Platform: PC

Developer: Telltale Games

Publisher: Telltale Games

Release Date: April 24th, 2012

Genre: Point-and-Click

Nerd Rating: 10 out of 10!

Recently I played through Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead for the second time, and I must say, it made me no less upset and amazed the second time around. According to Nerd Bacon’s rating system, a perfect score is reserved for the best of the best games out there, a position which I feel The Walking Dead greatly deserves and meets.

The Walking Dead takes place not in the universe of the TV show with the same name, but instead in the universe of the comic series of the same name. Due to the game taking place in the comic series universe, which was changed a lot for the TV adaption, you will see characters you know from the show, but their stories will be almost entirely different. The story revolves around university professor turned convicted murderer Lee Everett and the little girl he finds surviving on her own, Clementine, as they try to find a safe place to stay and a good group to stay with.

While most titles in the point-and-click genre rely heavily on puzzles, The Walking Dead focuses more on your dialog choices and the effect they have on you and your group of survivors. I find this especially surprising because Telltale Games is a major player in the modern point-and-click genre, and they too usually rely on puzzle solving (see Puzzle Agent for an example.) Obviously the story is the strongest aspect of The Walking Dead due to the fact that it was Telltale Games’ main focus, but I personally find the unique art-style quite satisfying as well (though I feel many will disagree.)

I found it very interesting and pretty cool that Telltale Games’ kept records of how many players chose what major choices and let you see them once you were done with a given story. (Not my choices, btw, this is a stock image.)

The acting and storytelling of The Walking Dead are in every way superb. I felt such a strong connection to the characters of the game (Clementine, to be specific) that the game was able to make me cry, a feat that no other game has accomplished. Not to mention, depending on your emotions and personality, the game will be most likely be an entirely different experience for you.

The biggest and only complaint I have about The Walking Dead are the few glitches I experienced, mainly the one in which my original save file disappeared making me start over from the beginning. The other glitch that seems to be pretty present in the game is the small pause that happens before quick-time-events and dialogue sometimes due to loading scenes. While these glitches are annoying, they just simply aren’t enough for me to take away the perfect score that this game well deserves.

While The Walking Dead does have one DLC, 400 Days, it truly isn’t the best. The DLC is extremely short and was just meant as an introduction to some of the characters you will meet in season 2. You get to play as five different protagonists as you are introduced to their stories, and the choices you make as these protagonists will effect you in season 2. The DLC isn’t the best DLC in the world, but for it’s price of $4.99, it is well worth the short amount of time it takes to complete it so you can get your own choices imported into season 2.

I don’t care if you like zombie games, I don’t care if you love point-and-clicks, I don’t care if you like The Walking Dead comics or TV show, and I don’t care if you like Telltale Games, you need to experience this game at least once. This game is the redefining game of the point-and-click genre, and it is truly a masterpiece in it’s own right. For those of you who perhaps haven’t read it, The Walking Dead even took the 4th spot on my official Nerd Bacon Top 10 Video Games List! I simply can not recommend this game enough to anyone, so please, if you haven’t already, go play this game.