The Walking Dead is one of the most popular franchises of the last decade. Most of the audience knows the successful TV series based on the comic of the same name, which introduced us to a post-apocalyptic world where the classic zombies are referred to as “walkers.”
However, there’s a stark contrast in the world of video games right now. The initial video games based on The Walking Dead, developed by the now-defunct TellTale, received high praise for their narrative nature and emphasis on decision-making.
But their latest game hasn’t fared as well. The Walking Dead: Destinies was presented as a game where we could alter events from the first three seasons of the series, akin to a multiverse concept. Right from its first trailer, it didn’t receive a warm reception, with graphics reminiscent of a PlayStation 3 game. Unfortunately, the final result has been even worse than anticipated.
“Not only has the graphical quality remained the same, but also the narrative itself and the gameplay mechanics are a complete disaster. Case in point: in a game cinematic, Rick learns about his wife’s death and screams in rage and frustration. This would be great if it weren’t for the fact that the characters’ faces are completely expressionless, and there’s no movement in the entire scene, making it look more like a PowerPoint presentation than anything else.
At AMC they are so confident that their fans are still there that they have created ‘The Walking Dead: Destinies’, a game that will review the first four seasons of the series and will allow you to change the script to your liking.
‘The Walking Dead’ has a significant issue in the world of video games. And it is… its very own first title created by the sadly defunct Telltale Games, which offered an alternate story with its unique style and decisions that could alter the course of the game (well, more or less). Its four seasons (and a mini-season of three episodes) made it impossible to take any other game in the series seriously. Although, in its defense, it hasn’t really tried to do so well either… at least, not until now.
It seemed like the ‘The Walking Dead’ saga had reached its limit after its catastrophic recent seasons and the little excitement generated by its spin-offs. Yet, somehow, it manages to soldier on. AMC is so confident that its fans are still there that they’ve created ‘The Walking Dead: Destinies’, a game that will revisit the first four seasons of the series and allow players to customize the storyline to their liking.
In this case, as seen in the first trailer, the game will enable players to assemble their own team, diverge from the previously set story, and experiment with the official canon to see what unfolds. It appears that there will be at least fifteen characters from the series, various familiar settings, and recognizable moments for any dedicated follower. Additionally, the game will feature action and strategy scenes, somewhat reminiscent of the rough clone of ‘The Last of Us’ that we saw this year on the Nintendo Switch.
And the truth is, graphically, ‘The Walking Dead: Destinies’ leaves something to be desired. However, it’s no less true that it’s still in the final stages of development with the intention of being released for sale on November 14th on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series S/X, Xbox One, and Switch. The recommended price is €49.99, but if you wait a bit, it’s likely that we’ll see a significant discount in a few months.
Perhaps Shane will survive and become the group’s leader, maybe there are characters who die or get bitten… If the fabric is truly well put together and the changes go beyond the cosmetic, this “What if…?” scenario could be interesting. Otherwise, it could be another disappointment in a saga that, in the midst of 2023, needs a glimmer of hope. It’s up to you whether you still have faith in it at this point.
Our favorite zombie-slicing samurai is leaving “The Walking Dead.”
Dania Gurira is taking her Marvel money and running away from “The Walking Dead.”
At today’s “The Walking Dead” panel at Comic-Con, Dania Gurira announced that she and her character Michonne are leaving the show. Her character will be leaving one way or another in the next season.
Gurira has been on the show since its third season in 2012. Since then, she has been in more than 100 episodes. For those of us who still watch the show, we’re sad to see her go.
First look at the movie!
At the panel for “The Walking Dead,” the first teaser trailer for the first of three Walking Dead movies was released:
Although the trailer doesn’t tell us much, it does promise that Rick Grimes will finally be making his return; We just have to pay the cost of a movie ticket in order to see him.
We can’t quite tell much from the trailer, but it appears as though Rick is heading back to the city to presumably join a new resistance in the fight against the dead.
The comic series recently ended. In the end, Michonne is still alive. She becomes a leader in the new civilization that is built after the zombie apocalypse. Rick isn’t as lucky. If Michonne is being written out of the show, the writers will have to come up with something other than what is in the comics. Then again, the show already did that with Rick:
Wrapping up
Most fans of the show agree that the show hit its stride a few seasons ago, and now it is struggling to maintain relevancy. Michonne’s swan song might just be what finally gives “The Walking Dead” the baseball bat to the head it needs.
The show about undead corpses now resembles its subject, as the show now averages about half the audience it pulled in its heyday. 17.3 million people tuned into the Season 5 premiere see how Rick and company survived after being trapped in the boxcar by the Terminus cannibals. In its most recent season, an average of 7.82 million people watched each week.
The Walking Dead Courtesy: AMC
“The Walking Dead” has problems. So many problems. But the biggest problem is that the showrunners have no idea where they’re going to end this thing, so every season follows the exact same pattern:
Season Premiere: Last season’s cliffhanger is resolved with the glorious success of our heroes!
Second Episode: Whew! That was scary. Thank God everything is fine… except for this new threat we just discovered.
Episodes 3-7: Filler. Usually, someone runs away. Maybe someone falls in love? A normally good person does something seemingly evil (or stupid). Lots of nobodies get eaten.
Mid-season finale: What a shocking cliffhanger as our heroes have fallen into incredible danger!
Mid-season premiere: Whew! Our heroes survived! Maybe some tertiary hero dies in the escape. This season’s threat has been neutralized… for now.
Episodes 9-15: Several subplots about farming or looking for ammunition. Characters do uncharacteristic things that no rational person would do in a zombie apocalypse. (“Michonne, I don’t care what you say! I’m going to operate a frozen banana stand at the bottom of this quarry and no one can stop me for three or four episodes.”)
Season Finale: Our heroes split up and face various cliffhangers.
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The predictability of “The Walking Dead” is its undoing because the only thing that matters in a zombie movie or TV show is unpredictability. We should not be able to identify a character with plot armor as soon as they appear on screen. This show has been at its best when at its most chaotic.
For all its ups and downs, “The Walking Dead” took a fatal blow with Glenn’s death. We’re talking about Glenn’s first death, when he fell off a dumpster and zombies tore him apart in an episode that was not a season premiere or finale (when all heroes die). It briefly, shockingly, supplied the terror and chaos you want from a zombie show.
And then it turned out that Glenn was hiding under a dumpster the whole time and the zombies were eating the person lying on top of him. It proved that the show would not play fair with its audience, manipulating them with a death that was faked on-screen.
A few episodes after the dumpster fiasco, we got the abominable Season 6 finale – a fantastic episode that ended in the stupidest possible way when Negan killed an unseen character. Was it Glenn? Glenn died in the comics. So we waited.
The Walking Dead Courtesy: AMC
And then after many months, Season 7 resumed with an entire filler episode before finally revealing that Abraham was Lucille’s victim in the season finale. And as a bonus, Negan killed Glenn, too. What was the point of that? They could have let Glenn die under the dumpster instead of keeping him around for a few additional meaningless episodes. That would have preserved the suspense of this chaotic world with a midseason major kill. Instead, they went with the same old pattern.
The best thing for “The Walking Dead” would be to pick an end date, whether that’s next season or five seasons from now, then build a compelling narrative that arcs between the present and the finale. The “Lost” showrunners experienced the same narrative bog when they had no idea when their show would expire. Having an end date finally gave them a chance to build toward something. And although the “Lost” finale sucked, it’s not like they were blindsided by a sudden need to end the story before they were ready.
The Walking Dead Courtesy: AMC
Granted, this announcement seems to suggest that like “Star Trek” or “CSI,” AMC wants to be in “The Walking Dead” business with some kind of spin-off show, even if the original has to die. (And it should have died several seasons ago.) But given how awfully “Fear the Walking Dead” started, it’s reasonable to ask if AMC even knows what to do with the property for another decade.
If they’re setting us up for endless fake-outs, jump scares, and characters who do stupid things for no other reason than elongating the season, AMC should put a bullet in this idea. If they plan on making limited, tense, character-based drama against the backdrop of zombie hell, we’re on board. Let’s hope they choose wisely.
Jon Bernthal’s presence on the set of season nine of “The Walking Dead” has added a bit of mystery…
Filming of season nine of “The Walking Dead” is already underway, and as usual, this means some secrets are leaking about future episodes. Today, we have unexpected news concerning Jon Bernthal on the set. Bernthal played Shane Walsh before, ya know, he got turned into a zombie.
He even appeared in a Facebook photo with Andrew Lincoln (Rick). And that was enough to start speculation about Shane’s potential return next season. Early theories point to the fact that Jon Bernthal could have simply been visiting, as he is Lincoln’s close friend. Now that we know Lincoln will be leaving the series, it’s conceivable that a number of actors could come back to see him for his final episodes.
Shane Walsh (Jon Bernthal) – The Walking Dead – Season 2, Episode 12 – Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC
A flashback of a scene from season one
Others speculate that he’ll appear in season nine of “The Walking Dead” through hallucinations or flashbacks. If Rick Grimes were to die, he might have visions involving old characters, as was the case with Tyreese. Shortly before his death, Rick’s thoughts could turn to Shane, the Governor, or other characters who opposed him.
Although it’s an interesting idea, it implies that Rick would die, something that could harm the popularity of the series. But as we said, Lincoln is leaving the series, so it’s not like Rick will factor in the show much longer. In any case, Jon Bernthal’s presence on the set remains a mystery, and we wouldn’t bet against a little surprise appearance. But we’ll have to wait until October to learn more.
The pinball spin-off of The Walking Dead point-and-click adventure will arrive August 26th. Zen Studios, the developer behind popular pinball games like ZEN Pinball are taking Telltale’s beloved franchise and turning it into an arcade game.
The impressive thing about The Walking Dead Pinball is that the game will still be story-driven. This is a must as the story is what made The Walking Dead game so successful. The original voice cast returns to help recreate key moments from Season One of The Walking Dead.
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The pinball machine feature familiar places from the original game as well. You’ll revisit Clementine’s tree house, Everett’s pharmacy and the streets of Savannah.
Here are the release dates for all the different platforms:
– PS3, PS4 & Vita: August 26th (North America), August 27th (Europe)
– Mac, August 27th
– Steam, Xbox 360: August 27th
– Wii U: August 28th
– Android, iOS, & Amazon: August 28th
There’s no word about pricing but in the meantime, check out some of the screenshots of the game below.
Even though TellTale Games is proving that side stories can be told in The Walking Dead universe, AMC and Next Games are working on a new mobile game called The Walking Dead: No Man’s Land. The expected release date will coincide with the mid-season premiere of The Walking Dead Season 5 next year.
From the minimal amount of details, The Walking Dead: No Man’s Land will “feature themes familiar to the TV series, where character fight for survival in a post-apocalyptic, walker-infested world.” Developed for smartphones and tablets, the experience with this new game will likely be different from TellTales’ series and present an experience tailored for quick play sessions.
The teaser trailer doesn’t show any details about The Walking Dead: No Man’s Land gameplay, but take a look.
There may be more details revealed at AMC’s The Walking Dead Booth (#4237) at the San Diego Comic Con taking place July 24 -27.
Keep an eye on The Walking Dead: No Man’s Land at the official site.
WARNING: The following trailer contains spoilers from previous episodes of The Walking Dead: Season 2.
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The trailer for the upcoming episode poses a question: if your friends are slowing you down, do you leave them? Clementine will have to face some of the most difficult decisions yet after the events of the previous episode. Her group is battered and broken. Kenny has lost his will to live and is ready to die.
Episode 4 will arrive July 22nd for Mac, PC, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. Xbox 360 players will have to wait an extra day. iOS will the get game last on July 24th.
You can download the games below if you haven’t played the first season or the previous episodes of the second.
Telltale Games is partnering with Zen Studios to create a pinball version of The Walking Dead. The game will retain the “choice-driven gameplay” that made the original so great.
It seems strange for a point-and-click adventure game to be turned into a pinball game but it actually looks fun. It will be interesting to see how the studios integrate choice into the game. You’ll have to decide who you want to save, how to keep morale up, and search for supplies.
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The Walking Dead Pinball will recreate the events of the first season of The Walking Dead. All your favorite characters like Lee, Kenny, and Clementine will be included in the game.
The game will be available some time this summer on PC, Android, iOS, and console systems.
It’s been two years since The Walking Dead game launched. iOS users were lucky enough to get the game within four months of launch but Android users were left out. Today, The Walking Dead: Season One finally arrives on Android.
The zombie adventure game helped developer Telltale Games blow up. The company is now developing games like The Wolf Among Us and the upcoming Game of Thrones point-and-click adventure game.
Although the game is two years old, it’s still an excellent game. It was my favorite game of 2012 and still evokes fond memories. Season Two of The Walking Dead game is currently in its second episode. If you haven’t played any of the games in The Walking Dead series, now’s a good time to start.
The game is free to download but you’ll have to pay via in-app purchase to unlock episodes. Each episode is $4.99 or you can buy the entire five episode season for $24.99.
