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Sunday 7 July 2013

REVIEW/THOUGHTS [VIDEO GAME DLC] -- The Walking Dead: 400 Days (Telltale Games)

Playthrough Status: COMPLETED TWICE
Approx. Length: 1.5 hours (about 15-18 minutes per character chapter; 5 character chapters total)
Language: English
Played on: PS3 (Digital download)
Also Available for: XBox 360, PC, Mac OS X, Vita
Type of Game: Point-and-Click; Choose-Your-Own-Adventure; Horror
Overall Impression: It's too short. It's interesting and worth playing, but maybe at sale price.




SPOILER ALERT WARNING!!
This review will contain some spoilers -- or rather, there will be a "Spoilers" section at the end of the review to go into further detail about certain things. There may still be slight spoilers throughout the review, but I've tried my best to keep them at a minimum.

PERSONAL STANDING (Pre-exposures, thoughts, etc.)
Anybody who's read my review on The Walking Dead game would know that I am a fan of the series (both in video game and comic format). I wouldn't say I was super excited about this DLC, but that's because I didn't look up on all the E3 announcements this year, so I didn't know about it at all. I only found out about this from Youtube -- somebody had posted up a review on the DLC. I didn't watch it, but knowing about its existence was enough for me to turn on my PS3 the next day and just straight-up buy the DLC. 

NOTE: In order to play The Walking Dead: 400 Days digitally, you have to have at least Chapter 1 of The Walking Dead Season 1 downloaded and installed (which is currently free). Otherwise, you won't be able to access the DLC.

STORY
In The Walking Dead: 400 Days, you briefly play through the story of five characters. Each story is separate, but they're also a little interconnected. In one character's story, there might be a reference to an event that happened in another character's story. Some of the stories also take place in similar locations, so you can get an idea of what happened at that specific spot. Each story starts at a different day of the "400 days" timeline, so if you select the characters in the right order, you can possibly see the events unfold chronologically, and see the "cause and effect" of each character's story... and possibly choice (not sure about this). I'll post a link that goes into detail of all the inter-connections in the "Spoilers" section.

Now, if you think that you would be playing through the whole "400 days" timeline (it's what I thought when I first read the name), you won't. You just play each character at that one point in their timeline and then you fast forward to day 400 once you've played through each story.

I think playing the story of multiple characters is neat. You get to see multiple situations and perspectives surrounding the same ideas: the world is overrun with zombies; the world is over. 

It's a little sad that another idea keeps getting suggested / brought up throughout each story, and I'll say what that is in the "Spoilers" section. 


GAMEPLAY
The gameplay is more of the same as in The Walking Dead: point-and-click interactions, quick-time events, and making choices. There doesn't seem to be any puzzle-solving elements this time, but there are a couple of new controls to make certain situations a bit more immersive. 

The choice-making are still gruelling and difficult at times. Characters still take note of your choices... though I'm not sure how much of an effect it plays this time since each character story is so short. 

Since I enjoyed the gameplay in The Walking Dead, I enjoyed it here as well.


CHARACTERS/VOICE-ACTING
Even though you get to play as five different characters, I actually don't like many of them. I think the main reason for that is length of gameplay for each story: it's just too short. For 15-18 minutes of time spent with each character, it's just not enough to build a rapport, connection, or anything with them (at least, that's how it was with me). Out of the five, I liked Shel's character the best, since she most reminds me of Lee Everett, the main character from The Walking Dead.

I have an issue with Bonnie's storyline and I'll mention it in the "Spoilers" section.

The different characters you get to play as.

VOICE-ACTING
Just like in The Walking Dead, the voice-acting is great here.


GRAPHICS
The Walking Dead: 400 Days follow the same comic book feel as The Walking Dead game.

There aren't as many bloody scenes here compared to The Walking Dead, but there was one scene that I thought was pretty brutal. I'm often very good with animated blood and gore, but this made my stomach churn... just a bit. I'll say what it was in the "Spoilers" section (and post a screenshot, so don't look if you don't want to be spoiled!).

 
MUSIC
I don't think there was a lot of music in this DLC. I do remember hearing something during the intense moments, but I think that's it.
 
REPLAYABILITY
Since each character chapter is so short, it's easy to replay the whole DLC. I know I did right after finishing it. With that said, it's also easy to disconnect with the characters and make crazy choices since you know those choices only matter during that character's storyline. I'm currently not sure if that is a good thing or not.

I think this deserves at least one replay, especially if you weren't able to get the desired outcome at the end.



CLOSING THOUGHTS
The Walking Dead: 400 Days has its moments. Despite my qualms, I did enjoy it. It definitely comes to mind if I ever feel like playing a short game. $5 for 1.5 hours of gameplay, though, is not worth it. I'd recommend waiting for it to go on sale before getting it. Instead, get and play The Walking Dead if you haven't. That is definitely worth its price.

At the end of the game, just like in The Walking Dead, you get a breakdown of your major choice in each story and how it compares to everybody else. As of this write-up, that stats record is currently "broken" (currently being displayed as 50% for each choice).


Thanks for reading! If you have any comments, feel free.

So I'll do the scrolly thing and the "Spoilers" section will appear after that. Then I'll add some more scrolly things after the "Spoilers" section in case anybody wants to comment, but not see the spoilers.

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SPOILERS

It's a little sad that another idea keeps getting suggested / brought up 
throughout each story

I don't know if this is really a spoiler, but I definitely didn't want to seed this idea into somebody who hasn't yet played the game. Here's the idea: with self-preservation, almost every human being turns into a crazy motherf**ker.

Feel free to debate this with me, but that's what I got while playing through The Walking Dead: 400 Days. Once law flies out the window, it's every one for themselves. In a world like that, trusting somebody is about the same as life or death. Trust the wrong person, and you're screwed. 

In the world of The Walking Dead, I would go so far as to say that humans are way more scary and feared than the zombies. What a sad thought.


I have an issue with Bonnie's storyline

So, when I played through Bonnie's storyline and got to the scene where I accidentally killed Dee, I felt so horrible, speechless, and racked with guilt (Dee was just a shadow figure slowly walking towards you). When I replayed Bonnie's story and decided not to attack that shadow figure (aka Dee), the shadow figure came up to me and whacked me with her flashlight. Then I gamed over.

What the heck? Sure, I guess in gaming terms, if you don't do whatever you're supposed to do within the time limit, then the result is you game over. But from a storytelling / narrative perspective, especially in The Walking Dead, gaming over is essentially the same as your character dying. This leads me to this conclusion: If Bonnie doesn't kill the shadow figure (aka Dee), then the shadow figure (aka Dee) will kill Bonnie (and probably with malice since Dee is holding a flashlight). 

With that train of thought, it just cheapens the horrible guilty feeling you get when Bonnie does accidentally kill Dee. It actually made me a little pissed, since I felt such genuine emotions the first time I played through that scene. 


There was one scene that I thought was pretty brutal

The scene I'm talking about is Dee's death. Ugh. It's soooo gross. I think what makes it more horrific is that Dee's still talking in that state before she dies. The lighting isn't exactly the best, but here's a screenshot:


Bam! Ugh...
Remember, she's still alive at this point.


I'll post a link that goes into detail of all the inter-connections

This link also connects and presents speculations to the first Walking Dead game: 
http://m.ca.ign.com/wikis/the-walking-dead-game/400_Days_Chain_of_Events
 
If you read my spoilers, thanks for reading them! Now to finish with more scrolly things. Feel free to comment :D


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