an option if it weren’t for players who felt that connection between them and really wanted to be able to pursue it.

I’m just gonna throw out that I don’t really like quicktime events in games. I usually find them annoying. When I’m playing an action/adventure game, I don’t want to just stop what I’m doing and press a button really quickly or lose. However, it works really well in games such as The Walking Dead. While most of my time in the game is spent reading, reacting, and making choices, in times of high energy or struggle rapidly pressing a key or pressing it once quickly really gets the adrenaline going. When your character is struggling, you feel the fear and need to react with them. It brings you deeper into the story. And because Telltale’s games are all very dark and intense, this works perfectly.

I could rant and rave about The Walking Dead for days. I never know what to expect when I go into a new episode, and I always play an episode through in one sitting and then struggle to stop myself from moving on to the next one so that I can have more to play later. Taking on the role of these characters in a dangerous world is intriguing, and I really feel as if I’m put in their position. Whether I am Lee in the first season trying to make his way in the apocalypse after having a troubled past and now trying to make up for killing a man, or Clementine in season two who developed from an innocent little girl into a survivalist who has to make tough choices to survive, I take on the roles of these characters fully in their struggle.

#reflections #thewalkingdead #rpg #interactivestory