* Warning: This Review may contain Spoilers*
Last year, Telltale games created a fantastic point and click adventure based on Robert Kirkmans highly popular comic book series; The Walking Dead which told the story of Lee Everett, A man who committed murder who tries to gain redemption in the Zombie Apocalypse by taking care of a young girl called Clementine. The game was a huge success and won numerous game of the year awards which could only mean one thing. A sequel. Unfortunately for the huge following of fans, Season 2 of The Walking Dead isn’t expected to release until this fall so to bide the time, Telltale have released downloadable content in the form of The Walking Dead: 400 Days but the big question of course; Is it worth your money?
Well I am pleased to announce this has the exact same feel of the original Walking Dead series but with a few faults which I will get to a little later. So as you probably know by now, 400 days is based around different times during the first 400 days of the zombie apocalypse and follows five different characters as they try to survive with an epilogue included to round it all out for season 2.
OK so the first of the five playable characters I picked was Wyatt who in his segment is in the middle of a scenario in which he is escaping with his friend Eddie from a maniac shooting at them on the road until they take a detour into a misty forest where they hit a mysterious figure. Unknown what it is they argue over who goes out to check. This is where an interesting little mini game comes in where you must take part in a game of rock, paper, scissors to decide who goes out to investigate. This segment felt like watching something that was not only dark but also had humor and considering there was also mention of drugs and a guy shooting at them, The main thing that comes to mind is Pineapple Express with Zombies.
The second chapter I played was Vince. Vince in many ways is very similar to Lee with his segment being set at the very beginning of the apocalypse, Both him and Lee are being taken to prison at the beginning of their stories and both use a Shotgun on their first walker. Vinces story sees him being chained up on a prison bus on his way to jail after committing manslaughter when a disagreement on the bus soon turns into a bloodbath which leads to an outbreak of the undead. When acquiring a Shotgun, Vince must make a difficult decision about who should live and who should die out of his fellow inmates.
The next segment I played is based around Shel, A survivor who is 236 days into the apocalypse and has taken refuge in a survivor group to protect her little sister however things start to go awry when bandits start to raid the group and steal supplies and depending on choices kill members of the group which builds up disloyalty among group members but when a huge event occurs, Will Shel be willing to make the huge decision nobody else can when the need arises? This one includes a child who you have to protect in a similar manner to Clementine but as I mentioned earlier this is one of the segments which is included among my faults and will discuss the reason shortly.
The fourth character I decided to go with was Russell who in my opinion bears a resemblance to Assassin’s Creed Protagonist; Desmond Miles. In this segment, Russell is essentially a backpacker who is trying to make his way across the country to his grandmothers house when he meets up with someone familiar, These two make their way to a diner at a gas station where they are shot at by a sniper and must take them down, however after a huge revelation about the bodies inside, Will Russell make the right choice or will he become just as bad as a walker? Its up to you to decide. Another reason to keep your eyes peeled on this segment is because depending on your choices in the first game, there is a cameo appearance by a character from the first game.
The penultimate segment I chose was Bonnie which in turn was actually a pretty tense choice for my penultimate segment of this special episode. Bonnies segment starts with a discussion in the rain between Bonnie and another survivor called Leland which attracts the attention of Lelands wife after she returns with a mysterious package. After a huge argument which occurs regarding Bonnie & Leland, The small group are open fired on by a group of mysterious attackers who hunt them through the cornfields in which Bonnie loses sight of the other two and is left to find a way out on her own. This segment had a feel of Metal Gear Solid meets Jeepers Creepers as this segment really only focused on the stealth mechanics of the game. The end of the segment was a huge shock for me and while expected still had me a little amazed at how they did it.
In this episode, I was not expecting the events that followed in the epilogue act which reveals that the 5 previous stories were wrote on notes on a pin bulletin board where we find out another character has been looking for survivors. Upon coming across the other survivors camp, they hold your new character at gun point and ask her what she wants. To which she tells the group that she is from a settlement up north which is safe, secure, has supplies and people of all ages and that she would like their help and in return they would get a safe place to live which is where all your decisions truly come through to decide the ultimate outcome of who stays and who leaves. Now I am making this a spoiler free review for those who may not have played either the games or watched the show or read the comic but the settlement up north could be the basis of the second season of the telltale series and for all we know could be the location of a certain one eyed villain who was the primary antagonist in the comic series and is currently the primary antagonist in the TV Series.
Now on to the problems I had with it. My first problem with 400 days was quite obviously the fact that the characters were just not as likeable as Lee & Clem and although they were ok characters, the emotion wasn’t quite up to scratch with the original series. My second problem with this episode was the length. With the game being split up into six short segments, It just felt a lot shorter than the previous episodes which is sort of a problem when you are a fan of the original clamoring for more Telltale Walking Dead. My final gripe with the game is not exactly the creators fault because they did clearly state it in the information but I was upset by the lack of Clementine or even a Clem like character which you have to be mindful of. As I stated earlier in the review under the Shel segment, there is a character which is supposed to be like a Clementine type character which you have to take care of and be mindful of however I heavily disliked this character and thought “Why include a character like Clem when you can have Clem?”. Other than those few things however this game was a worthy edition to this fantastic story arc.
All in all, This downloadable content is definitely worth buying if you are a huge fan as you will probably get the references made and this will most definitely get you hyped up for Season 2 and has definitely served as a way to bridge the gap between the two.
The Walking Dead: 400 Days is now available on XBLA, PSN & Steam and be sure to keep an eye out for The Walking Dead: Season 2 when it hits current gen consoles this fall with a next gen date to be announced.
My Rating – 9.1/10
The Good:
- Shows a different side of the story to what Lee & Clem experienced
- Explored different elements of gameplay
- Leaves hints for season 2
- Gripping story
- Return of life or death situations
The Bad:
- Characters were not as likeable
- Wasn’t as emotional as season 1
- No Clementine
- Story was too short
Review by Matthew McNamee