Magazine Article on TWD's Choice-Based Gameplay.
Hey guys! My name is jonny Lupsha and I run a publishing imprint, A Carrier of Fire, that publishes (among other things) an academic/research journal about video games - The Broken Paragon. Our new issue is out June 4 and we have an essay in it about choice-based gameplay, one chapter of which is devoted to Telltale Games' The Walking Dead. I, my wife and my brother all played through and I took notes on our decisions then interviewed them about their play through.
Here's an excerpt from it (contains spoilers for ep's 2 and 3). For the whole thing, please visit this page and scroll to the bottom for ordering, which starts at $1. If you like it but don't feel like spending the money, please like us on Facebook so we can keep growing and writing about innovative and groundbreaking games like The Walking Dead! Thanks for your time.
In episode two, Lee’s group nears the end of their food. At the point of starving, they come across a station wagon full of food, clothes, batteries and more. However, the car is still running and the lights are on, implying that the owner left very recently. The other survivors load up with as much as they can carry while Lee and Clementine hesitate. They encourage Lee and Clementine to join them, but Clementine doesn’t want to take the supplies. Lee decides whether or not to take some supplies for himself and Clementine. The owner could return, and Lee and Clementine would be stealing from them. On the other hand, the owner may have been killed since leaving his or her car and this would be a wasted opportunity to replenish vital supplies.
I chose not to take anything; I believed the owner would come back and that it would set a better example for Clementine to leave the owner that chance. Adam chose not to take them as well. “I think that was a little bit bullshit on my part, though,” he said. “I was just trying to be a good guy in the game and I consciously made an ‘I want to be the good guy right now’ decision.”
Kristy took the supplies, and one of the dialogue options she chose for Lee was telling Clementine that they really needed them. “We were starving and needed them,” Kristy said. “I figured the owner got eaten and wasn’t coming back, anyway.” A sweatshirt they took from the station wagon fit Clementine and she wore it the rest of Kristy’s game. The station wagon offers Lee’s group their survival with an uncertain but possible cost of depriving another person of his or hers. The Walking Dead thrives on these morally ambiguous propositions, forcing players into two unpleasant outcomes.
During the third episode of The Walking Dead, the survivors find an abandoned locomotive. Using some mild puzzle-solving skills, players are able to disconnect most of the cars from the rear of the train and board it, eventually conducting it to head for Savannah. Unfortunately, one member of the group has been bitten by a zombie just prior to this and his eventual transformation into a zombie is inevitable – a weight borne by everyone on the train. The victim’s family is understandably devastated and Lee must choose his words carefully to convince them to stop the locomotive and put the victim down before he becomes an undead threat. Kristy, Adam and I all managed to choose the kindest and most patient conversation path and convince the victim’s family to stop the train without engaging them physically. The three of us also offered to spare them the grief of putting the victim out of his misery and to take that task on ourselves.
“You couldn’t do that to someone in your own family,” Kristy said. “There’s no way I could ask them to do that.” I used the same logic in offering to perform the mercy killing. Most life experiences one could imagine pale in comparison to having to kill a family member with a bullet to the head.
“When I did it,” Adam said, “it was more because the other answers to the question of putting him down seemed really insensitive to the situation. I think they were like ‘Do it already!’ It all came off really too cold.
“After all we’d been through together, the family deserves my understanding about its situation and you really only exacerbate your problems getting into a fight. I did feel like it would end the same no matter what, so I feel that decision was inconsequential, but the great thing about the game is sometimes you’re making inconsequential decisions, but you’re doing it for yourself.”
Here's an excerpt from it (contains spoilers for ep's 2 and 3). For the whole thing, please visit this page and scroll to the bottom for ordering, which starts at $1. If you like it but don't feel like spending the money, please like us on Facebook so we can keep growing and writing about innovative and groundbreaking games like The Walking Dead! Thanks for your time.
In episode two, Lee’s group nears the end of their food. At the point of starving, they come across a station wagon full of food, clothes, batteries and more. However, the car is still running and the lights are on, implying that the owner left very recently. The other survivors load up with as much as they can carry while Lee and Clementine hesitate. They encourage Lee and Clementine to join them, but Clementine doesn’t want to take the supplies. Lee decides whether or not to take some supplies for himself and Clementine. The owner could return, and Lee and Clementine would be stealing from them. On the other hand, the owner may have been killed since leaving his or her car and this would be a wasted opportunity to replenish vital supplies.
I chose not to take anything; I believed the owner would come back and that it would set a better example for Clementine to leave the owner that chance. Adam chose not to take them as well. “I think that was a little bit bullshit on my part, though,” he said. “I was just trying to be a good guy in the game and I consciously made an ‘I want to be the good guy right now’ decision.”
Kristy took the supplies, and one of the dialogue options she chose for Lee was telling Clementine that they really needed them. “We were starving and needed them,” Kristy said. “I figured the owner got eaten and wasn’t coming back, anyway.” A sweatshirt they took from the station wagon fit Clementine and she wore it the rest of Kristy’s game. The station wagon offers Lee’s group their survival with an uncertain but possible cost of depriving another person of his or hers. The Walking Dead thrives on these morally ambiguous propositions, forcing players into two unpleasant outcomes.
During the third episode of The Walking Dead, the survivors find an abandoned locomotive. Using some mild puzzle-solving skills, players are able to disconnect most of the cars from the rear of the train and board it, eventually conducting it to head for Savannah. Unfortunately, one member of the group has been bitten by a zombie just prior to this and his eventual transformation into a zombie is inevitable – a weight borne by everyone on the train. The victim’s family is understandably devastated and Lee must choose his words carefully to convince them to stop the locomotive and put the victim down before he becomes an undead threat. Kristy, Adam and I all managed to choose the kindest and most patient conversation path and convince the victim’s family to stop the train without engaging them physically. The three of us also offered to spare them the grief of putting the victim out of his misery and to take that task on ourselves.
“You couldn’t do that to someone in your own family,” Kristy said. “There’s no way I could ask them to do that.” I used the same logic in offering to perform the mercy killing. Most life experiences one could imagine pale in comparison to having to kill a family member with a bullet to the head.
“When I did it,” Adam said, “it was more because the other answers to the question of putting him down seemed really insensitive to the situation. I think they were like ‘Do it already!’ It all came off really too cold.
“After all we’d been through together, the family deserves my understanding about its situation and you really only exacerbate your problems getting into a fight. I did feel like it would end the same no matter what, so I feel that decision was inconsequential, but the great thing about the game is sometimes you’re making inconsequential decisions, but you’re doing it for yourself.”
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