• 1Mar 13

  The Walking Dead Review

  Few games have tugged at my heart strings, sitting on the edge of my seat and feeling legitimately choked up and regretful of certain decisions I made throughout the adventure. The Walking Dead series from Telltale managed to do all of these things and more from the very start.

  You play as Lee, a former history professor who starts off handcuffed in a police vehicle. To jump ahead a bit, you end up in the woods, rescued by a little girl, Clementine, who you come to care for just as much as Lee does. You meet a family and a few other people and with their help, you make your way across Georgia, hoping to escape these zombies and whatever caused them. There's one problem: they're everywhere.

  Being primarily an adventure game, it's surprising how well it works. The dialogue is just as engaging as any action scene and the time bar often attached to the more important moments, like making a decision, makes you choose quick and sometimes even hope it's the right one. This is very much your adventure and you mold your crews attitudes and actions by your decisions, who you stand up for, etc.

  The voice acting is fantastic across the board and the dialogue is smartly written. Humor, tense and even tender moments are really well done and makes the more tense scenes that much more harrowing to watch and the moments where you have to choose if you want to save someone more intense.

  The game itself isn't perfect. There are sound cutouts and there were moments when some of the more important dialogue trees wouldn't respond to my inputs. Otherwise, the game looks and plays like a dream. I felt the pain and sting of some of the more painful decisions playing as Lee throughout the five episodes and plan on going back at some point to see what can be done differently. For me to want to play a game again from start to finish is quite a feat on Telltale's part. They did a great job of showing us a way to celebrate life and appreciate what we have.

  • Posted Mar 1, 2013 4:56 pm GMT
  • Category: Editorial
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• 28Feb 13

  Fear of What to Expect: My Avoidance of Horror Games

  Horror games to me are the virtual equivalent of being fascinated by bears. I'll read about them, talk to other people about them, speculate, but I won't actually interact with them and if I do it's in short bursts; the games, not the bears. I remember playing Resident Evil 2 on my N64 back in the day and though I got quite far, I had to stop because, quite simply, I've been afraid.

  The same was true when I got Dead Space on my X Box 360. The first monster that jumped out at me and made me jump in response received a nope! from me, and I quit out and never touched it again. Yet, the fascination stays with me. I like the adrenaline from playing high octane games, but I always end up afraid that my fear and imagination will get the better part of me and I won't be able to play.

  I speculate a lot when picking out what games I'm going to play. I keep thinking I'm going to get into a racer game or a fighting game to be dismayed by my lack of, well, being good at them. I'm primarily an action gamer, and that's not a bad thing. So why does this sub-genre bother me?

  My active imagination works both for and against me, it's been that way since I was a whee-lil lad. I had nightmares from seeing Harry and the Hendersons and most things hanging up on the walls in my mom's or grandparents house would freak me out and keep me up. The nightmares have lessened and the dreams have changed to a more regular pattern. Does this mean I'm ready to hold a controller and face a fear?

  It's no facing a bear. I won't really lose anything if I die in a horror game. The stories are some of the more interesting and original ones out there. So, maybe I should give it a try. It's the bear of my mind, and I should stand up to it! Even if I do sometimes jump and scream in a completely masculine way.

  • Posted Feb 28, 2013 6:01 am GMT
  • Category: Editorial
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• 21Feb 13

  Admission - Part 2: The Two Rep's

  Sitting in my HR-rep's office, I realized one of the things she's actually good at is making me feel like a moron. I finally filled out my accident/ incident report, though it's just over a month after the fact. I didn't know it was a good idea to fill out the report until my union rep (different person) told me it's: 1) procedure, and 2) a good way to cover my butt.

  It's a public secret in the office that the union rep rub's elbows with the boss upstairs. After he more or less told me that I'm screwed after I told him, two days ago, that I didn't fill out the accident report, I lost what little trust I had him. Remember folks, this is my third discipline hearing. Indeed, these are things one cannot make up.

  Hence sitting in my HR-rep's office, excruciatingly describing how I had hurt my back doing my job. This was today, the day before the hearing, my nerves were already shot. She gave me an earful, saying I should have somehow just known to go to her after I had hurt myself and literally telling me this isn't kindergarten like I'm a twenty-nine year old first grader.

  My nerves skyrocketed after that. Hesitantly, I told two coworkers what was going down and what the stakes were. They didn't think I'd be let go, rather that the hearing is a scare tactic to shake me up and set me straight. I still have my doubts. I don't think the union guy would hesitate to throw me under the bus if it benefited him somehow. Of course he's not a bad guy, but it's just not the job for him.

  My mind still wanders to day dreams of me busing tables or taking McDonald's orders. I still wonder if the wedding will happen. It's easy for me to point fingers at the union-rep or those who didn't tell me to fill out the report when I told them I hurt my back. It's still all my fault, I admit it. I'm the moron who risked it all so close to my wedding. A deep, dark part of me wants there to be a freak occurrence: slipping in the shower, or an icicle through the brain. In the meantime, I keep chugging along and not minding that I fall into the cliché of wondering, and fearing, what tomorrow will bring.

  • Posted Feb 21, 2013 2:37 pm GMT
  • Category: Relationships
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