The Walking Dead: Episode 1 review: The value of people

In the zombie apocalypse, we'll all be human resources managers. It's true ' we'll all need to make harsh critiques on the value of one human against another in a post-apocalyptic scenario. At least, that's what the first episode of Telltale's The Walking Dead adaptation has taught me.

As someone who's mapped out his strategy for the zombie apocalypse countless times, I always told myself I'd keep my humanity; I wouldn't become the monster I was trying to survive. And then I chose to rescue a grown man over a helpless child.

The first episode of The Walking Dead, titled "A New Day," focuses on Lee, a man who's obviously got some trouble in his rearview mirror. Once the outbreak occurs, he wakes up injured and limps toward a suburban housing development, where he finds Clementine, a little girl with no one to look after her. From there on out, Lee is the adoptive dad, bringing Clementine along with him as he tries to make his way toward family in a suburb of Atlanta.

The majority of The Walking Dead: Episode 1 revolves around making choices. Sometimes it's taking the time to get to know a character. Others, it's lying to cover your tracks. Or it's how you choose to handle a given situation with Clementine. The game logs each choice you make, seemingly impacting future events and how Lee is viewed by others in the game world.
General gameplay should be familiar if you've played other Telltale Games titles in the past. There are light exploratory sequences in which The Walking Dead acts like a traditional adventure game, peppered with quicktime events and conversations. Despite the relatively ho-hum pacing of the first episode ' you will kill a few zombies, but you're mostly just walking around and talking to people between cutscenes ' the excellent writing and voice work more than compensates.

The dialogue system hides a layer of depth in which characters remember your actions and how you choose to react to circumstances. Certain characters may remember that you were once loyal to them in a dispute, while others may remember you sacrificing yourself to save them. It's a fine system on paper, but in the first episode ' of a planned five ' its impact is essentially nonexistent. Over the course of two hours, no decision really had any bearing on what was happening, save for the two times I was forced to choose between saving one person or another.