The Walking Dead: 400 Days

I am sure there are a few people who see the title The Walking Dead: 400 Days and are a little confused. This is actually the second game in the Telltale Games Walking Dead series. It was released in between season 1 and 2 and was meant to bridge the gap between the two games.

Five Different Stories

The Walking Dead: 400 Days is much shorter than the first Walking Dead game, but it still manages to pack quite the punch. The idea of this game is that it is all centered around a truck stop in Georgia and there are five different stories that you can play Through. You can play through these in any order you want, but as you would expect what you do in each story is echoed in the others.

Vince, Wyatt, Russell, Bonnie, and Shel are the five different stories that you play through. The reason that the game is called 400 days is that is how many days these stories spread across. Vince’s story, for example, takes plus just days after the outbreak happens. Shel’s, on the other hand, happens at over 200 days in.

This Is So Different!

One of the most amazing things about The Walking Dead: 400 Days is that despite each of the five stories being rather short. Telltale are such masters of storytelling that not only does each one feel like q rather unique experience and special to the people involved in that particular story. You actually manage to care about the characters. I am not saying that you care for them the same way that you do Lee and Clem, but it is certainly close.

Vince, for example, is a convict who at first you think you will hate, but his family values make him grow on you. Russel’s is probably the most terrifying as it is about hitchhiking and being picked up by a crazy person. Then we have Shel who has ties into the cancer support group from the first game.

The stories are all told very well and the writing and voice acting is truly awesome. I really like how it is not super on the nose about being connected to the first and second season of The Walking Dead. However, at the same time fans who played the first game and then the second are really rewarded with some excellent fan service from the first game and foreshadowing to the second.

Short, But Deadly Sweet!

As I said before, The Walking Dead: 400 Days is a rather short experience and I would bet that most people will get through all five stories in around two hours or so. That though does not make it a bad game and when you consider this was originally sold for only five bucks, it makes it one heck of a deal.

The five different stories are not only different in terms of their narrative I also feel that they play slightly different. Now granted it is the same gameplay that was in the first Walking Dead. That rather old school point and click style gameplay. But I do think they were very clever with the way they made each story offer something different.

Pros:

• Offers five different stories to enjoy
• Each of the stories has its own feel
• The game is very tense and exciting
• Voice acting and writing is once again excellent
• It is dirt cheap!

Cons:

• It is really short
• Some of the lip syncing can be a little off at times