The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series - A New Frontier (Xbox One, 2017)

The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series - A New Frontier
Developed by Telltale Games
Published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Released for Xbox One (5/30/2017)
Also on Android/iOS/PC/PS4/Switch

The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series - A New Frontier (jeez what a long title!) is Telltale's follow-up to their successful Walking Dead games. It had been awhile since Telltale returned to the main storyline, as the previous release the Walking Dead: Michonne was an off-shoot and completely unrelated to the characters from the first 2 seasons. At the time of the game's release in February 2017, it had been 4 years since we followed the adventures of Clementine. Let's take a look at A New Frontier and see how it fares...

Like the previous two installments in the series, A New Frontier is composed of 5 episodes released individually. The first 2 episodes dropped on December 20, 2016. While it was uncommon for Telltale to release 2 episodes simultaneously, we'd have to wait all the way up until March 28, 2017 before the episode 3 would see a release. This was due to Telltale staff taking a holiday break and likely also because of work overload due to other projects being worked on simultaneously. Telltale was able to get things back on track and would release the following two episodes in a more timely manner. Episode 4 dropped on April 25, 2017 and the final episode on May 30, 2017.

It should go without saying that there will be some spoilers in the remainder of this review, but I'll do my best not to ruin everything if you decide to try it out for yourself. If you're coming into A New Frontier blind, be prepared for a bit of immediate disappointment as you discover that Clementine is not one of the central characters in the story. This time around we follow a young man named Javier (Javi for short), who is travelling with his brother and family. David (Javi's brother) is accompanied by his wife, Kate, and their two children Gabe and Mariana. This is the main crew and of course shortly into the story you'll encounter Clementine, who is out there surviving on her own. These are the characters you'll see the most throughout the game, but there is also a group of survivors that call themselves the New Frontier that play quite a role in the story (obviously since the game is named after them!).

Every so often, the story will fill in some of the gaps between this game and the previous two with flashbacks. There's stuff between Javier and his family while some of them try to explain how and where Clementine's been all this time. While I personally didn't care much for Javier (we'll get into that shortly), the Clementine bits were some of the more memorable  and among the best in the game. Unfortunately, Clementine's appearances are occasional and I always found it a bit disappointing how many times she'd disappear from the group. The overall story is about what you'd expect from a Walking Dead title at this point, which mostly involves a crazy bunch of survivors trying to take out the righteous group. It's not terrible, but it definitely has a "been-there, done-that" type of feeling to it. It's also considerably shorter than the previous two entries, which means it spends less time establishing the characters and getting you to really care about them.

While A New Frontier is a decent entry into the Walking Dead games, in the story department it lacks the punch of the first two titles (especially the first one). It's great to have Clementine back in the mix, but it sucks that she's not one of the main characters and on top of that the group we spend most of the game following really aren't all that likable. Our main protagonist, Javier, is trying to cheat with his brother's wife which makes him feel scummy and hard to really care for. Honestly, this episode would've been for the better if they would have kept Clementine as the main character. Perhaps Clementine and the story of her acceptance and ejection from the New Frontier group would have made for a more riveting story. It definitely would have given the story in this game some more weight if they at least had a chapter showing Clementine's past with the New Frontier, but instead we are just treated to a few brief flashbacks.

Presentation-wise, A New Frontier is about the same as previous Telltale entries. The graphics have been cleaned up a bit and the game does feel like it runs a bit smoother than previous entries. Similar to other Telltale releases at the time, the interactivity has taken a step down from the earlier games, which means there are fewer instances where you get to actually walk around and explore. There are occasional action sequences that play out as quick-time events, where failure will usually end in death and a restart from a nearby checkpoint. Upon completing an episode, there were percentages to show you how many people made each decision. When I played this in 2019, the servers had shut down and this feature was no longer working, which is a bummer as I always enjoyed seeing what the majority of people chose to do in these games.

As far as your old saves go, there's an option to import a previous save which, in theory, would allow you to pick up your game regardless of what device or console you played the previous games on. This requires you to sign in to the Telltale servers, which likely went down when the company closed their doors. Forgive me, but I didn't feel like going through the hassle of setting up an account and trying it for the sake of this review. My saves carried over problem-free, but this is no surprise since I played all of these on the Xbox One. Initially there was a "story builder" page on the Telltale website that would allow you to setup which choices were made in the previous games. Once you'd made all of your decisions on the website they'd be uploaded into a cloud server and could then be imported into the game. Unfortunately, this is another feature that seems to have died after the Telltale shutdown.

If you've already invested the time into the previous installments of Telltale's Walking Dead games, then I'd say A New Frontier is worth a go. Just beware of the aforementioned issues and try to grab the game on sale or even better, play it while it's available on Game Pass. It's not really the follow-up that most of us wanted, but given the state of Telltale Games office around the time of its release it's cool that we got anything at all. Thankfully they didn't mess up the well-liked Clementine character, but at the same time they really didn't do a whole lot with her either. Here's to hoping that the fourth entry into the series does her character a bit more justice.

A New Frontier was slated to also release on the previous generation consoles, both for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, but was cancelled shortly before release. With the game being cancelled so close to the release date, it's easy to assume the game was more than likely in a finished state or close to it. Perhaps it suffered from the same unoptimization issues as Batman on the Xbox 360 or maybe Telltale just felt it was time to move away from the previous generations. The Xbox 360 marketplace was a ghost town when it came to new releases by February 2017, so this is likely part of the reason.

Final Verdict: A decent entry into the Walking Dead series, A New Frontier brings back the welcome sight of Clementine. Unfortunately, she's only a side character and the rest of the cast aren't near as interesting or memorable. Still worth a play but I'd advise you to wait for a sale.

Purchase Links:
Buy Walking Dead: A New Frontier - Microsoft Store
Buy Walking Dead: The Definitive Series - Microsoft Store
Search Walking Dead: A New Frontier (Disc) - eBay

Related Links:
Telltale Games - Xbox Overview
The Walking Dead: A New Frontier - GameFAQs
The Walking Dead: A New Frontier - Wikipedia
A New Frontier Cancelled for PS3 & Xbox 360 - Hardcore Gamer

The Walking Dead: Michonne - A Telltale Miniseries (Xbox 360/One, 2016)

The Walking Dead: Michonne - A Telltale Miniseries
Developed by Telltale Games & Skybound Games
Published by Telltale Games
Released for Xbox 360 (2/2016) & Xbox One (4/2016)
Also on iOS/Mac/PC/PS3/PS4

The Walking Dead: Michonne is Telltale Games third entry into the Walking Dead series of games. If you've played any of  the previous entries you have a decent idea of what to expect, though none of the recurring characters are featured in this game and instead the story focuses on Michonne on her quest for survival.

The main character, Michonne, is constantly haunted by hallucinations of her two missing daughters. She was away from them when the zombie outbreak started and has been unable to locate them in order to find out if they survived or not. Every now and then you'll enter a flashback sequence where you'll try to help them before snapping back to reality. While Michonne is searching for survivors in the first episode, she is captured by another group of survivors with bad intentions. This theme of good-natured survivors being captured by evil survivors is starting to feel a bit played out when it comes to the zombie apocalypse stuff and it's beginning to feel like we've seen it a hundred times (which we likely have). Even with that said, Michonne is a badass character and I had no problem playing through the game to see what would happen to her next, though there aren't as many surprises in this Walking Dead as there were in previous entries. The remainder of the cast aren't bad, but you don't get enough time with any of them to become that invested in them.

The Walking Dead: Michonne is called a Telltale Miniseries for good reason: the game has only 3 episodes and will only last about 3-4 hours before you've finished the story. As usual in Telltale Games, you'll have a few choices to make along the way that make a few scenes play out slightly different. Like other Telltale Games, the story is mostly the same no matter what you choose so it really ends up being more of an illusion of choice than really having much impact. You can definitely sense that Telltale was spread a little thin at this point due to taking on too many projects and they didn't put the same TLC into this game as the first two.

Though not as good as the first two games, if you enjoyed those entries you'll likely enjoy your brief time with the Walking Dead: Michonne. During my playthrough of the Xbox One version, I didn't experience any of the issues I'd run into with previous Telltale Games (crashing, frame dips, etc.). It's good for a quick playthrough, maybe even a second, but you're not going to get more than a few hours out of the game. If you're cool with a short point 'n click style game, give Michonne a try. It's a bit hard to recommend it at the full MSRP, so I'd suggest waiting for a sale. Unlike the first two Walking Dead games from Telltalle, the Michonne Miniseries has yet to receive a physical release.

Final Verdict: The Walking Dead: Michonne is a short but fun zombie survival point 'n click game. Though it doesn't feature any of the characters from the original games, the gameplay will appeal to those who enjoyed previous Telltale releases.

Related Links:
Buy The Walking Dead: Michonne for Xbox One - Microsoft Store
Buy The Walking Dead: Michonne for Xbox 360 - Xbox Marketplace
Telltale Games - Xbox Overview
The Walking Dead: Michonne - GameFAQs 
The Walking Dead: Michonne - True Achievements
The Walking Dead: Michonne Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements

The Walking Dead: Season Two (Xbox 360/One, 2014)

The Walking Dead: Season Two
Developed by Telltale Games
Released for XBLA/Xbox One (10/2014)
Also on Android/iOS/Mac/PC/PS3/PS4/Vita

The Walking Dead: Season Two continues shortly after where the original game left off. You'll be following Clementine as she struggles to survive in the midst of a giant zombie outbreak. The game looks and plays largely the same as the first game, featuring a mixture of point & click, dialogue and quick-time event segments. Much like with any Telltale Games title, the mostly story-driven gameplay won't be for everyone, but those who enjoyed the first game will definitely find something to like with this second installment.

The voice-work is top-notch and one thing that remains consistent among Telltale Games. Even if the written dialogue isn't always the best, the actors do a very convincing job delivering their lines. The sound design is decent but feels a bit lacking in some areas, but the excellent voice acting makes this easy to overlook. The music does a good job of adding some mood while usually staying in the background, but does a good job conveying emotion especially in the more dramatic moments.

The following paragraph will feature spoilers, so if you haven't played the game yet and wish to do so you may want to skip ahead. Story-wise, the second season installment is a solid follow-up to the original game, though not quite as good for a few reasons. Personally I didn't find the cast of characters as good as the original, but I mostly chalk this up to the absence of Lee. Running into Kenny shortly into the game was quite emotional, despite the fact I didn't even particularly like the guy in the first game. Shortly after uniting with Kenny he brings up Lee and even though it'd been at least half a year since I'd played the original title I found myself tearing up instantly. That right there goes to show how they did a great job establishing Lee as a stand-up dude that was easily likable in the original release. I didn't really get that kind of feeling from any of the characters this time around unfortunately. I feel like I could have liked some of the characters introduced here, but nobody is really given enough development to really get the player to care. Kenny is a bit war-torn by previous events and it only gets worse as you continue through the story, so you'll end up fearing him more than you will liking him.

As with most titles released from Telltale Games, the game is linear and though you are able to make some decisions throughout, the end result is usually the same. What's here is enjoyable if you like cinematic point 'n click games, though once you've completed the game there won't be much as far as replayability. It's worth a play but I'd advise waiting for a sale or searching for a cheap physical copy since you likely won't get a whole lot of play time out of it. Though with Telltale Games recent shutdown, it's only a matter of time before the license of this game causes it to be removed from the marketplace, so if you want a digital copy you may want to go ahead and get it while you can.

The Walking Dead: Season Two was originally released in late 2013 for Android and iOS devices. On October 14, 2014 the title was put out for XBLA and PSN. Just a week later on October 21 the game would receive a release for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The game is more or less the same on the 360 as it is on the One, with the One version running a bit smoother, looking a bit sharper and loading a bit faster. The Walking Dead titles are easily among Telltale Games best work and one of their more stable games as well. I didn't run into any freezing or glitches and it's clear that a bit more time and effort went into this series than many Telltale games that would follow.

Final Verdict: The Walking Dead: Season Two is a worthy follow-up to the original. Fans of the first game will find something to like here.

Purchase Links:
Buy Walking Dead: Season Two (Xbox One Digital) - Microsoft Store
Buy Walking Dead: Season Two (Xbox 360 Digital) - Xbox Marketplace
Search Walking Dead: Season Two (Xbox One Disc) - eBay
Search Walking Dead: Season Two (Xbox 360 Disc) - eBay

Related Links:
Telltale Games - Xbox Overview
Point & Click Adventures - Xbox Overview
Telltale Games - Official Site
The Walking Dead: Season Two - Metacritic
The Walking Dead: Season Two on Xbox 360 - GameFAQs
The Walking Dead: Season Two on Xbox One - GameFAQs
The Walking Dead: Season Two Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements
The Walking Dead: Season Two - True Achievements

Zombie Smashers X4 Guitarpocalypse (XBLIG, 2008)

Zombie Smashers X4 Guitarpocalypse
Developed by Jamezila
Released for XBLIG (11/2008)

Zombie Smashers X4 Guitarpocalypse was listed in the XBLIG marketplace as ZSX4 Guitarpocalypse, a title that doesn't exactly grab one's attention. The XBLIG storefront opened up in November 2008, so this title was among the earliest releases on the platform. The game plays like a poor man's Smash Bros, where up to four players battle it out in 2D on a single-screen arena with multiple platforms. When you are knocked over the edge you lose one of your lives and the last player standing at the end is the winner. There are zombies thrown in the mix, hence the game's title, and every character uses a guitar for a weapon. You have a punch, kick, guitar smash and jump. There's a meter that when filled will allow you to unleash a special move. Every so often a giant digitized cat shows up and shoots lasers out of it eyes at everybody but trust me, it sounds much cooler than it actually is. The graphics are very basic but not terrible, though nowhere near as good as Jamezila's later offerings. Everybody's got to start somewhere. Zombie Smashers X4 Guitarpocalypse shows a lot of promise and this developer would later move on to release some solid titles for XBLA.

Final Verdict: A poor man's Smash Bros, Zombie Smashers X4 Guitarpocalypse is a decent version of that game, but it's very bare bones and lacking in overall replay value.

Related Links:
Ska Studios - Xbox Overview
Zombie Smashers X4 Guitarpocalypse - GameFAQs
Ska Studios - Official Site

Zombies Ruined My Day (XBLIG, 2011)

Zombies Ruined My Day
Developed by mancebo
Released for XBLIG (8/2011)
Also on PC

Zombies Ruined My Day is a 2D survival game. You face against a wave of zombies and are tasked with defeating each and every last one of them. If they touch you, it's instant death and you are transformed into a zombie. You have the ability to jump and you are able to carry two weapons. This is in the trial, there are likely more weapons to be found in the full game. The game borrows its control layout from overhead twin-stick shooters, where the left stick controls your character while the right stick is used to aim your weapon, with the right trigger being used to fire. Everything controls relatively well (the jump could be better) but the problem I had with Zombies Ruined My Day is that each and every zombie is an absolute bullet sponge, regardless if you shoot them in the head or the foot. The game is definitely a challenging experience due to this, so if you're a big zombie survivalist fan you might get some fun out of this one, but I honestly found it a bit tedious. The artwork is presented in high-res cartoony looking art that, while not something I personally like, I must admit is well done. Zombies Ruined My Day retailed for a dollar on XBLIG and I could see many people getting some enjoyment as its definitely better than your average offering on the service. While you can't get it on your 360 anymore, the game did see a release for PC as well.

Final Verdict: Zombies Ruined My Day is a 2D-shooter/survival game where you must shoot a designated amount of zombies without dying to reach the next wave then rinse and repeat. The game looks nice but the action itself wasn't engaging enough to hold my interest for long, though die-hard fans of zombie/survival games might find something to like here though.

Related Links:
Zombies Ruined My Day - GameFAQs
Zombies Ruined My Day Review - Indie Gamer Chick

Zombie Football Carnage (XBLIG, 2011)

Zombie Football Carnage
Developed by Milkstone Studios
Released for XBLIG (2/2011)
Also on PC

Zombie Football Carnage is a bit of an oddball title, even by XBLIG zombie genre standards. The game plays kind of like a beat 'em up, though rather than fighting with punches and kicks you'll be attacking by throwing your football. The football acts more like a boomerang in that it can only be fired once until it bounces back. It's a strange mechanic but somehow it works. You also have a dash you can use to evade enemies and a charge attack. As you disperse the enemies you'll find a nice variation of power-ups including stuff like dynamite, bombs, and teddy bear decoys. The game is fast-paced and hurls you pretty much right into the action, making it a good pick up and play title in short sessions. The sprites are composed of high-res art and everything looks sharp and clean. The art-style definitely takes inspiration from Castle Crashers. I'm pretty sure this is one of those games that just continues on endlessly until you die, but I can't be certain because I tend to die pretty quick, though I do still find the game enjoyable. There is a shop where you can upgrade your character with the currency you pick up in-game which adds some replay value. The game has it's own built-in achievement system that tracks your progress as you play. Zombie Football Carnage contains that polish that seems consistent with titles released from developer Milkstone Studios. Overall, I'd say this one was worth the dollar asking price as you can easily get hours of action from this title. Of course it's no available since XBLIG was shutdown, but it was also released on PC so it has not been forever lost like so many other XBLIG titles.

Final Verdict: Zombie Football Carnage is a strange wave-based brawler where you attack with your football. Yet another enjoyable XBLIG game that sold for just a buck (or 80 Microsoft points).

Related Links: 
Zombie Football Carnage - Milkstone Studios Official Site
Zombie Football Carnage - GameFAQs

Zombie Estate II (XBLIG, 2013)

Zombie Estate II
Developed by JeremyVerchick48
Released for XBLIG (4/2013)
Also on PC

Zombie Estate II plays and looks much like the original title (review here), but this time around you have four different environments to choose from for some needed variety. Levels include the estate, high school, shopping mall and skyscraper rooftops. There are tons of unlockables this time around, including characters and hats that will grant you bonus stats. These will be unlocked by spending points earned from playing well. There are also over eighty guns to mess around with. The game takes what was good about the original and piles on quite a bit more content. There is still support for up to four-players local and a much better variety of enemy types this time around, in addition to much more detailed environments to do your zombie blasting in. The pixelated gore is pretty nasty as zombies satisfyingly get reduced to bloody chunks as you mow them down. The game offers three difficulties (casual, hard and insane) that go for fifteen waves and there is also an endless mode. Zombies will drop ammo and money as you kill them, which can be spent between rounds to purchase new weapons. The game is simple yet fun and offers up a decent challenge at the same time. The Zombie Estate series is, in my opinion, one of the better zombie shooters available on XBLIG. The game would later see a release on Steam with some additional content.

Final Verdict: Zombie Estate II is an excellent sequel and delivers quite a bit more content than the original. The four-player mode is a blast with some buddies!

Related Links:
Zombie Estate I & II - Official Site
Zombie Estate II - Steam
Zombie Estate II Official Trailer - YouTube
Zombie Estate - Xbox Overview
Zombie Estate II - GameFAQs
Zombie Estate II - Steam

State of Decay (XBLA, 2013)

State of Decay
Developed by Undead Labs
Published by Microsoft Game Studios
Released for Xbox Live Arcade (6/2013)
Also on PC

State of Decay is an open-world zombie survival game. The premise and gameplay are both incredibly ambitious, perhaps a bit too much for the (at the time) aging 360 hardware. The game has a whole host of technical issues, all of which we'll delve into in this review, but despite this I still had a great time playing it. You rarely see open-world titles like this on Xbox Live Arcade, and State of Decay is one of the more in-depth zombie survival titles that I've played on a console.

Let's start off with the positive aspects of State of Decay. The premise is awesome and the game has a scope that no other zombie title (at least on the 360) had reached at the time of release. You're given a massive sandbox to explore and are able to setup a base, recruiting new survivors along the way. The character you play as has a stamina and life bar, and these will drain after a while forcing you to switch survivors in order for the current one to rest. Each survivor have their own individual stats which are leveled up as you use the affected ability and certain characters have unique stats to build up and will be able to unlock specific abilities.

It's important to stay stocked up on medicine and snacks, as these will help temporarily replenish your stamina and health. There are, of course, zombies scattered about the map everywhere, and I was quite surprised to see that throughout my entire playthrough that the undead were the only things I was killing (typically anything with zombies seems to have the survivors going at it with the zombies as fodder). Taking a cue from Left 4 Dead, there are special zombie types you'll have to watch for as they are tougher than your average undead. There are, of course, the big overweight zombies that are absolute damage sponges, feral zombies that can pounce on the player (very deadly!), bloaters that explode and leave a nasty fume that damages the player and armored zombies that are immune to bullets.

State of Decay features a perma-death system, so you need to be careful about playing as a single survivor for too long. When a survivor is murdered, you're treated to a gruesome death animation getting torn in half and your character will drop their belongings in a rucksack where they were slain, allowing you to reclaim your old possessions with a different survivor. I can't tell you how bad some of my character deaths pissed me off as they come unexpectedly sometimes, but let's just say I shut the game off a couple times in pure frustration. Typically when you go down, you'll be put into a downed state and are given ample time to mash the A button to recover and you'll initially think that your character going down is no big deal at all. It seems that if one of the "special" zombie types is anywhere near your character when they go down then you can kiss them goodbye as they killed me without even giving me an opportunity to recover on a few occasions.

Open-world games rely heavily on missions to keep the player occupied, and State of Decay is no exception. Typically your quests will involve fetch quests where you'll assist an ally and then escort them home, but there are a few variations on mission types. Aside from the missions, there are tons of places to scavenge for necessities like food, ammo and building materials. Your base will consume so much of each resource each day and it's up to you to make sure everything stays stocked up. With the building materials you can add specialized rooms to your base, such as a medical bay or workshop, that can give you certain perks. Basically, State of Decay has no shortage of things for you to do within its large open-world. I found myself annoyed initially by the way State of Decay bombards the player with quests, many of which will expire if not completed within a certain amount of time (similar to Dead Rising). The completionist side of me hated seeing these timed quests fail. At first I found very little time to actually go scavenge, but eventually you'll become familiar with which quests are important and which ones you can let expire. The zombie hunting missions, for example, are pretty much worthless unless you just need a little XP boost.

The combat in State of Decay isn't the games strongest point and when surrounded by a group of zombies you'll quickly realize how clunky it is, but this is not a game where you want to allow yourself to be surrounded as you will get overwhelmed quick. Every time you perform an action, a chunk of your stamina meter is depleted and this plays heavily into the melee combat. It's very hard to choose which target you wish to strike with your attack, and as a result it's a bit random who you will hit next some times, which can be a pain when you need to focus on a tough enemy in a group. The dodging mechanic is also a bit unreliable and your stamina meter will really inflate the difficulty of the melee gameplay. You'll need to constantly stop attacking to run away and recuperate or eat a snack before continuing to pound away on your enemies. The combat system is serviceable once you get accommodated with it and after you start leveling your attack stats up you can become quite the force to be reckoned with.

The game engine in State of Decay really struggles to keep up with everything sometimes, with rampant framerate stutters and graphic pop-in all over the place. The pop-in is especially noticeable while driving at top speed, and I even had one occasion where my car slammed into another vehicle I couldn't see because it hadn't loaded in yet. It promptly popped up after stopping my truck dead in its tracks. The framerate issue becomes prevalent whenever you're in an area with a high population of zombies. There was one occurrence where the framerate got bogged down so bad that the game froze, but other than this instance I was still able to enjoy the game despite the framerate issues however it definitely does take a bit away from the overall experience. There are also some pretty ugly low-res textures that look quite out of place.

The car handling is a bit off, particularly the braking. Your car can go from 60 to 0 on a dime and you'll notice very quick that fences and several other objects about will stop you as well. It's a bit ridiculous seeing a picket fence stop a pickup truck ramming it at full speed. There's also some pretty severe clipping issues going on, with zombies popping through walls quite frequently. Again, not a game-breaker but it is quite obvious and does detract from the immersion. Also, be cautious using the exit game feature on the main menu as this would lead to a black screen and would never load back to the dashboard. Instead, exit the game using your Xbox button to go directly to the dashboard.

While State of Decay does host quite a few technical issues, the good outweigh the bad and none of it stopped me from having a good time while playing through this one. If you're able overlook the games flaws then you should enjoy this one. The developers are obvious fans of classic horror films and there's tons of references to classic icons of the genre to be found. It's a good game that could have been a great game if some of the technical problems were ironed out. After completing the game and seeing how small the development crew was, it became much easier to understand why the game had as many technical problems as it did, as the game is huge as far as Xbox Live Arcade titles go and easily provides enough content to compete with many retail titles. In 2015, Undead Labs would release a revamped version of the game for Xbox One & PC, titled State of Decay: Year One Survival Edition. I'm looking forward to revisiting the game at some point on the One and see if the developers were able to work out some of the kinks.

Final Verdict: State of Decay does contain a fair share of technical problems, but the game still remains a very playable and fun open-world zombie survival action title.

Related Links:
Buy State of Decay - Microsoft Store
Undead Labs - Official Site
State of Decay - Metacritic
State of Decay - GameFAQs
State of Decay Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements
State of Decay - True Achievements

Breakdown
DLC Released on 11/2013

Breakdown was the first batch of downloadable-content for State of Decay that was released five months after the games initial release. This mode takes place on the same map as the main campaign, but adds a few wrinkles in the formula. New to this mode you'll be able to find an RV, which after you fix and get it running can be used to leave the map and will start a new scenario. With each new scenario you enter, the game ramps up the difficulty by spawning more zombies, hordes and freaks while also providing fewer resources and vehicles. For anybody that felt like the initial campaign was too easy, this mode will definitely ramp up the challenge in the later scenarios and will provide a much tougher challenge than the vanilla campaign.

Breakdown features a host of challenges that the player can tackle as they play. There's a batch of things to do for each scenario level up until five, and some of these will eat up a lot of your time. Each time a challenge is finished, a hero will spawn on the map who can be picked up and recruited to your home base. These were characters from the main campaign story and will often have a handy special skill unlocked already. Any heroes you've unlocked can be selected as your starting survivor when you start up a new game which is a nice bonus. The challenges are fun to unlock for the most part with only a few that stand out as requiring too much grinding.

That's basically Breakdown in a nutshell. It omits the story-driven missions of the original campaign but does still have several types of quests you can embark on if you need to gain influence. These usually involve helping random survivors who can be recruited if you earn their trust, hunting a particular type of zed freak, clearing out an infested building or assisting an ally in trouble. These missions will spawn consistently until you've repaired your RV and decide to move on to the next scenario.

While I enjoyed my time with Breakdown for the most part, I found little motivation to come back after completing all the challenges. There's also an exploit that allows you to load your entire party on the RV and bring everyone to the next scenario rather than the limited amount the game intended you to have. Of course you can use restraint and not use the exploit, but it does grant the player a distinct advantage when moving onto the next scenario (I've read that this was patched in the Xbox One version). I'm not certain if this was an issue in the main campaign, but some of the survivors' voice actors are just plain wrong. Several of the characters ethnicities just don't match up with their voices which can end up being funny actually but is yet another oversight. The bugs I encountered were mostly superficial, and Breakdown is worth getting if you've completed the main campaign and want some more mileage out of State of Decay.

Lifeline
DLC Released on 5/2014

Eleven months after the games official release we received Lifeline, and this time Undead Labs delivers a new map for you to survive in. This time around the story involves the military, so typically you'll be much better equipped for action. The map, while smaller than the original, is a welcome addition and makes up for Breakdown taking place in the same map as the initial campaign.

The map consists of a highway, with the exit out of town conveniently blocked off. There are several off-ramps you can use to access little parts of the city, but overall you're a lot more restricted than the original map. There's a story this time around, you need to require important people to try and continue the research of doctor who died early on.

Overall I found Lifeline to be an excellent addition to State of Decay, even better than the original campaign in some respects as it is a much more focused experience, and definitely worth the purchase if you enjoyed the vanilla game. If you only get one DLC for State of Decay, skip Breakdown and get Lifeline.

Walking Dead: The Complete Telltale Series (XBLA, 2012/Xbox One, 2014)

The Walking Dead: A Telltale Games Series
Developed by Telltale Games
Released for XBLA (4/2012) Xbox One (10/2014)
Also on Android/iOS/Mac/Ouya/PC/PS3/PS4/Switch/Vita

The Walking Dead: A Telltale Games Series is based on the hit television/comic series of the same name. While I definitely feel that the horror genre has been over-saturated with zombies in general, I'm always willing to spend some time on one that does something to set itself apart. In the case of the Walking Dead, the thing that got most of us really invested into the game was the character Clementine. You'll stumble across Clementine, a young girl, at the very beginning of the game. She's hiding out in her treehouse, hoping for her parents to come back home. You end up taking her along with you as your companion and honestly, unless you've got a cold heart, you'll end up caring very much for her as the story progresses. I'm not very familiar with the source material, having only seen the first season of the series and never read any of the comics, so I came into this title with a neutral stance and it doesn't matter as these characters were created originally for the game.

When the Walking Dead was originally released, it was done so in episodic format, with an episode releasing every other month. Personally, I don't like that big of a gap between gaming sessions, especially in a game so story driven. Being the kind of gamer who rarely pays full price for games anymore,  I waited for the entire game to be released and go on sale before playing it. At the beginning of each episode you receive a refresher on previous events though so it really wasn't a big deal if you played them as they came out. The X-Box One release contains the entire game from the get-go while you'll have to individually download the episodes if you're playing on the 360.

The Walking Dead features a graphic style similar to cel-shading, giving a comic book style to the visuals that works quite well. There are a few instances where the characters move a bit robotic, and it's a bit cheesy how the tears from a character look painted on, but for the most part the graphics look good. The zombies look pretty horrifying with lots of decay and there's a good variety in their designs. Of course, the zombies are just a sub-plot to the living who usually end up being their own worst enemy, as how it usually works out in zombie stories ever since Night of the Living Dead came out back in the late '60's. There's a good diversity of characters throughout the game, and there are several different outcomes depending on how you interact with them. The dialogue and voice acting is very well executed and the game does a good job of making it seem like your decisions hold real weight to them, which is important considering some of them are life and death scenarios. While the game does a good job making it seem like your choices are impactful, most of the major events in the game are fixed. There are some ways your choices will affect the story, it's just not as drastic as Telltale would like you to believe.

The first episode starts off with a bang, which is a must as this was the one that would draw you in. The introduction of Clementine is very well done and when the chapter ends you'll be anxious to see where the story goes from there. There are of course dips and dives throughout, with the middle section of the game dragging on a bit with some forgettable parts, but for the most part the story is well done and often to the point. The finale in chapter five is quite tragic and will stir some emotions in players who got invested in the game. I won't provide much for details because if you somehow haven't played the Walking Dead I'm not going to be the one to spoil it for you. There was also a bonus episode, 400 Days, that tells five different stories of survivors and then connects the dots at the end. It's not bad and is worth a look, but the stories are too short to accomplish much.

There's not a whole lot of gameplay involved in the Walking Dead, and when there is it usually involves walking around a small area and using the cursor to highlight/interact with people/objects. It's really one of those games you need to be in the mood to do a lot of observing, as the game will frequently take control away from the player for a dialogue or action scene. The developers did a good job of giving the player control at key spots, and it is possible to die if you don't react fast enough, though none of it is really difficult and you'll come back from a recent checkpoint. It's definitely a game that will be appreciated by those who like some good storytelling, but players requiring constant interaction in their video games may be put off.

In the X-Box 360 version of The Walking Dead I was able to complete the game without any glitches, which is bit surprising in retrospect considering how much trouble I've had with certain Telltale Games products in the past. It should be noted that I downloaded the game so all my experience is based on the digital version. I've read there are some issues with retail disc copy of the game, so that's something to consider if you're intending to play the game on your 360, particularly if you have one of the systems with a 4 GB hard drive. The X-Box One version contains much more acceptable load times and some slightly improved visuals. I only ran into one glitch on the One, where I would suddenly die for no reason at a certain point even upon restart, but using the game's rewind feature I was able to start the chapter over and finish it out.

Overall, the Walking Dead tells a gripping story of survival and is definitely worth visiting at least once for a playthrough. The game allows you to make some heavy decisions and there are some variations on the story based on your choices, which can provide a little replay incentive to go back and try some other options. Telltale Games did a great job creating their own story based on the source material and the game would be a smash hit for the company, and of course they would eventually follow up with a sequel...

Final Verdict: The Walking Dead: A Telltale Game Series is an excellent story-driven game, which has various outcomes based on your decisions. If you've somehow managed to not play this game, it's definitely worth a look.

Purchase Links:
Buy Walking Dead (Xbox One Digital) - Microsoft Store
Buy Walking Dead (Xbox 360 Digital) - Xbox Marketplace
Search Walking Dead (Xbox One Disc) - eBay
Search Walking Dead (Xbox 360 Disc) - eBay

Related Links:
Point & Click Adventures - Xbox Overview
The Walking Dead - Metacritic
The Walking Dead on Xbox 360 - GameFAQs
The Walking Dead on Xbox One - GameFAQs
The Walking Dead Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements
The Walking Dead - True Achievements

I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1 (XBLIG, 2009)

I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1
Developed by Jamezila
Released for XBLIG (8/2009)

I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1 is a twin-stick shooter featuring zombies and a title that displays some obvious illiteracy. Being an older person, I don't really get this style of writing that looks like a raging six-year old's rushed comment on YouTube or something. It annoys me not only because it just looks tacky, but also because it's really hard to type it accurately, but thank goodness for copy & paste! My bad there, I got a bit sidetracked complaining about the stupid title so let's get to the game itself...

I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1 is your basic twin-stick shooter, though this one goes for digitized backdrops and sprite-art enemies rather than your typical abstract designs with neon graphics. The game plays as a single level that lasts roughly about twenty minutes, with the backgrounds and enemies changing up every so often. Enemies have a decent range of stuff like zombies and asteroids, but everything basically acts the same and just chases after you. There are gun power-ups with limited ammo that will frequently pop-up and these add a little variety to the action. The biggest selling-point of this game was the music, which is pretty humorous but I can't say it's something I'd listen to outside the game (I've read somewhere that the track from this game made it into Rock Band, but I'm unable to confirm). In all honesty I've always been baffled as to why this game has remained a top-seller on XBLIG pretty much since its release. Granted, it's better than most of the other highest selling titles, but the gameplay is quite limited and there are at least a dozen other twin-stick shooters that are more polished and offer superior gameplay that were released on XBLIG for the same price. The game definitely has some style going for it, and for a buck, I'm sure many of the people who bought the game were at least somewhat satisfied with it.

Final Verdict: I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1 is an above-average twin-stick shooter with zombies and a humorous theme song. Not the best twin-stick shooter on XBLIG but far from the worst.

Related Links:
I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1 - GameFAQs
Ska Studios - Official Site

Zombie Compound (XBLIG, 2013)

Zombie Compound
Developed by Smoodlez
Released for XBLIG (4/2013)

Zombie Compound is another entry into the abundant twin-stick shooter genre. The game also uses an 8-bit pixel graphic style, which has become another cliche of indie games in recent years. So far the game doesn't seem to have much originality going for it, but the core game here is actually pretty decent. You have just one game mode where up to 4-players try to survive for as many rounds as possible, collecting money to spend at the shop between rounds. At the shop you're able to purchase new weapons. Zombie Compound slightly differs from the norm in that the right stick does not fire but aims, while the right trigger is used to fire your weapon. Also, you have limited ammunition for all of your weapons except for your pistol, so you'll want to maximize your accuracy with the more expensive weapons. The shooting/aiming setup works pretty well and murdering the undead horde is easily done. Maybe a little too easy, though. I had trouble maintaining enough interest in order to get far enough to see if/when the game ramps up its difficulty (I'm sure it does). I would definitely hope that the game further ramps up the challenge for multiple players, but I didn't have anybody around to help me test out the coop mode. I'm definitely not saying the game is bad, it's quite competently designed on the other hand, I just have other twin-stick shooter games that hold my attention better than this one.

Final Verdict: Zombie Compound is by no means a bad game and as far as zombie twin-stick shooters go, it's definitely above average. If you can't get enough of either zombies or twin-stick shooters then you may enjoy this title.

Related Links:
Zombie Compound - GameFAQs

Zombie Estate (XBLIG, 2010)

Zombie Estate
Developed by JeremyVerchick48
Released for Xbox Live Indie Games (5/2010)

Zombie Estate plays similar to your average twin-stick shooters, but adds some weapon customization not unlike the Call of Duty zombie modes. First, let's get the graphics out of the way. This game is a bit on the ugly side, with super blocky and chunky pixel graphics that don't really contain that much detail. The world is presented from a 3/4 perspective and all the objects appear as flat sprites like in the Paper Mario titles. It looks much better in motion that it does in screen shots but the game is by no means going to really blow anybody away with its graphical presentation.

Despite the rough graphics, Zombie Estate manages to be a pretty fun title due to the gameplay. Your play area is on an estate, featuring a house with a couple rooms inside and a decent sized yard. You will fight off as many waves of zombies as possible until you reach the 25th and final wave. Some killed zombies will drop ammo, health or money, the latter of which can be used to purchase items in between rounds at a shop. The shop sells all kinds of stuff, ranging from your typical shotguns and assault rifles to craziness like the fish mortar or the cattle launcher. The early waves tend to be a bit boring, because the zombies are so slow but once you get further in the challenge does ramp up a bit as the waves of zombies get larger in number. The game supports up to four-player local co-op and can be a good time with some buddies. The music is a bit drab but can be turned off. Zombie Estate is certainly not the greatest zombie shooter of all time, but it provides some good fun and if you enjoy couch co-op games then it may be of interest to you.

Final Verdict: While not the greatest looking game, Zombie Estate is a fun zombie shooter that gives you a nice sense of progression due to the variety of weaponry you can unlock and has some enjoyable four-player co-op.

Related Links:
Zombie Estate - Official Website
Official Trailer - YouTube
Zombie Estate - GameFAQs
Zombie Estate Cheats - IGN