The Walking Dead: The Complete First Season

Genre: Graphic Adventure / Horror Game

Players: 1

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Review:

The Walking Dead: The Complete First Season, originally released on other platforms in episodic format in 2012 as The Walking Dead: A Telltale Game Series, is a Graphic Adventure set in the same world as the graphic novel and TV show of the same name. The game follows a different set of characters than the show, although you may occasionally see a familiar face or two making a cameo. This game follows the story of a convict named Lee and a young girl named Clementine as they’re caught up in the zombie apocalypse.

In the years since this game first came out, both The Walking Dead franchise and the Telltale Games formula have both worn pretty thin. Many lost interest in the TV show as beloved characters were gradually killed off and the survivors seemed to keep finding themselves in the same situations over and over again, and Telltale’s inspired approach to the Graphic Adventure formula gradually lost its appeal as Telltale resorted to re-using it over and over and over again throughout its many game releases. However, returning to the game that married the two in the first place, it’s clear that it was more than just novelty driving the popularity of this game – even so many years later, there’s still a lot to love here.

Of course the presentation has aged a bit here. The Nintendo Switch release of this game features steady framerates and a good resolution, but the character models look to be the same as they were all those years ago. Still, the stylized, subtly cel-shaded look of the characters has helped to make sure that they still look good and appropriately expressive, even if they don’t impress on a technical level. The sound and voice acting here is also excellent, although I will note that Clementine sounds very much like an adult voice actress trying to sound like a child.

While the presentation has aged in areas, the game’s story and characters are as excellent as ever, with interesting situations that do a great job of making the player make some tough ethical choices during intense situations. While we may all groan now at seeing such-and-such character “will remember that”, it’s still powerful to have to quickly take a side during an argument or choose between saving two characters during a crisis.

To this end, the gameplay here is something I think doesn’t get enough notice when people talk about how inspired this game was, with players having to use one stick to move their character, another to focus on points of interest, and then pressing the appropriate button when highlighting those points of interest, it helps to drive the panicked confusion that’s often present in the situations the game brings up.

While many of the individual elements in The Walking Dead have aged poorly, the overall package here is more than the sum of its parts, and it’s worth remembering that there’s a good reason this game was so highly-praised when it was first released. The Nintendo Switch version doesn’t add anything to the game, beyond collecting together the original five episodes and the additional “400 Days” episode, but it serves as an excellent reminder that this game is still a classic, even if separately both Telltale and The Walking Dead are no longer looked upon quite as fondly.

tl;dr – The Walking Dead: The Complete First Season brings to Switch the five numbered episodes and “400 Days” that collectively form the first game in the series of Graphic Adventure games set in the same universe as the TV show and comics. While many of the elements of this game have aged somewhat, together they still form a powerful experience that’s still well worth playing today, and anyone who missed out on it the first time should definitely give the game a try now.

Grade: A-

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