‘The Walking Dead: Michonne’ Review

The impressive video game developer Telltale Games released The Walking Dead: Michonne between February and April this year. This game is a stand-alone title that is not related to their previous two Walking Dead titles they released in 2012 and 2014. The Walking Dead: Michonne consists of three episodes which are focused on Michonne’s journey and like other Telltale Games titles, you have freedom to make decisions for your character that impact the story of the game.

The Walking Dead: Michonne is not a bad game, but certainly not a good one. It contains too many tedious flashbacks in the game that ruin the flow of the story and stop you from being immersed in the game like their previous Walking Dead titles. We can appreciate the attempt of innovation that the flashbacks were meant to offer, but they only provide limited information about previous events in Michonne’s life which make it difficult to understand what is happening and as a result the flashbacks are an interruption to the story-line of the game. To make matters worse, the first flashback is combined with numerous boring quick-time events which give you an awful first impression of the game. There is an unnecessary abundance of sluggish quick-time events in the game that show Michonne’s skills with her machete. The game would have been more fluent if Telltale had replaced most of the poorly designed quick-time events with cut-scenes. In previous Telltale titles, the quick-time events are more coherent and implemented at a faster pace to add to the tension. The game features decent interactions with characters and the graphics and controls of the game are very similar to the previous Walking Dead titles. Michonne’s interactions with the amicable character Pete are skilfully constructed and a pleasant part of the game. Telltale Games are known for games which contain plenty of drama and tension between characters and groups, but unfortunately this game is unoriginal with most of the tense scenes being rushed, spontaneous and illogical.

There are occasional emotional moments in the game that are impressive, however the story-line is mainly banal and basic. The story of the game would have been more interesting if it gave more information and screen time to the antagonists. The antagonists were intriguing characters that you never learn much about. The game does consist of some difficult moral choices to make, which were engaging and heavily impact the story. Overall the game is adequate and thrives in some areas, such as impressive voice acting and memorable characters like Pete and the obnoxious antagonist Randall, but is a big disappointment when compared with games that Telltale Games have released recently. The poor flashback scenes and mediocre story-line prevent the game from being an enjoyable experience. We hope that the great quality that Telltale Games are capable of achieving returns when they release Batman: The Telltale Series and The Walking Dead: Season 3 later this year.