When the zombie apocalypse comes, there will be more than bloodshed. Society will crumble. Infrastructure that took centuries to build will be destroyed in days. And families will be torn apart.
When Robert Kirkman created the graphic novel series The Walking Dead, it was this post-apocalyptic world that he described. By putting his characters in extreme situations, he wove an intricate tale of personal development through adverse experience.
This powerful narrative has since been converted into a hit TV series by the same name, and (most recently) a videogame series.
Exploring The Walking Dead Universe
The Walking Dead videogame is set in the same universe as the graphic novel and TV series, but stars a different cast of characters. Episode One (the first of five) opens with the protagonist Lee Everett riding in the back seat of a police car.
Everett is the literary foil of Rick Grimes – the original series’ protagonist. Prior to the zombie invasion, Grimes is a police officer, whereas Everett is a convicted criminal. Grimes has a growing family, but Everett’s is in disarray. And without spoiling too much, the protagonists’ interactions with their respective families in the first episode are in stark contrast.
The Significance of Choice
One of the benefits of creating a new cast is freedom from the original story. Usually when a game is created from a previously written story, the player is expected to merely act out the events of the original tale. In The Walking Dead game, you are controlling a brand new character whose story is determined by the decisions you make.
Like the previous series, the story is primarily about character development and secondarily about action. While there are some puzzles scattered throughout the game, most of the choices you make will be in your conversations with the other characters (similar to questioning in L.A. Noire). Will you tell the truth or lie about your past? Will you be friendly or a jerk? Will you be loyal to your comrades or throw them out to the zombie hordes?
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