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Tense survival-driven story; compelling cast of characters; appealing graphic novel art style; well written dialogue with great voice acting; player decisions have tangible effects on the story.
Technical hiccups with cutscenes and audio quality; a few weak and misplaced puzzles; very short, even by episodic standards.
4.5 stars: "A superb game that excels in just about every area, held back only by one or two notable flaws or a collection of smaller ones that prevent the game from earning full marks."
Scoring System - Editorial Policies
The Walking Dead may have more gore than puzzles, but by striking out in a new direction that focuses on atmospheric storytelling, Telltale delivers one their most compelling and enjoyable titles to date.
You’ll meet a varied cast of fellow survivors along the way, including Carley, a confident and composed news reporter who knows how to wield a gun, a family with a young boy about Clementine's age, and an ex-army commander named Larry, whose aggression coupled with his overwhelming drive to protect his adult daughter causes continual conflicts, at times even to his own physical detriment. Each character plays a vital role in the team dynamic, resulting in you feeling both dependent on others and responsible for ensuring their survival. Like any group of strangers thrust together in extraordinarily dangerous circumstances, some individuals in your party will accommodate and assist where possible, while others seemingly persist only to make survival ever more challenging, whether by needing to risk your life to acquire pills for Larry’s heart condition or forcing you to take sides in disputes about whether to kill a potentially infected companion or not.
Right from the start, Telltale has done a fantastic job of imbuing the main characters with compelling personalities. Each is portrayed with what feels like genuine emotion; they're vastly different individuals with their own pain, their own backgrounds, their own motivations (not all of which are known at this point, even for Lee), now reluctantly banded together in a fight for survival, needing each other but lacking in trust . A great example comes when Lee is uncomfortably questioned about his relationship with Clementine, followed by the little girl herself being questioned in front of you to back up your claims and counter any concerns that you're coercing her against her will. You'll feel a genuine desire to prove yourself and build trust in the individuals around you (at least I did; maybe you won't, and can respond accordingly if that's the case), and the game doesn’t sidestep such awkward and repulsive accusations.
It’s this tenuously balanced team dynamic and brief glimpses into interesting personal backstories that propel the story forward. Where the majority of zombie tales place the focus on fighting the undead, the real intrigue demonstrated here comes from the trials people face when confronted by horror and despair. By the close of the first episode, little is known about the cause of the apocalypse nor where the journey will take us, but already I feel a real affinity for the entire cast of characters in their desperate struggle to survive. This is far more valuable in making me want to come back to continue discovering more, even (or perhaps especially) knowing that no character is ever truly safe in The Walking Dead. Attachments now may very well mean heartache later, but I'm all in for the duration.
The only real goal here is a journey to find safety, which means traveling to various locations such as a farm that grants temporary shelter to a fortified drug store in Lee's hometown of Macon, with a dangerous side trip to a motel for fuel. Doing so means participating far more of an interactive movie than your traditional puzzle-heavy adventure. A New Day has very few puzzles, mainly involving exploring the environment to find an item to break a lock or keys to open a door. While some will surely lament the lack of challenge, largely limiting the puzzles to those that organically fit the story maintains the atmospheric immersion, a point further emphasized by the odd misplaced puzzle that feels forced in. One of the poorer examples has you helping an otherwise intelligent, competent individual struggling to work a radio without even checking if it has batteries.
The game’s art style is reminiscent of the series' comic roots, its 3D models having painted textures and rough edges. Although not done in black-and-white, this animated graphic novel-style will feel instantly familiar to Walking Dead fans. It’s a fantastic look that stands apart from the adventure crowd and allows for a surprisingly high level of detail. This is particularly evident in the character models, each of which is distinctively unique and wonderfully expressive, especially during conversations. There are some blemishes, however, such as poor lip syncing and noticeable frame drops during cutscenes.
There are also some problems with the sound quality, which can result in choppy dialogue, occasional popping and even clear differences in volume levels from one line to the next. This is a shame, as the voice acting itself is strong, with believable accents and solid acting all around. Lee is entirely believable as the strong, silent type, a clearly troubled soul who's most comfortable in his usually gruff reserve, but ready to aggressively engage or compassionately defend others when necessary. Clementine, on the other hand, beautifully portrays the innocence and (perhaps misguided) trust of childhood brilliantly, able to see the good in Lee and remarkably brave given the dire situation. Thankfully, the audio issues don't seem to plague the music, which is suitably sparse and subtle, remaining largely in the background but aiding the atmosphere at all the right moments of tension and action.
Overall, The Walking Dead is off to a fantastic start with an engaging survival premise and some of the best character building I’ve seen in an adventure game for some time. It's a little short in a single playthrough, even by episodic standards, but by the time the first episode comes to a close around the two-hour mark, you’ll be well and truly hooked by this horrific world, then left with a cliffhanger that’ll have you eagerly awaiting the next instalment. At the end you’ll be shown the key choices you made throughout the episode, along with the percentage of players who made the same decision. This is a nice touch to demonstrate the varied paths the story can take, and how in line with others your choices were. And if you don't like your decisions after the fact, or simply want to try out alternate paths, the game is easily good enough to play right through again from the start. This is Telltale like we've never seen them before, but they've created an adventure you can easily become invested in, and I personally cannot wait to see how the tale unfolds further next month.
The Walking Dead: Episode One - A New Day
Platform: iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch, Mac, PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Genre: Horror
Developer: Telltale Games
The first episode in a zombie survival series based on the Walking Dead comic books.
| Territory | Date | Publisher |
 Download |
April 23 2012 | Telltale Games |
Posted by jannar85 on Jun 11, 2012
Love it!
It's like playing the comic / tv show, refreshing take on the license!... Read the review »
Posted by Lucien21 on May 27, 2012
Too short and too easy
I'm a big fan of the comic book series, it's one of the best ongoing comics in recent years and it is known for it's shock value and nobody... Read the review »
An update was put out to the PC versions of the game late last week to try and address some of the voice quality issues. I’m not sure if it will correct anything called out in the review, but players with voice quality issues may want to re-download the game from Telltale’s site (Steam customers’ copies automatically updated through Steam).
I have a hard time getting a sense of how this game plays. Is it similar to a railed shooter that takes you from one location to the next? Is it like Heavy Rain?
Definitely more like Heavy Rain. It’s not at all like a rail shooter. You control your character directly most of the time. Only at key moments are you limited to some QTE button presses or a choice of actions.
I heartily endorse this review. Also, for im8#2, there are some Heavy Rain style fight scenes but they are entirely appropriate considering that they occur after being surprised or overwhelmed by zombies. More often than not, the game plays like a traditional adventure although somewhat simplified for mass appeal - in particular, the large motel puzzle is really great fun. If you have a PS3, I highly recommend dipping in with the Episode 1 download which is only 4 pounds - although I of course am in for the whole shebang. Bring on Starved For Help!
Great review and I agree….. once I understood how the controls work 
This game is better than it really needed to be. Very solid design decisions paired with a surprisingly dramatic presentation. It’s great to see Telltale bouncing back up after the letdown of Jurassic Park.
Intriguing… I’ll check out the game when they all become available. 
Before I say anything, I’m only writing here to comment on the review. I personally have no interest in this game, just the word zombie is enough to make me groan inwardly, but I would mention that I faithfully read all the reviews on this site, regardless of the title and feel a bit compelled to write this. First of all, I enjoyed the reviewers in-depth review of the game experience, I like the personal perspective.. (which is sometimes what reviews need more of), and as such think this is a good review for fans of zombie genera who would probably buy this game anyway and chance it. It is also well written and I do get a sense of the more subtle but very valuable aspects of the game, where frequently the impression of “fun” is not covered. But otherwise it seems heavily biased by personal and obvious enthusiasm on the reviewers part, and there is too much emphasis on the developer, TellTale and comparisons to that companies other titles. It also appears that the unusually high score is based on a comparison of the publishers other titles. I usually find reviews to be sometimes overly critical on aspects of some games and the same problem is all but ignored in other titles, and it usually depends on how much the reviewer enjoys the particular genera or theme. Based on the review for this game, the only impression I have is that TellTale did not mangle it, and that the reviewer is a big fan of character-driven zombie apocalypse themes. I will be interested to find out how well this game goes over in the end and if it can successfully cross over the demographic niche it’s targeted towards and actually succeed as an decent adventure game and stand out among others on it’s own merit or if it’s just a junkfood for zombie fans.
Adipocere, the game really isn’t about zombies (and the review seems pretty clear on that), but about people trying to survive in horrible circumstances and the personal trials that involves. You could just as easily swap out zombies for aliens or werewolves or an army of Sam clones in underwear and the result would be the same. The comparison to Telltale’s other games is very useful for people expecting a certain sort of game based on the company’s track record. And there is indeed a more “personal perspective” to this review because the game is based around personal decisions that impact the experience.
Too many turn offs… I hate zombies, I hate telltale and I hate direct controlled games. I don’t know what is going on, but more I hate the game, the greater score it gets in these reviews - (4 - 4½ stars). And if I really like some game, it’s probably 1½ to 2½ stars.
I just finished playing this wonderful, intense game!!! Telltale games did a fantastic job of pulling you into this world, and really caring about what decisions, and course of action to take…I am a fan of the horror genre, and a fan of the Walking Dead tv series, and for once this video game interactive story is better than any of the tv episodes stories!!...hands down. The great added bonus is the stories are penned by orignal author of all the Walking Dead graphic novels. What separates the Walking Dead from all other zombies stories, is its more about the human element, and consequences than the zombies..Bravo to you Telltale!!!! Can’t wait for episode#2.
I just wondered…..is it possible to save games in The Walking Dead? I also found the part with Lee’s brother rather yucky, I couldn’t watch
Telltale did a good job using the graphic novel style art to hide the low-quality graphics. It’s a backhanded compliment of course, but I am serious. The heavy lines make the art look stylish without sacrificing all of the realism. It’s obvious for this game, but its a pretty simple trick too, especially for a low-budget production with an quixotic goal…ie hit/miss adventure developer targeting the wsad masses.
I really was confused with the controls at first. This coming from the PC version of course. But after I figured it out, it was very enjoyable. I love the Walking Dead tv show, so that definitely helped in my decision to get it. That being said, the voice acting was well done and while there wasn’t really any puzzles, so far it’s been a great story. Very intense and I’m looking forward to episode 2. Telltale has a history of coming out with some fun adventure games. IMO they knocked it out of the park once again. The reviews have been very positive for many sites I’ve visited. Personally I agree. It’s at least a 4/5.
I dont get what people see in this!
Yes there are zombies, so what?
Yes you have choises to make, and it has a good atmosphere and some good voice acting, but that is also it, there really isn’t anything more!
What it lacks is some actual gaming, as i see it this is yet another interactive movie from Telltale, just like Jurasic Park, though slightly better.
... another comic movie for little kids of 6 years old. Going this route the genre of adventure games will be dead really, not “walking dead”
That statement couldn’t be more wrong, in every conceivable way.
