The Walking Dead, absolutely the best game of 2012

[Argony]

I actually don't like The Walking Dead. I have always disliked when games pretend to give you a choice when they really don't. I also didn't get to engaged with the story, partly because it was a very typical 'zombie survival' story. Don't get me wrong, I love story driven games, but when the story is so typical and just filled with tropes I couldn't get into it.

I far more enjoyed Far Cry 3 and Hitman Absolution, whose story I admit is not very good but the gameplay is excellent and in Far Cry's case, brilliant dialogue. I also adored Hotline Miami for both it's story and it's gameplay.

 

[sanquin]

Is the story of TWD good? Hell yes from what I've heard so far. Is the rest also good enough to warrant a GotY? Hell no from what I've heard. So overall, even if the story is stellar, that doesn't mean it's the game of the year for me. A game is about more than just story after all.

 

[veloper]

No just no.

There was a time on the Escapist when a game would get slammed for the use of shitty quicktime events. That was before the members turned into a bunch of fake gamer girls. A GAME of the Year should not have shitty gameplay. One good point is not enough. A GOTY should not be anything less than mediocre on any aspect and certainly not gameplay.

TWD isn't half bad, because the dialogues keep the whole thing together, but it's certainly not great. There isn't even any discussion about the gameplay being less than mediocre, because everyone agrees on that point.

So a nice presentation, a decent story and some sentimental scenes and poof the crybabies have their GOTY.
Doesn't matter for a newf* GOTY if the theme, the setting and the gameplay are lacking in this lineair affair that fails on it's C&C promise even harder than ME3.

TWD is not even worthy of being called the "adventure game of the year". This year like the past decade has been poor, but I'd sooner nominate Primordia:
+ more original
+ better setting
+ much better puzzles
+ multiple solutions
+ 10 possible endings
+/- retro style('90s) graphics
- not fully polished

But most here wouldn't even know about Primordia, because it's a small indie title.

 

[Robot Number V]

*snip*

Oh boy. Hold on, let me get my popcorn and folding chair.

I will now be watching this thread with great interest. The responses to this post are going to be glorious. Seriously, throwing in that random, totally nonsensical jab at "fake gamer girls"? Genius. The perfect combination of unwarranted hostility and utter nonsense. I should clarify that I accept your opinion of the game as totally valid, and I have no interest in picking a fight with you. We should just agree to disagree. I'm just saying that your inevitable fights with OTHER people will be entertaining as hell.

OT: Yeah, The Walking Dead was fucking amazing. My favorite game of the year as well.

 

[Darks63]

I was on the fence about buying until i saw of lp of the first ep and after that i got it and im halfway into episode 2 atm pretty cool game overall and it doesn't play the insane logic crap like alot of more modern adventure games do for the most part.

 

[lechat]

shit it's even hard to class the game as a point and click since the extent of point and clickery amounts to "get screwdriver. use on screw" i will admit that this is often better than "get banana. get hammer. get can of beans. combine hammer, banana and can of beans. use banana, hammer bean rocket launcher on tree" but FFS it has almost no gameplay

it makes you wonder if had they made the gameplay more like resident evil if it still would have got the same amount of praise or would it have come off as a shameless clone with a decent script.

still gotta be in my top 3 though cause i still count it as the only game this year that has further progressed games in any form instead of just copy pasting shit from last year

 

[Woodsey]

"If you have any interest in the storytelling aspect of video game, you need to buy the Walking Dead. The mechanics of the game aren't amazing"

This is the kind of statement that a) needs to die and b) should be considered an oxymoron.

If we're playing games we should expect them to use their mechanics for storytelling, not excuse them with "the story stuff is great, best game of 2012! Mind you, the other stuff is pretty shit. Like, uh... the game bits."

 

[Daystar Clarion]

"If you have any interest in the storytelling aspect of video game, you need to buy the Walking Dead. The mechanics of the game aren't amazing"

This is the kind of statement that a) needs to die and b) should be considered an oxymoron.

If we're playing games we should expect them to use their mechanics for storytelling, not excuse them with "the story stuff is great, best game of 2012! Mind you, the other stuff is pretty shit. Like, uh... the game bits."

I'll be clear that I never had any problem with the way the mechanics were presented to me, I thought they worked really, but I can understand how some would think they were clunky.

 

[Mr Cwtchy]

It's certainly got the best story of any game made this year. However it was also poorly optimised and the actual gameplay can range from 'meh' to 'OMFG this sucks so bad'.

Wouldn't necessarily say it shouldn't be GOTY, suppose it depends on how important you consider a good storyline, and how great you consider TWD's story in particular to be.

That fucking ending dude...

 

[Owlslayer]

I agree with ya, Daystar. Sure, there isn`t really a lot of gameplay, and the gameplay is not that epic. Lots of QTEs and all. But i still consider it to be my Game of the Year. I got so attached to the characters, and the game really pulled me in. The game was a damn enjoyable experience, and i haven`t gotten something quite like it from a game in years. And I´m a sucker for such emotional stuff. So, yeah, of course I really loved The Walking Dead, and consider it the best game of 2012. Well, at least for me.

 

[hazabaza1]

I don't get why people are saying that the gameplay was bad. It served its purpose and never felt broken or unpolished. In the point and click genre, isn't that what the gameplay linking the puzzles and dialogue is supposed to do?

 

[Knusper]

A friend spoilt it for me after I spent £10 on it, so I don't feel too inclined to play the game now.

 

[Chairman Miaow]

I watched a LP of Walking Dead. No desire to play it myself now. I watched a LP of Farcry 3 as well but i'm still playing that myself.

Walking Dead loses.

A LP of Walking Dead will completely ruin the game. As Daystar said, you have to live it. I feel really sorry for anybody who can't get sucked into it the way I did.

 

[Chairman Miaow]

"If you have any interest in the storytelling aspect of video game, you need to buy the Walking Dead. The mechanics of the game aren't amazing"

This is the kind of statement that a) needs to die and b) should be considered an oxymoron.

If we're playing games we should expect them to use their mechanics for storytelling, not excuse them with "the story stuff is great, best game of 2012! Mind you, the other stuff is pretty shit. Like, uh... the game bits."

I'll be clear that I never had any problem with the way the mechanics were presented to me, I thought they worked really, but I can understand how some would think they were clunky.

I actually thought the way the mechanics worked was good. There was absolutely no other way it could deliver the experience it did. It made it tense when it needed to be, you panicked and rushed when something jumped out at you, but always had enough time to succeed, so you weren't pulled out by cheap deaths. the button mashing was predictable a lot of the time, but it stuck to one button which is good and just generally worked the way it was meant to.

 

[GamingAwesome1]

Absolutely peerless storytelling as far as the competition goes this year and it's definitely my GOTY just by sheer virtue of being the second game ever to make me cry.

Still, somehow it feels a little strange that what most people consider to be GOTY, me included is a game with very little in the way of actual gameplay and a story that, while it's gripping and compelling in a way most fiction in general is not, doesn't really factor your choices in any meaningful way which I think is kind of a sore spot for a game ostensibly all about choice.

It's still the game I thought to be most memorable and enjoyable this year, but I think that just goes to show what a crap year this was for video games. Don't get me wrong, I loved Walking Dead and I think it had a unique approach to storytelling in video games and had excellent pacing and atmosphere, great story, basically no gameplay.

Then again, I've yet to play XCOM or Dishonoured which are the only other two games that I can think of that look even remotely deserving of that mental accolade.

 

[Iyon]

It drove me crazy at times but The Walking Dead was definitely one of my favourites this year. The gameplay certainly was minimal, but I was fine with that and it was still a lot of fun. My biggest problem with it was how it seemed to emphasize choice yet didn't hold you accountable for them. Your choices simply don't matter at all, and that really bugged me.

 

[Avaholic03]

Someone is going to have to explain to me how a game with that many QTE's and cutscenes (two of the most maligned features in modern gaming) could possibly be in the discussion for "best game". It's got a pretty solid story and very well-written characters, but there was so little actual gameplay that I missed several QTE/dialogue prompts because I had sat back in my computer chair watching the thing like a show. And the parts where you're actually in full control of your character mostly amounted to a mediocre adventure game with painfully easy puzzles.

I enjoyed it for the most part, but I would hesitate to even call it a game, let alone the best game.