Review - The Walking Dead: 400 Days

The Walking Dead: 400 Days

Telltale Games

PC, OS X, PS3, Xbox 360, iOS, PS Vita, Ouya

Survival, Horror, Adventure

July 3, 2013

The Preamble

I just want to start out by saying I think The Walking Dead series that came out last year from Telltale Games was not only one of the best games I played last year, but one of the best games I've played period.

Before playing The Walking Dead, I don't think I'd ever played a game that affected me so much. Not only is the writing immaculate, resulting in awesomely relatable characters, but the tough choices I was forced to make and the consequences I had to endure went so far as to conjure up a gaming experience unlike any I had ever encountered.

So, obviously, I'm super pumped for Season 2 coming out, which is said to be released before the end of 2013. But until then, Telltale has decided to whet our pallet a bit, and ease us into the next season with a transition episode, 400 Days. And it goes without saying, the choices you make in 400 Days will affect your story in Season 2 (along with the choices you made in Season 1).

The Overview

The Walking Dead begins with the story of a zombie outbreak, which you witness from the point of view of Lee. Season 2 is proposed to start 400 days after this initial outbreak, and this transition episode is meant to give us a smattering of what's going on during this period.

You play through five mini-stories, each from the perspective of new characters, more or less independent of one another (there is some cross-over with the stories, though). You can play the mini-stories in any order you please, and each one has it's own unique decisions that you'll have to make that will shape your version of the story. 

To go into any more detail with the story would be a disservice to the game, and the experience you'll get when playing it, so I'll leave it at that.

The Good

• 400 Days is a great showcase of non-linear story telling. The Walking Dead did this itself a bit, but in this transition episode it's front and center. While each character has their own story, you can begin to see how they will become intertwined, and how choices for one character may end up affecting another character in a significant way.

• One of the big hooks of The Walking Dead was how relatable the characters were, allowing you to see things from their point of view, sympathize with them, and make decisions based on what you think that character would really do. 400 Days carries the torch nicely in this respect, with great writing and voice acting.

• Honestly, the episode is short (1-2 hours), so there's not a whole lot else to say here except that, for the most part, 400 Days is more of the same. While that may sound lame, for those that have already played through The Walking Dead, you know it's the best praise I could give.

The Bad

• Difficult decisions for the sake of having difficult decisions. I said it myself, one of my favorite things about The Walking Dead was the plethora of tough decisions you had to make, most of which had a significant shock factor to them. Similarly, in 400 Days, there are tough decisions for each character to make, and the shock factor is there, but I wonder if they aren't forcing it a bit too much. There doesn't need to be a horrifying decision to make every 15 minutes, only if it makes sense. For the most part it does make sense in 400 Days, but I started getting the feeling that some of these decisions were somewhat contrived. This is less of a knock on the game, and more of a realization of a fear, which is that Telltale will try to force what people like so much about the first season into the next, rather than let it come naturally.

The Conclusion

The Walking Dead: 400 Days sets out to give us a launchpad from Season 1 to Season 2, and in my opinion, does a damn good job of it. I was already pumped for Season 2, and playing through 400 Days pumps me up even more. If you were a fan of The Walking Dead, pick this up and play it, I guarantee you will like it (and it's only $5!). If you haven't played The Walking Dead... you shouldn't be reading this, you should be playing The Walking Dead! (But seriously, thanks for reading =D)