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Telltale is back with another installment of their series based on The Walking Dead. This time they’re sticking even closer to the comics than they have before, by focusing an entire 3-episode miniseries on Michonne — explaining her absence between issues #126 and #139 of the comic book.
So, with Episode 1: In Too Deep out now, is the miniseries off to a great start? Keep reading to find out!
Right from the start, we’re introduced to a very damaged Michonne. I absolutely love the intro sequence of the episode. Without spoiling too much, Michonne’s past comes back to haunt her in a literal way. The scene sets the tone and theme for the rest of the episode, but, sadly, the following chapters don’t end up surpassing that great intro.
After a stretch of solitude, Michonne meets a group of survivors and ends up sailing with them on their boat. Chief among this new group is Pete. I liked how hopeful the writers make him, despite the circumstances he and his friends find themselves in. Right from his introduction, I instantly got a good feeling about the guy, like he was someone that could be trusted. So I definitely sided with him when it came time to decide if it’s a good idea to answer a certain distress call. But, again, this is The Walking Dead, so I know better than to get myself too attached to characters.
Eventually you do come across another group of… not so nice people. As expected, we have a group of baddies with a central villain. Now, here are where my problems lie with the story. It just doesn’t feel different enough. I do like how this group, living in Monroe, has turned wrecked ships into homes. But the central antagonists aren’t original enough. I do love that a woman is the main villain, though. That’s always refreshing to see. And she does seem like she could end up being pretty menacing, especially after an intense moment late in the episode where she’s questioning Michonne and another character. I actually had to pause the game several times throughout this particular scene, being extra careful with each of my responses.
Telltale still excels at dialogue. It all flows smoothly, and I love how they were able to capture Michonne’s voice here. Having said that, when it came to decision-making, I played her role as close to her original comic book incarnation as I could. Ultimately, we have another situation like we had with Wolf Among Us and its main character, Bigby. Since Wolf Among Us was a prequel to the comic book series Bigby came from (Fables), readers already had a fully developed version of his character in their minds. So we all knew where Bigby would end up. Now, we have a similar scenario for Michonne. Sure, we can select from various decisions in dialogue, but thanks to over 100 issues of The Walking Dead, we already know where she’s been, and where she ends up going after the events of this game. So this greatly influenced how I played her.
It’s safe to say that the highlight of the story is definitely Michonne and her dark past. That’s actually what had me hooked the most throughout the episode’s 2 hour duration. And I can’t wait to see where it goes next. Honestly, I don’t really care much about the other characters (I’m evil!), because they just didn’t feel developed enough for me to care yet. I mean, yeah, this is only the first episode, but characters are already placed in dire situations that I feel would have more emotional weight had they already been developed to the point of building that connection with the player. Pete is the only one I truly care for, and Michonne, of course. But the latter has the wonderful benefit of having her fate already decided thanks to her role in the current comics.
Now, I can’t talk about Michonne without talking about her amazing skills with a blade. We’ve seen her use her signature weapon in the comics and show, and now we finally get to hack and slash as her through quicktime events. These came in extremely satisfying, action-packed moments that were really engaging and possessed great choreography worthy of the title character. I was always looking forward to the next sequence where her blade would be utilized, just as much as I looked forward to more bits from her past being integrated again.
So, there you have it! I enjoyed The Walking Dead: Michonne – Episode 1. But it just wasn’t anything special. It felt very “been there, done that,” and if it wasn’t for the inclusion of Michonne’s harrowing past, I definitely would’ve rated this much lower.
(6 / 10)
Above Average
(6 / 10)Rely on Horror Review Score Guide
