The Walking Dead: Season One

For mature gamers, Telltale Games' award-winning episodic series is exhilarating, terrifying, and intelligent. The Walking Dead fuses a number of gameplay elements: exploration, puzzle solving, action sequences, and plenty of dialogue. But be aware this isn’t a zombie shooter like the Resident Evil or Left 4 Dead series -- it’s an adventure game with a few quick-action moments. While interacting with characters, you’ll have a few seconds to select a specific response from a list of options. By choosing an answer (or question), and your desired tone, the information or action it triggers will vary. For example, if you’re kind to someone they might just help you later on, or if you decide to flee a scene at night versus the day, something new might be lurking around the corner. Plus, you’ll occasionally be forced to make a very tough decision, such as being able to only help one person from flesh-eating zombies -- even though two need your help at the same time.

In addition to the fantastic premise, there plenty of emotional moments, and you’ll no doubt grow attached to the characters. But yes, it’s a horror game, too – therefore you can also expect a few jump-out-of-your-seat moments, along with plenty of bloody and gory scenes which are not for the faint of heart. Visually speaking, the “cel-shaded” game employs a charming art style that looks like it’s a black-and-white movie that’s been colorized; the artwork was inspired by the original comic books, says Telltale Games. It would also be remiss not to mention the excellent voice acting, sound effects, and music that all help contribute to the chilling atmosphere. Aside from a few small issues –- audio that doesn’t always match the character’s lips (which breaks the immersion) and a technical bug or two -- The Walking Dead series is an engrossing, attractive, and very rewarding interactive adventure.