The Walking Dead (Telltale Games)
12-21-12, 07:42 AM
#301
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: The Walking Dead (Telltale Games)
Finished this up last night. I waited until the whole thing was released, as I'd prefer to play through a whole story at once rather than break it up into chunks separated by weeks/months. If nothing else, the success and acclaim this has had shows how hungry some gamers are for well-written narrative. Characters were extremely well fleshed out given what we're used to and the plot was well-done, if not without flaws. Certainly the writing and plotting were worlds ahead of Heavy Rain & LA Noir, two much bigger attempts at making games a bit more literary. That said, for me, the game highlighted that we've still got a ways to go before games' stories are at the level of films, tv shows or books. There'd be a lot more nitpicking if the same basic story/characters were portrayed in a show/movie. For instance, if we'd watched a film version, there'd be all kind of bitching about...
That said, I enjoyed the story quite a bit, though I'd probably put it behind the Mass Effect series and Dragons Age: Origins in terms of personal enjoyment/appreciation. For the follow up, I'd like to see them:
- not give you the option to look at something/say something if it's going to generate the same response you just got. Sometimes doing the same thing multiple times gave you multiple unique responses, while others it just repeated stuff and took me out of the story. I understand they probably did it for if people missed something and needed to hear it again, but just have a transcript of what's been said that can be accessed while paused.
- improve the controls. I understand it's an adventure game, but the 'action' bits they tried to throw in were usually pretty terrible.
- do a better job hiding invisible walls. If I'm walking away from where I'm supposed to be, I'd much rather have the character say, 'Shouldn't stray too far from the group', turn around and start walking back, as opposed to just walking in place against a boundary that's not there.
My post sounds kind of bitchy, but I did really enjoy the game and the strength of the writing/characterization was primarily to credit for that. This is only the sixth 2012 release I've finished and I'd put it behind both Mass Effect 3 and Sleeping Dogs, though ahead of New Super Mario Bros. 2, Darksiders 2 and Prototype 2. Look forward to playing the sequel, assuming there is one.
Spoiler:
That said, I enjoyed the story quite a bit, though I'd probably put it behind the Mass Effect series and Dragons Age: Origins in terms of personal enjoyment/appreciation. For the follow up, I'd like to see them:
- not give you the option to look at something/say something if it's going to generate the same response you just got. Sometimes doing the same thing multiple times gave you multiple unique responses, while others it just repeated stuff and took me out of the story. I understand they probably did it for if people missed something and needed to hear it again, but just have a transcript of what's been said that can be accessed while paused.
- improve the controls. I understand it's an adventure game, but the 'action' bits they tried to throw in were usually pretty terrible.
- do a better job hiding invisible walls. If I'm walking away from where I'm supposed to be, I'd much rather have the character say, 'Shouldn't stray too far from the group', turn around and start walking back, as opposed to just walking in place against a boundary that's not there.
My post sounds kind of bitchy, but I did really enjoy the game and the strength of the writing/characterization was primarily to credit for that. This is only the sixth 2012 release I've finished and I'd put it behind both Mass Effect 3 and Sleeping Dogs, though ahead of New Super Mario Bros. 2, Darksiders 2 and Prototype 2. Look forward to playing the sequel, assuming there is one.
12-21-12, 09:03 AM
#302
DVD Talk Hero
Re: The Walking Dead (Telltale Games)
I agree with your spoilers, maxfisher. Particularly the first one. That's part of the reason why I felt the ending didn't do much for me. Thankfully, the overall experience did get to me.
To be honest, I hated that the ending
Hopefully, Telltale will up their narrative game in season 2.
To be honest, I hated that the ending
Spoiler:
Hopefully, Telltale will up their narrative game in season 2.
12-21-12, 09:44 AM
#303
DVD Talk Godfather
12-21-12, 10:46 AM
#304
DVD Talk Hero
Re: The Walking Dead (Telltale Games)
True. It didn't happen in my playthrough. However, the situation that places the choice in front of you is inevitable and the moiment he mentioned does telegraph the eventual scenario.
12-21-12, 02:20 PM
#305
DVD Talk Godfather
Re: The Walking Dead (Telltale Games)
Maybe it's just me, but I didn't feel that part with Clementine tilted the balance towards anything I wasn't already predicting.
12-21-12, 07:15 PM
#306
DVD Talk Hero
Re: The Walking Dead (Telltale Games)
I get you. Truth be told, I was actually hoping for a darker ending than the obvious one we got. It still doesn't change the fact that the ending, though predictable given the genre, was still telegraphed.
12-26-12, 03:40 PM
#308
DVD Talk Legend
Re: The Walking Dead (Telltale Games)
Just beat this one. Honestly, and I'm sure I'm in the minority here, I really think this one is in my top 10 (maybe top 5) for this generation. It was just fantastic beginning to end. I'm so psyched for next season.
12-26-12, 05:08 PM
#311
DVD Talk God
Re: The Walking Dead (Telltale Games)
I didn't realize ep. 1 was free, but I stumbled upon it by accident today. I set it to download. Why is there such a difference in price? I see it's $49.99 from Amazon, but $29.99 from Best Buy. Then I see downloading after ep. 1 being free, this would cost $20 in points. Hmmm, decisions.
What is the play length on these per episode? Can you get like 10 hours out of each? If so, I'd say $30 or less for 5 hours of gameplay is a pretty good deal.
What is the play length on these per episode? Can you get like 10 hours out of each? If so, I'd say $30 or less for 5 hours of gameplay is a pretty good deal.
12-26-12, 05:09 PM
#312
Re: The Walking Dead (Telltale Games)
No, you'd probably get 10-12 hours total, it's very much worth it for $20-25. I heard it's cheap on Steam too but I don't use that. No clue why the physical disc price is $50.
12-26-12, 05:13 PM
#314
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: The Walking Dead (Telltale Games)
I didn't realize ep. 1 was free, but I stumbled upon it by accident today. I set it to download. Why is there such a difference in price? I see it's $49.99 from Amazon, but $29.99 from Best Buy. Then I see downloading after ep. 1 being free, this would cost $20 in points. Hmmm, decisions.
What is the play length on these per episode? Can you get like 10 hours out of each? If so, I'd say $30 or less for 5 hours of gameplay is a pretty good deal.
What is the play length on these per episode? Can you get like 10 hours out of each? If so, I'd say $30 or less for 5 hours of gameplay is a pretty good deal.
I'd say each episode was 2-3 hours.
12-26-12, 05:15 PM
#315
DVD Talk God
Re: The Walking Dead (Telltale Games)
Ah, I didn't realize it was a market place seller. Didn't look that closely. Hmmm. $30 for 10-12 hours. I might have to give that some extra thought. Thanks guys.
12-26-12, 07:20 PM
#317
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: The Walking Dead (Telltale Games)
They are already 400 points
12-26-12, 10:25 PM
#318
DVD Talk God
12-27-12, 08:07 AM
#320
DVD Talk Hero
Re: The Walking Dead (Telltale Games)
12-27-12, 09:11 AM
#322
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: The Walking Dead (Telltale Games)
12-27-12, 05:13 PM
#323
DVD Talk Godfather
Re: The Walking Dead (Telltale Games)
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/featur...lementine.aspx
This is a pretty awesome article on the development/creation of Clementine in the game.
This is a pretty awesome article on the development/creation of Clementine in the game.
Though Lee Everett is the character you control in The Walking Dead, he wasn’t the character that the game is built around. “Clementine was literally the first idea,” says Vanaman, who planned Episode Fives’s outcome before writing a single line of dialogue. Vanaman had plenty of reasons to focus on a child, since Robert Kirkman, writer of the original comic series, never shied away from involving kids in his dark tale. However, convincing his Telltale cohorts to use a young girl in such an intense setting wasn’t an easy sell. Vanaman says, “Getting people internally excited about it was really challenging.... There’s no kid I can point to in a video game and say, ‘It’s going to be just like that person, don’t worry about it.’” Soon enough, the reservations lifted, surprising even Vanaman. “People recognized the hurdle set forth by deciding there’s going to be this little girl that’s going to be a key feature of the game, but people kept saying yes anyway.”
The next step was shaping Clementine’s personality. “From the beginning, the designers knew they wanted a character that would act as a moral compass for the main character as he progressed through the game,” says art director David Sakai. “The designers envisioned a smart, honest, and capable girl around eight years old.”
The next step was shaping Clementine’s personality. “From the beginning, the designers knew they wanted a character that would act as a moral compass for the main character as he progressed through the game,” says art director David Sakai. “The designers envisioned a smart, honest, and capable girl around eight years old.”
12-27-12, 06:57 PM
#324
12-27-12, 07:16 PM
#325
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: The Walking Dead (Telltale Games)
