Last week, Telltale Games announced the arrival of their episodic Walking Dead games on iOS devices. Not being one to leave anything alone, I stayed up til midnight to ensure that I was one of the first to download…at least in my time zone..and I may have dozed off a little….I wasn’t first, or even close I’m sure.
Let’s keep in mind that I’ve already played the game on Xbox, and some of my colleagues here at BSR have played it on PC. But the idea of playing a point-and-click zombie adventure on a touch screen seemed to great to pass up. I’ll avoid re-reviewing the entire game, which is simply fantastic for the record. Instead I’ll highlight the differences that the touch screen brings to the game, and what they did right and wrong.
First things first I played the game on an iPad 2, nothing super fancy I do feel that playing on an iPhone would bring additional challenges with the smaller display. The game was much easier utilizing a full touch. Movement was controlled by dragging your finger across the screen to pull Lee in the direction you preferred. Not one for touch screen movement (especially when it utilizes an invisible, or barely visible joystick) I was surprised at how natural the movement felt, and how little I had to adjust. Instead of clicking the icons to begin an event or examine something, you simply tapped them, and all of the quick motions like pushing a zombie away or stomping it’s face in were performed by quick swipes across the screen or madly tapping the action icon. Thinking it could be over simplified I was again surprised at how fluid everything felt.
The game ran just as smoothly as it did on Xbox and PC, but I did notice some of the backgrounds were a bit more static than before. Where you may see a tree moving in the wind, or grass shuffling it was instead a still image. Character animations and any interactive item, however, were still just as good as the PC.
The story stayed the same, so I can’t really complain at all. Solid writing with the different characters remember your choices, comments, and overall demeanor which could lead to different effects throughout the game play.
If I had to pick a complain it would be the price. $4.99 per episode puts the entire series in line with the PC and Console versions. The entire series will cost the end user $25.00, and unless you snagged it on sale through steam this summer, that is pretty much the going rate. I realize that mobile devices are moving towards being considered a legitimate form of gaming, and should compete right along with PC’s. They simply haven’t hit that point yet. Maybe a slight price cut to say…$2.99 would ease iOS owners into the idea of playing some of their PC or Console content on their mobile devices.
My cheapskate personality aside this is a great play through. If you haven’t picked up the Walking Dead series by Telltale yet, this is a great opportunity to jump on and see a great story set in the Universe. Let’s not forget that Frank Darabont is overseeing the production side to keep everything in canon, and though the art style may look it. This game is not for kids, is not family friendly, and quite frankly I’m not sure it has a happy ending coming.
What’d you folks think?