The zombie genre is not as rampant as it once was, though the likes of Dying Light 2 are still keeping it afloat for now. Back in the day, however, games like Left 4 Dead, Dead Rising, and The Walking Dead, basically any game with "dead" in the title, were all the rage. Speaking of the latter, Telltale Games has been celebrating the 10th anniversary of its episodic zombie series, with some of the crew talking about how they feel after all these years. Many people will fondly remember the game's interactive elements in which player choices actually mattered, but it's been mentioned that it was very nearly something else.
According to a video posted to YouTube, The Walking Dead was originally conceived as a zombie adventure game set in another universe entirely. Specifically, the studio approached Valve with a view to doing something set in the Left 4 Dead world. The general idea was to make a narrative driven game, similar to what Telltale would eventually do, with progress bars that would affect how the story would play out. Robert Kirkman, the co-creator of The Walking Dead comic books, said with good humor that he was rather glad they didn't end up doing that.
Given the legacy of both titles, with The Walking Dead: Season One's emotional ending and Left 4 Dead's incredibly fun cooperative gameplay, it would have been interesting to see how a much more narrative-rich game done by Telltale but set in Valve's IP would have panned out. In the end, what the former eventually created was something special, something that dialed back the run 'n' gun action of most zombie games at the time.
Although there were four seasons spread out over time, many would agree that season one of The Walking Dead is by far the strongest. It was the player's first encounter with Clementine, much younger in these episodes, and the chance to play as Lee, whose surrogate parenting of the young girl was what made it more than just a standard zombie game, giving it heart and meaning.
It is unfortunate that the original Telltale Games is now disbanded, and while Back 4 Blood is considered a Left 4 Dead spiritual successor, many fans are still pining for a third true installment in the dormant cooperative shooter. That said, both franchises are cherished by gamers, and it's nice to see some of the development team and voice actors who worked on The Walking Dead game series make a return to discuss some behind-the-scenes a decade later.
The Walking Dead: The TellTale Definitive Series is available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
