The Walking Dead: 400 Days is the bridging episode between Season One and Season Two of Telltale Games’ critically acclaimed adventure series. Rather than do a full review for 400 Days, I’ll just do this taster. It’s too short to warrant a full review to itself, but it’s definitely worth talking about. Don’t panic. I won’t be dropping any spoliers, I won’t say anything about the characters than Telltale do on their site.
I finally got round to finishing The Walking Dead. I bought it when the price was dropped on the PSN store a while back and paced myself through it, much like I do with the graphic novel series. I thought it was brilliant. It contained some of the best writing and characterisation that I’ve experienced in a while and I feel that Telltale really managed to capture the tension between the characters and the tough calls that survivors have to make that Robert Kirkman & Co. created via the books. I highly recommend that anyone that hasn’t picked one or the other to change that.
The Walking Dead: 400 Days takes a very new approach to Telltale’s storytelling. Throughout the episode you fill the shoes of five new characters at various stages of the outbreak, all linked in some way to a highway truck stop (the equivalent of a BP Garage and a Little Chef in the UK), somewhere in Georgia. The five characters are all different, and even in the short space of time that I was with them, I got a feel for who they were, their backgrounds, and how I thought they would react best to the situations that arose.
And there are some pretty crappy situations in this short space of time. Without wanting to give anything away, you’ve got some tough choices, especially seeing as this bridging episode carries over to Season 2. It’s not just a filler, it’s part of the ongoing narrative. There are also a few call-backs to decisions you may have made during Season 1 which you’ll only see if you’ve made certain decisions all the way through. This is one of The Walking Dead’s biggest selling points for me, the fact that it’s almost a write-your-own survival story. I’ve talked with a few people about their playthroughs and we’ve all had different experiences. Even with a pretty short episode, Telltale have facilitated that again.
It’s shorter than the regular episodes, it took me between an hour and ninety minutes to finish but I didn’t feel like I’d been short changed at all, though I think that other people might not feel they’re getting good value for money.
Trying to tell the stories of five different, and very diverse, characters in a short space of time is very ambitious but I think that the risk was worth it. By exploring other characters it gives Telltale the chance to really add some more depth to the wider world, we always felt that there would be other survivors out there. Now we know for sure. As well as expanding on the world, Telltale have definitely secured my money when Season 2 comes out. I want to, no, I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT! RELEASE THE DAMN GAME ALREADY!
If you’re jonesing for some more Walking Dead and loved the first seasons this is definitely something that you should pick up, especially if you’re planning on getting Season 2. If you weren’t enamoured by Season 1, and would wait for a price drop before thinking about more Walking Dead, then 400 days is probably not for you.
Just in case you’re interested, here’s the launch trailer.
