Re-Review!
The Walking Dead: Michonne
PlayStation 3
I replayed the first two Walking Dead games from Telltale a few months ago. Mainly, I just wanted to play them again because I had planned to play the third game shortly thereafter. I needed a small refresher as I could not for the life of me remember where the second game had left off. Time has passed but I still have not gotten around to the third game yet. I figured that, in the meantime, I will play The Walking Dead: Michonne again. While it is unrelated to the Clementine story that takes place in the main game, I figured it would be a fun distraction until I would be able to play Season Three.
I don’t remember a whole lot about my first playthrough of the game, even though it only took place about a year and a half ago. I only recall thinking it was… okay. Not bad, but not particularly good or memorable either. Just okay. What would I think this time around?
I came into it with an open mind. I love Michonne, especially the comic book version of the character. If you are a fan of the comics, this game takes place shortly after the “All Out War” story arc. Michonne leaves Rick’s group and winds up hanging out with some sailor broskis on the water. Michonne and the bros get caught up in a battle between a vicious group of survivors and a family who is in open conflict with the bad guys.
The game plays out like past entries in the Walking Dead series. You can walk around and talk to people. You pick from different conversation branches and different character choices. Battle scenes consist of quick time events. There is nothing really new to report here, from the gameplay all the way down to the music and the graphics. I liked the past few Walking Dead games, so this was no problem for me.
The game takes place over the course of three episodes. While you may think “oh hey that’s not bad for such a small price tag”, keep in mind that each episode is only about an hour in length, if that. So at most the whole game is about three hours long. They could have easily released the game as one big chapter. This seems like a sneaky way of trying to get more money out of people who bought the season pass to me. Luckily, I didn’t buy the game until all three had been released and I was able to get the whole shebang on sale for about five bucks. I don’t know how much it costs now, but I wouldn’t pay any more than five bucks for it if I was you.
The game itself is fine, but it is nothing horribly memorable. The conflict is extremely straightforward. It doesn’t challenge you or make you think at all. The game also didn’t make me cry or trigger any kind of extreme emotions like the first Walking Dead game did with Lee and Clementine. It tries, with the deaths of several main characters and Michonne’s flashback scenes to the deaths of her two children. But to me it failed. I don’t know, the game just was not long enough to really get me invested in the characters. I wanted to feel that attachment, but I didn’t. The ending fell a little flat for me too. When the conflict is resolved, Michonne is just like "ok I guess I should go back to Rick's group now", and that is it. The end. There are no twists or turns, no big wow moments. No lasting repercussions for the actions you took as you played. That makes it the weakest of all the Walking Dead games that I have played so far.
Don't get me wrong, this is a fun distraction if you are bored and want to throw a few hours into a quick game you can finish in one night. It may not be the emotion-filled journey we've come to expect from Walking Dead Telltale games, but it is still fun to play. It is fast moving, action packed, and although the game's story is not horribly deep, it is well told and keeps you interested in seeing what is going to happen next. I definitely had FUN while I played this.
So this falls into the category of "fun and enjoyable, but nothing memorable whatsoever". Ask me again in several years what I thought of the game's story, and I probably am not going to be able to tell you much. I may be able to remember that I liked the game and had fun with it, but beyond that? Meh. This is worth picking up if you are a big Walking Dead fan, or just a fan of Telltale in general. But I wouldn't pay any more than five bucks for it.
Overall:
C+
(original score: B)
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