Telltale's The Walking Dead

[Iceman]

12/27/12

I think it's tomorrow mate.

Anyone who hasn't got it, the sale should be tomorrow.

 

[Iceman]

Did anyone get it for XBox today? I'm not sure about which ones I should be downloading (from XBox.com).

 

[Soapy]

I just finished playing this over the last few days. Jesus Christ. What a sorrowful, depressing, emotionally draining game. The story and writing is some of, if not the best in the history of the gaming industry. Seeing as how The Walking Dead's strengths lie entirely in it the story, it's a shame that story wasn't put into a game that didn't feel like a chore to play.

Here are the decisions I made if anyone is interested:

Spoiler

• Saved Shawn

• Lied to the stranger

• Saved Carley

• Helped Irene commit suicide

• Defended Duck

• Left the dude in the woods to die

• killed Jolene

• Begrudgingly tried to save Larry

• Killed both brothers

• Took the supplies

• Left the girl to die in the street

• Left Lilly by the side of the road

• Fought Kenny

• Killed Duck

• Helped Omid

• Killed the zombie boy

• Was rational with the doctor

• Brought Clementine to the town

• Saved Ben

• Told them that I've been bitten

• Cut my arm off

• Lost temper with Kenny

• Kept my weapon

• Clementine saved me

• I told her to shoot me

 

[Spider-Vader]

I just downloaded the game. Getting the game for 10 bucks is a steal, I've already started on Episode 1 since that's been free for a couple days. Pretty good so far.

 

[Whiskey Tango]

It's awesome. I'm still on the first chapter but I'm really digging it.

 

[Havok83]

Just finished Episode 4

Spoiler

WTF?!? Talk about a cliffhanger ending. Did not expect for Lee to get bitten. So now Im going into the finale, knowing Im gonna die. Man how much does that suck bc I really got invested in this character. I chose to hide the bite from the group. Didnt expect that the overwhelming majority (like 81%) chose to reveal it. My rationale was that they would most likely either try to kill me or write me off. My primary goal is to find Clementine now and once she's safe, I'll let them know and accept my fate

I didnt realize that Christa and Omid were actual options to take into the final episode. I went with just Kenny

I cant beleive Ben is still alive. So many good people kept dying along the way and he kept surviving. When we first learn that the boat can only hold 5 people, that was like the easiet dilemna for me to decide bc I knew right then and there Ben, I wouldnt take Ben as he kept giving me reasons to leave him behind. When it came down to it though, I didnt let him die in the bell tower. He wasnt coming on the boat, but I'll give him a chance to fend for himself in Savannah

I didnt like that Molly just took off. I wanted the choice to take or leave her. Initially, I was set on leaving her, despite feeling bad that I knew I was using her, but she kinda won me over with how she was helping out. Speaking of which, I like that they presented the 5 man boat dilemna early on and let you contemplate different scenarios for the rest of the episode instead of springing it on you and forcing you to make a quick decision in the end.

Question. After Lee went back to the alley to get the tape from the doctor, how did he get back? He had to turn around bc walkers were coming. He couldnt go through the garage bc the door was shut and the device used to open it earlier was gone. To even get to that region, he had to climb shelves from inside the shed to jump over a barbwired fence. Theres no way he could have climbed over that bc of the barbwire and if he did, he'd have been cut up, which he wasnt.

Im surprised that Omid and Christa's status still hasnt been clarified unless there was some hidden dialogue I missed. I thought at first they were just real close friends, but then it became obvious that it was more. Dating, married? They really havent acknowledged that they are a romantic pairing, just implied. Dont tell me, but Im guessing she's pregnant as well.

Another loose end is what is Molly's deal. I hope Episode 5 explains what she went off to do

Overall great episode. The worst part about it is knowing that there's only one more left. Man Im not ready to let this go!

 

[Soapy]

Four was easily my least favorite.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

I actually am going to go against the grain and say I did not like episode 3 for a couple of reasons. If I had to rank them it would be 2>5>4>3>1

 

[Soapy]

Crazy talk. Three was amazing. What didn't you like about it?

I would rank them 3>5>2>1>>>4

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

Spoiler

Let me preface by saying Duck's slow death and mercy killing is powerful as hell and the Lee and Clementine bits are as always really good.

But... the episode felt like a reboot to me to a status quo in which they didn't have to deal with your choices up until that point any more. I view choice in this series as being primarily about relationships between the characters and ejecting every character who you could have a divergent relationship with in immediate succession came off a bit transparent to me as a need from the developer to cut down on that stuff. I understand the need to and would have accepted it, but I think they made those cuts just a bit too deeply.

Then there was that the whole Ben betrayal didn't really work for me since aside from a brief appearance in episode 2 I didn't really know him.

Same goes for the new characters, especially Chuck who the group bizarrely immediately accepts off-screen. You'd think a group that has suffered so much at the hands of outsiders would be much less willing to let outsiders into close proximity to them.

I get episode 4 is mostly this weird sort of filler but most of what goes down in that episode works for me.

 

[StrainedEyes]

I bought all of this a few weeks ago and finally started playing it today, finished the first two episodes. It's really great so far, but yeah the 360 version is kind of busted. Constant hitching and facial animations not triggering and off-sync sound effects. It really hampers the experience.

 

[Soapy]

Spoiler

Let me preface by saying Duck's slow death and mercy killing is powerful as hell and the Lee and Clementine bits are as always really good.

But... the episode felt like a reboot to me to a status quo in which they didn't have to deal with your choices up until that point any more. I view choice in this series as being primarily about relationships between the characters and ejecting every character who you could have a divergent relationship with in immediate succession came off a bit transparent to me as a need from the developer to cut down on that stuff. I understand the need to and would have accepted it, but I think they made those cuts just a bit too deeply.

Then there was that the whole Ben betrayal didn't really work for me since aside from a brief appearance in episode 2 I didn't really know him.

Same goes for the new characters, especially Chuck who the group bizarrely immediately accepts off-screen. You'd think a group that has suffered so much at the hands of outsiders would be much less willing to let outsiders into close proximity to them.

I get episode 4 is mostly this weird sort of filler but most of what goes down in that episode works for me.

You make some good points there.

Spoiler

The "reboot" nature of the episode didn't bother me very much because I knew going into the game that your choices don't really matter. It's a testament to TellTale that I was still fully engaged with the story and characters, and really stressed over the choices despite this.

Also, I wouldn't view Ben's actions as a betrayal. He was just trying to help in his own dumb way.

I totally agree the Chuck thing was really weird though.

I bought all of this a few weeks ago and finally started playing it today, finished the first two episodes. It's really great so far, but yeah the 360 version is kind of busted. Constant hitching and facial animations not triggering and off-sync sound effects. It really hampers the experience.

Yeah, I played the 360 version as well and it is pretty rough. The biggest problem for me was how the FPS during cutscenes would frequently dip down into single digits and stop completely sometimes.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

It's a testament to TellTale that I was still fully engaged with the story and characters, and really stressed over the choices despite this.

Totally agreed, I was still on the edge of my seat for the remainder of the season.

 

[Soapy]

Did anyone [BLACKOUT]NOT leave Lilly on the side of the road[/BLACKOUT]? And if so, what happens if you take her with you?

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

Spoiler

I left her on the side of the road, but if you take her she ends up stealing the RV when you all get out at the train

 

[Matt]

Did anyone [BLACKOUT]NOT leave Lilly on the side of the road[/BLACKOUT]? And if so, what happens if you take her with you?

Spoiler

Lee handcuffs her in the back of the RV. There is some dialogue, then when you get to the blocked train, she ends up stealing the RV. She offers to take you and Clem with her (I agreed as I was very much on the outs with Kenny and my decision to not abandon her did not do me any favors and I was sympathetic to her and her emotional stress, even though I felt very bad for Carley), but when I went to get Clem, she just stole the RV anyway.

I personally think it would be really cool for Telltale to do some DLC exploring this. Maybe make an additional episode or two that is sort of an Elseworld tale of what happens if you go with Lilly (maybe Lee and Clem can encounter the Governor?). Personally, her stealing the RV was the most cheated that I felt throughout the game and the one time I felt that my decisions didn't matter. I had built a strong relationship with Lilly and the game gave me the choice to go with her, it should've let me follow through with it. I know it would be a pretty heavy branching point....but that is what we were promised.

 

[Soapy]

That whole sequence really got to me.

Spoiler

There was that possible romance subplot with Carley brewing, and I had decided by that point that I was all the way on Team Lilly and would side with her against Kenny because while I eventually earned her trust and friendship, I was beginning to feel as though Kenny is just the type of person that you can never please. And then all of a sudden, *BAM* I got double screwed. You want to talk about betrayal, THAT felt like a betrayal to me.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

Spoiler

By the final episode what really struck me was how much I was attached to Kenny. Even though we had been constantly at each other's throats the entire way since episode 2, there was this sort of bond that had been forged in the fire of mutual suffering. When he went to go save Christa it actually hit me way harder than I had expected.

 

[Soapy]

Spoiler

What do you mean when he saved Christa? When was that?

But yeah, the whole Kenny thing was weird. I didn't like him necessarily, but he had been there with you the whole way through thick and thin, so by the end I had a sort of begrudging affection for him.

"You know how they say 'it's been pleasure'? Well, it hasn't."

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

Spoiler

At the end of the game if you let Ben die in the previous episode (as I did) then he dies saving Christa instead of Ben.

 

[Soapy]

Spoiler

Hmm...either I'm completely forgetting something or your game played out differently than mine because in mine Ben and Kenny died together, and I don't remember Christa ever needing to be saved.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

Spoiler

I let go of Ben in episode 4 and he died. So he wasn't around to fall off the balcony in episode 5. Instead when we were crossing roofs we reached one with a hole looking down and when Lee was messing with the radio Kenny bumped into Lee and it fell into the room below. Christa went after it but ran into zombies couldn't get out on her own so Kenny jumped down and gave her a lift before being overrun by zombies.

 

[Soapy]

Interesting.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

Everything I say is interesting.

 

[Spider-Vader]

I finished Episode 2 today, it was fantastic! Much better than episode 1, which didn't blow me away. I can't wait to play more!