A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

The Walking Dead: Michonne
Developer & Publisher: Telltale Games
Engine: Telltale Tool
Platforms: PC, OSX, PS3, PS4, X360, XB1, Android, iOS
Release Date: February 23, 2016 (First episode)

I, personally, found the second season of Telltale's The Walking Dead to be a disappointing and desperate attempt at re-enacting everything we loved about the first season and the lack of creativity and fresh ideas was painfully obvious. When Michonne was first announced, I sort of expected it to go along the same lines. After having finished the game, I can now confidently say that I was wrong.

The Walking Dead: Michonne tells the story of Michonne, a former lawyer and a zombie apocalypse survivor. Her two daughters, Colette and Elodie went missing during the outbreak of the apocalypse and the incident makes her constantly hallucinate about them. In the present timeline, she is on a boat with a group of men. Suddenly, they get a distress radio call and Michonne and her friend, Pete, go out looking for the source of the signal. Soon after, they are captured by Randall and his crew after being the subject of a misunderstanding. What follows is an emotional roller-coaster that you should play yourself to find out about.

The first episode of the miniseries is very dull as it spends most of the time introducing the characters. It is from the second episode the game really takes off. The emotional ups and downs that one should expect from a Walking Dead game are all there. The third and final episode keeps up the good work and features what is probably one of the most intense climax sequences I have ever seen in a video game.

The first change I noticed is that the HUD of the game has been given a comic book-inspired overhaul. I also liked the inclusion of slow-motion action sequences. The violence in Michonne is a lot more graphic than anything we've seen in the franchise so far. The "missing daughters" subplot has added a lot of depth to Michonne's character and consequently to the plot; though I would have liked to see that subplot flourish a little more than it actually did.

The two departments where Michonne failed to entertain me are its graphics and gameplay. Graphics is quintessentially the same as TWD Season 2 and the same goes for the gameplay. Since the TWD games are based on the comic books and not on the TV series, the 2.5D graphics is justifiable. However, sticking to the same, old, QTE-heavy gameplay seems redundant to me. Considering how the violence in the franchise has been taken up a notch, it would have really been interesting to be able to make creative environmental kills instead of relying on the pre-conceived cutscenes. 

If the graphics and gameplay are overlooked, Michonne is a strong return in form for Telltale. Hope this improvement continues in TWD Season 3.

Nony Khondaker is an introvert with immense passion for tech and music. Feel free to send your constructive feedback at nonykhondaker@live.com or follow him on twitter.com/NonyKhondaker