Last night, I finished Season 1 of The Walking Dead by Telltale Games and I can't stop thinking about it. That's why I'm sitting here writing this at 9am on a Saturday morning instead of still being asleep in bed. To say that it completely deserved all of the game awards it earned doesn't even begin to do the game justice, even with 2012 being the best year in gaming in a long time, possibly ever.
This is a game that is all about story and characters. Telltale made a smart decision in making this a traditional point and click adventure game because it forces the game to really focus on the characters. Two characters in specific: Lee and Clementine. This game is their story, the zombies are just the backdrop.
And what a game it is! For a long time, people have been comparing the evolution of games with the evolution of film, claiming that games are now where film was in the early twentieth century, still trying to figure out just what can be done. Along with this, there is the inevitable question: "when will gaming have it's Citizen Cane?" I wonder if The Walking Dead is it.
I think this quote from a review of the game says it better than I ever could:
The Walking Dead reflects a resounding cry from the gaming community for an adult gaming experience to serve as a platform for exploring the art of feeling. It has set a new standard for storytelling and player immersion few games will be able to meet. If you have not played The Walking Dead you will be poorer for it, both as a gamer and as a human being. It is an experience transcending just entertainment.
Gaming won't be the same again. I won't be the same again for having played it. By the time the credits rolled, I was emotionally wrecked and, I'm not ashamed to admit, crying my eyes out. Never before has a game touched me like this one has.
Each episode starts with the saying "This game series adapts to the choices you make. The story is tailored by how you play." At first, it seems like they are saying "if you make choice A, then plot B happens," but the game does something much more subtle and brilliant than that. In The Walking Dead, the choices you make affects characters, not plot. By having your choices affect the relationships with everyone else, it makes the story unbelievably personal.
Spoilers below, you have been warned!
I've been reading up on how the story unfolded for others, and I find it amazing the variety of stories that were told. For reference, I've posted my end stats.
Even at this stage, where the game is just showing a recap of what you've done, they still drive home the tragedy in the decisions I made. Notice for Duck how it says "You helped save his life at Hershel's Farm", then "You argued that he was not bitten back in Macon", then "You shot him before he could turn", and then finally "You let him be your sidekick solve a mystery." These aren't listed in chronological order, they are ordered to drive home what has been lost. It's not just Duck either; they do the same thing with Carly, Lily, Larry, Ben, and the list goes on. What's more, notice the use of when they use he/she/etc to describe someone versus there name. It's not random. I especially notice this with Ben, where they always call him by his name, as if to drive home the cruelty of what I did to him in the end. Dammit. Brilliant.
And then there's that final scene. Where Clementine has to say goodbye to Lee. We knew all along that Lee wasn't going to make it and that he and Clementine would have to say goodbye at some point, but still. This scene, this single scene, was the most heartbreaking, gut-wrenching, emotionally devastating moment I think I have ever experienced in any form of entertainment, ever. Having to watch Clementine realize that she is going to loose the single most important person in her life, the closest thing she has left to a parent, is incredibly hard to watch, yet beautiful in a way. Watching Clementine shoot Lee, one can't help but feel that Lee was teaching Clementine one last lesson, one that will help her survive, alone.
I'm reminded of a Beatles quote that was used to great effect at the end of Cowboy Bebop that seems befitting:
You're gonna carry that weight
For Clementine