by Braulio Ortiz
The Walking Dead Season 1 by Tell Tale Games garnered a plethora of game of the year awards back in 2012 and since then it has been ported to countless devices for gamers to experience Lee and Clementine's journey in a post apocalyptic world that is ruled by "walkers" (zombies). Season 1 has been ported to the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One and the game plays infinity better from what I can tell from the first episode and as a bonus, the game includes the extra DLC episode within the disc making a whopping 6 episodes to play. The PS3 version got my vote for game of the year; however, I always disliked the fact that the PS3 was being pushed to its limits just by having the game running. Slow down was ubiquitous during both my play troughs and sudden death was brought upon me during these segments showing how bad the game would lag during certain segments where precision was needed.
If you've played a Tell Tale Games' game before you already know what to expect from the Walking Dead, a point and click adventure game where you have multiple paths of dialogue to explore. If you haven't played a TTG game before, expect top notch voice acting and great story telling with multiple outcomes to certain events throughout the 6 episodes of season 1.
The Walking Dead plays very similar to point and click games on the PC but with a controller. The left analog stick controls Lee Everette while the right analog stick is used to move the cursor which allows you to click on people or objects to interact with. The face buttons are used for different dialogue options which are the core mechanic of the Walking Dead. My biggest issue with the original game was the fact that you had to aim with the right analog stick and shoot with the X/A button during action segments which felt awkward especially when you are being rushed to kill a walker that is coming right at you; however, this was remedied with the addition of the R2/RT button as the new action button which helps drastically. This new button is used to shoot with guns and for melee weapons which is much easier to navigate having your thumb on the analog and your finger on the trigger rather than juggling both the analog and the action button with your thumb.
The game's graphics have barely changed at all which isn't necessarily a terrible thing as the game looks great and feels very true to the actual comic book series. The game does look a lot smoother now that the game is on a much more powerful console and this alone is worth the purchase if you're a fan of the game on previous generation consoles as the game doesn't chug nearly as often as it used to. I did manage to see it slow down twice within the first hour of the game, but both of these times the game wasn't playable and it lasted a fraction of a second which it didn't really matter as I wasn't being timed to do anything during these two segments. The music is untouched which isn't good or as bad as the game's music just fills in the tone of what is occurring on screen and isn't really memorable.
The Walking Dead Season 1 on the new gen consoles is exactly what I wanted from a port, better frame rate which greatly matters in a game of this kind when seconds aren't expendable. The frame rate alone warrants a purchase to fans of the original version of the game and as a bonus you also receive the 400 Days DLC which was great as well. Pick up the Walking Dead Season 1 on new gen consoles if you have yet to play the game or if you loved the original and want to experience Lee and Clem's experiences in the zombie apocalypse yet again.
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