The Walking Dead: 400 Days Review

The Walking Dead: 400 Days did what it said it would do, deliver five new stories, five heart-breaking stories. It reinforces that video games have a larger impact than a film due to making them critical decisions ourselves and facing the consequences. The episode introduces a cast of characters, who more than likely will be our primary characters for season 2 of Telltale's The Walking Dead. If you played the original five episodes, you owe it to youself to experience more of Telltale's award winning story.

The Walking Dead: 400 Days acts as a bridge to season 2 and also makes nods towards season 1. The title suggests the story, five characters, five stories, in the span of 400 days in the same area of Georgia around a truck station.

What I love about Telltale is their ability to get you attached to a character in such a small space of time in every story. We can see what these characters have been through and their relationships, despite their motives we can see that they are all human. They all have their reasons for what they do.

What I loved the most was the brilliant writing that this episode had. Every story has very small links with each other which can be spotted by a keen eye. What amazes me with Telltale Games is the fact that they can cram five brilliant short stories into around 1 hour and 30 minutes of gameplay. I was worried that the tie-ins would seem a tad unbelievable, they are in fact completely natural and also rather small.

Each episode also has a different pace, for example, Wyatt had a very panicked story whereas Shel had a much more calm yet more dialogue engaging story. Each episode has different gameplay mechanics which give a very nice change every story, it's not just repetitive gameplay, I never knew what to expect next.

Technical issues have always been a fault for Telltale's Walking Dead, I noticed a couple of technical issues, however they were nowhere near as bad as season 1. It's nice to see attempts were made to prevent this.

The Walking Dead: 400 Days is beyond incredible, it serves as an outstanding taster of what to expect from season 2. The characters feel like they have a great story to tell and I can't wait to get back into the world of Telltale Games for season 2.
9.5 - This episode is nothing but exciting news for what to expect later. It's something not to be missed by Walking Dead fans. If you have no experienced season 1 yet, I demand you go out and buy season 1 and this episode, trust me, you'll thank me.

The Walking Dead: All Out War Story Arc

It's been announced that starting October we will get an issue every 2 weeks to cover the new story arc that will appear in October. Expect regular reviews of issues leading up to this and I will also be covering this entire story arc, giving a review for each issue then an overall review for the arc once it's done.

The Walking Dead "Sick" Review!

The second episode of Season 3 kept up the momentum, with the continuation to save Hershel and the introduction of new characters in the form of prisoners. Some really good performances from these prisoners also, most notably Tomas and Axel.

We see Rick develop even further this episode yet again being the character that stood out this episode, everytime we see his darkside growing bigger and this episode does it on a huge scale. The interaction between Rick's group and the prisoners was by far the most interesting aspect of this episode, like a time bomb which ended up going off very quickly.

Many viewers felt worried that season 3 would slow down just like season 2 did for the first half, but episode 2 certainly disagrees with this and shocks viewers multiple times. It is extremely hard to say if "Sick" was better than "Seed" both are really close, for shock factor "Sick" wins hands down with so many unexpected moments. The talking scenes that dragged down last season are shorter and punchier, with greater impact in less words.

Lori yet again takes small steps in redeeming herself, showing that she is not always screwing over Rick, so far I have not rolled my eyes at anything Lori has said which is a good start. The Walking Dead has entered a new era, it feels like a new show. Every character feels revamped, Carl has now became a favourite of mine with some really stand out moments this episode. Everybody now feels like they have a spot on the show, T-Dog for example no longer feels like a character sitting in the background, even being a main focus this episode.

The Walking Dead has upped its game, becoming unpredictable maybe even the most unpredictable show on television, when I believe I have predicted what will happen I'm completely wrong everytime. I now have no idea what will happen and as a reader of the comic that is a great feeling to have.

Verdict - 10/10
+Otstanding Rick moments
+Rvamped Walking Dead
+Unpredictable
+Character development

The Walking Dead "Seed" Review! *spoilers*

Some viewers thought Season 2 was too slow-paced, the season 3 premiere will answer this problem,  Walking Dead began this season with a bang. We get action right from the start, with non-stop zombie killing and still delivering a very convincing story.

Season 3 jumps ahead a few months from the past events, this really was a good idea as it explains why everybody has turned more badass, with Chandler Riggs being a growing boy it needs to be done as he will be changing every season getting much older.

The group finally arrive at the prison (they did not see it after all this time?) some really nice shots followed with the group running between two prison fences filled with zombies, which I think are my favourite shots for the episode. We then get some awesome zombie killing, I do believe everybody in the scene killed a zombie even Beth, this was a real action packed scene to say the least.

We then get a scene with Beth and Maggie singing around a campfire, I will be honest this was a little cheesey for my liking but it was interesting to see some of the interactions in this scene between characters.

We are now at the best scene in the episode and maybe one of the best scenes of the show yet, the final prison assault to get inside, I loved every second so many great moments. We can tell the detail really went into making these zombies spectacular in this scene. The riot gear zombies are maybe the highlight of the episode or as me and my friend called them "boss zombies" I actually laughed at scene, it was rather funny in a way which I think is what the creators wanted, they also felt like the stakes had been raised for the survivors even though it would be hard for the riot gear zombies to bite. Maggie soon realised how to dispatch with a simple knife straight up from the bottom of the chin, she then lets out a cute line, “Did you see that?!” this whole scene was incredible. We also get a rather gruesome zombies whose face comes off with its gasmask which made me feel a little sick but still I loved it.

 

 

Time to party everyone, Lori seemed kinda less iritating than usual in this episode, we even got a rather scary thought about the baby being dead inside her by a small chance, then eating her and ripping out from the inside.

 

Michonne and Andrea get very little time this episode, it was effective though as you do feel they are really cut off from the rest of the group and alone. Michonne though really did leave her mark decapitating two zombies at once with ease.

Fast forward a little we get the real big shocker of the episode, Hershel getting bitten and then having Rick cut his leg off to save him, I really did not expect this at all and I'm glad that they manage to shock a die hard fan like me so easily! The chopping of the leg was done well though, it had me looking away a little as Rick gave hack after hack to the leg.

As the episode ended, and Rick and his group, in a serious situation, we then see surviving prisoners, we get a funny line to end the episode  “Holy s**t” by a prisoner that pretty much sums up the entire episode.

 

 

 

 No real faults at all with this episode, absolute carnage all episode while still keeping an interesting story, this episode really raises the bar for the rest of the season. This episode proves we are in for a hell of a season!

 

Final Verdict - 9.8/10

+ZOMBIE KILLING EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!!
+Awesome riot gear zombies
+shocking cliffhanger
+great character development
- cheesey campfire scene
-Did not see prison for all them months

The Walking Dead Episode 4: Around Every Corner Review!

Telltale Games has yet again raised the bar for The Walking Dead game series, Episode 4: Around Every Corner does what a good pre-finale episode should do, set up the most intense cliffhanger I have seen in a while.

Episode 4 takes place around 12 hours after Episode 3, the survivors arrive in Savannah and ready to make that final journey to find a boat and get the hell out. Events take the group on yet another adventure though.

This episode actually does not focus so much on the voice we heard on the walkie talkie at end of episode 3, instead the focus is the mystery behind the Crawford group who we learn are pretty evil people. This episode offers the finest conversations between Clementine and Lee, it is weird how every episode makes you love Clementine more and more (did not think this was possible)

This episode had  really nice gun scenes in which Lee would go into first-person perspective, these moments really felt badass and handled much better than the Episode 3 gun scene; the gun scenes felt like my shots made in impact in terms of if I mess up it may cost lives.

Ben gets some really awesome moments which had me wanting to kill him, but in the end I realised what he did was all a huge mistake. Telltale Games did a great job with this sudden change of heart for me just like they did with Kenny in the past episodes.

Voice acting is at its best yet again, Clementine well on her way to winning character of the year, we feel the emotion coming out of the characters and straight into our cold heart.

Yet again this episode suffers from the slight lip syncing and screen loading in intense scenes, but this is forgivable as it really does not take away from the overall experience.

We can tell by the final statistics that our choices really have made a huge impact on the finale, I feel regret in some decisions I made this is not a bad thing as it means I'm invested in the rich story.

Overall, Episode 4 sets up for an epic finale to this amazing series, I cannot wait to play it! Episode 4 has maybe the most epic scenes yet and shows how The Walking Dead is not just a zombie story, but a story filled with emotion and it really is something special. If you have not played Telltale's The Walking Dead then this is the best time to start!

Final Verdict: 9.5/10
+Epic scenes
+Great way to end ready for finale giving a powerful cliffhanger
+Most interesting Clementine scenes yet
-Slight technical issues

Walking Dead Issue #102 Review!

 

The Walking Dead issue 102 is the sixth part of the Something To Fear storyline, yet again this is a much more quieter issue reflecting back on what happened in issue 100. Robert Kirkman succeeds in further building this feel that Negan is even more deadly than The Governor for the group.

 

 This issue is mainly for character development between the comics main characters,Some complain that The Walking Dead never really gives us any memorable new members of the main group anymore, the Jesus character though has proven to be a real interesting touch to the series. I believe that Jesus will be a big part of the comic in the future.

 

The issue gives us a very nice glimpse on just what exactly we can expect in the near future for The Walking Dead, this build up to the final showdown is really paying off for building anticipation.

 

Charlie Adlard may have had a tough time this issue due to the fact the entire issue is characters talking , the facial expressions though really represent just how members of the group are feeling in this situation they are facing.

 

Even though issue 102 is not a all out war, it really has the reader excited for the future of The Walking Dead and the rivalry between Rick and Negan, though this issue does lack any defining moment really to help it stand out from other issues.

 

8.5/10

+Character development

+Good build of tension

-No defining moment in this issue

The Walking Dead Game: Episode 3 Review!

 

The Walking Dead has yet again added another medal to the list, episode 3 shows just why The Walking Dead is the fastest rising franchise in the past couple of years.

The first two episodes of The Walking Dead: The Game slowly introduced players to a twisted world filled with zombies and crazies that forced us to make tough decisions based on how we thought our version of Lee would take these various scenarios. These different decisions that we have had to made in Episodes 1 and 2 have been able to give us a general outline of a “good and bad” way to do things. Episode 3 takes all of those defined lines and blurs them completely.

The more I play The Walking Dead: The Game, the more I feel my humanity slip away. I now feel like I make my choices on survival, they still are painful for me to make but I justify it by saying "I do this for Clementine".

As Lee, we see our group through some seriously screwed up and emotional moments, as well as a whole bunch of conversations and light gameplay problem solving. We see the most emotional scenes yet, my eyes teared up a few times but I remained strong!

We get introduced to more characters who add some interesting story and bring in some freshness to the game. It’s a harrowing fact but one that you won’t escape in a zombie-survival situation, the longer you survive often times will lead to fewer things to live for.

The game still suffers from the minor frame drops again, this time it was not as bad as usual though. This factor though is not a huge problem, if you have not purchased this game series yet now is the best time. If you love a strong story then this is for you, this game puts heavy rain to shame in terms of story.

9.5/10
+ Great emotional scenes
+Entertaining story
+Tough choices
-Frame rate drops