Preview – The Walking Dead: Michonne by Telltale Games

I’m a huge fan of The Walking Dead in pretty much all of its forms. I bought issue one of the comic book off the shelf the week it was released and have been a huge fan of the story and franchise ever since.

One form of The Walking Dead that I particularly love is the video game series created by Telltale Games. It’s a story-driven experience that can draw you in and move you in ways that the comic and TV show can’t. It’s very well-written, and I think the interactive nature of the story has a lot to do with how close you can become with the characters. You have to make many difficult choices, and for the most part those choices really feel like they make a difference. I think the first season might have pulled off that feeling of making a real difference better than season two (except for the ending of season two which I still have regrets about), but both were very good.

So far Telltale has released two seasons containing five episodes each and a stand-alone episode titled 400 Days that takes place between seasons one and two. Up to this point the games have not really focused on any main characters from the comic book (though Glenn and Hershel were in season one, they were secondary characters), but that’s about to change. On February 23 Telltale Games will release episode one of a three episode miniseries focusing on Michonne.

The story takes place somewhere in the gap between the end of the “All Out War” story in issue 126 and when Michonne rejoins Rick’s group a bit later on. Many people have been wondering what happened to Michonne and where she’s been, so I think it’s great that they’re going to tell the story and that they’re choosing this format to tell it.

It’s interesting because I’m sure there are some readers who don’t play the games. Prior to this release there was really no reason for a reader of the comic to play the games to fill out the story. The story of the games didn’t cross over into the comic story in any significant way. The games gave a little extra background here and there, such as what happened to Hershel’s son Shawn who was already dead by the time Rick’s group made it to Hershel’s farm or what Glenn was doing just prior to joining the survivors outside of downtown Atlanta, but The Walking Dead: Michonne will be the first time a big part of the main story will be revealed.

I doubt the story will be essential to the comic, Robert Kirkman is good about keeping his story completely self-contained in the comic, but it would be fun to see things that happen in the game have a small effect in issues later on. Regardless, I’m just excited to get another Telltale Walking Dead game! I’m really excited for the eventual season three of the game, but I’m not sure how they’ll handle it considering the extremely different endings you can get in season two. But that’s a story for another time. For now, enjoy the following teaser and extended preview of The Walking Dead: Michonne!