Walking Dead Videogame Confirmed, Not Based on TV

[Tom Goldman]

Walking Dead Videogame Confirmed, Not Based on TV

Telltale Games has officially announced that a Walking Dead videogame is in development, but it's not based on the TV show.

The Walking Dead has become an television show [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/104980-AMCs-The-Walking-Dead-Is-a-Massive-Zombie-Hit]. Its profile has been raised so much that now it's also coming to the videogame world, courtesy of Telltale Games.

Telltale has announced a "multi-year, multi-platform, multi-title" deal with Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman to produce videogames based on the comic book. Notably, these games won't be based on the television show, which is what broke Walking Dead into mainstream popularity, but doesn't precisely follow the original storyline.

Kirkman told IGN that the first Walking Dead game is still in the planning stages, but it will be episodic as is typical for a series made by Telltale Games. Kirkman did not reveal if the games would diverge from the story in the comic book, or what they'd follow at all. My guess is that Telltale and Kirkman will take players behind the scenes of the Walking Dead characters' lives, or maybe even follow a brand new cast.

With potential platforms encompassing the PC, Mac, consoles, handhelds, mobile phones, and social gaming platforms, The Walking Dead could infect our gaming lives wholeheartedly. Telltale expects to release the first Walking Dead game in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Source: IGN [http://pc.ign.com/articles/115/1150855p1.html]

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[mParadox]

This is going on my "Games-to-watch-out-for" list.

I'm psyched. =D

 

[LadyMint]

I would really love to play an MMO where you're just trying to survive in a zombocalypse world. No levelling stats, no real missions, just items/resources you can gather and places you can try to hide in while zombies constantly find and try to kill you. This type of an MMO might need to have several different starting points that it spawned new players in, though. A huge crowd of people all appearing at the same spot would probably just defend that one spot from the zombies and never fully branch out.

Does such a game already exist?

 

[Wolfram23]

Ohh another zombie game!


...anyone else not excited?

 

[Thrashgrinder]

oh. umm... HELL YES! comes to mind!

 

[RatRace123]

Wonder what genre it's gonna be.
Tell Tale's branching out, and Jurassic Park has been compared to Heavy Rain rather than a point and click like Sam and Max.
Though it could be argued that Heavy Rain was also a point and click, just sort of an evolution (or mutation, depending on your POV) of it.

As it stands right now, I'm excited to see more info come to light.

 

[SomeBritishDude]

Brilliant! Wonder if this will be like the comic in that it will be so brilliantly written that you want to keep buying even after every issue makes you want to put a gun in your mouth.

...But seriously, I had to stop, it's rediculously depressing stuff.

 

[Mr.Pandah]

Ohh another zombie game!


...anyone else not excited?

It's not just a zombie game. It's a walking dead game. The comics are so much more than just about the zombies. Especially with telltale behind the helm, this could be really something special.

 

[stueymon]

Anyone else thinking this could be a massive MMO? with each group of survivors competing for supplies to survive? I mean if it was seriously hard core in that supplies are limited and not just dropped by every critter, it could be intense.

 

[GiantRaven]

This is very interesting, especially the part about not explicitly following the comic or the television show.

Is The Walking Dead in essence becoming the new Hitchhiker's guide? A story available in a multitude of different mediums, all with their own subtle differences.

I like it.

 

[XT inc]

I might be the only one, but I think I can muster a list of devs more suited to make a walking dead game than tell tale. Mainly because I can't shake the image of point and click episodic games out of my head and that isn't what I want for WD. In my head it would be more like the older Resident evil games, with a more deathly real fear for getting bitten and game over.

 

[freakyalex]

I would really love to play an MMO where you're just trying to survive in a zombocalypse world. No levelling stats, no real missions, just items/resources you can gather and places you can try to hide in while zombies constantly find and try to kill you. This type of an MMO might need to have several different starting points that it spawned new players in, though. A huge crowd of people all appearing at the same spot would probably just defend that one spot from the zombies and never fully branch out.

Does such a game already exist?

I really, really hope such a thing exists, it sounds like one of the funnest things ever.

 

[Fanghawk]

Walking Dead is a great comic series and Telltale is an excellent adventure game development team, but I can't help but hesitate over whether the two will work well together. On the one hand, Telltale would do a great job at creating a character-based zombie game. On the other hand, any zombie game requires a certain amount of action/shooting elements, even if used sparingly, which can be very tricky to do effectively in an adventure-based setting.

Jurassic Park will be a good way to see how effectively Telltale can branch out. And if it is good, the project is multi-year, so we'll get at least two seasons!

 

[LondonBeer]

Looking at the fantastic flash game Last Stand & Last Stand 2. Itd be very easy to make a compelling interesting game with enjoyable shooting, maybe a Jagged Alliance style party interaction and an open world.

This is very interesting, especially the part about not explicitly following the comic or the television show.

Is The Walking Dead in essence becoming the new Hitchhiker's guide? A story available in a multitude of different mediums, all with their own subtle differences.

I like it.

I wouldnt say the TV show bears much resemblance to the comic books tbh.

 

[Quiet Stranger]

I swear to god if it's just another point and click game!!!

 

[manythings]

I swear to god if it's just another point and click game!!!

You're surprised a Dev would stick with their primary mechanic?

OT: I am always hoeful when it comes to the Telltale stamp but I'm still more interested in the game Dead State.

 

[Vault boy Eddie]

I can see it as a FPS/RPG like Borderland. That, or a RE type game. But I like the FPS route more, kill, loot, find NPC's, help them, watch them die, loot them.

 

[GiantRaven]

I wouldnt say the TV show bears much resemblance to the comic books tbh.

That was kind of what I was saying. It's similar to Hitchhikers guide in how that had a book, radio show, TV show, videogame and film, all of which were subtly different in the story and plotting, which was intended by the writer, Douglas Adams.

I swear to god if it's just another point and click game!!!

That is probably a good thing. The Walking Dead wouldn't work as an FPS or TPS since it's story really doesn't have a heavy emphasis on large amounts of combat. It's more based around character interaction and development. I'm not sure how you would fit that into a point and click game but I imagine it work a lot better than with a shooter.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

I wonder how Telltale is getting all these great deals like this and the Back to the Future games considering their small indie status.