The Walking Dead: Michonne Episode One
Walking back to hacky mess
Released OUT NOW! Reviewed on PS4
Also on Xbox One, PC, PS3, 360, Mobile
Publisher Telltale Games
Telltale’s latest is a departure. Instead of the fiveepisode format that worked so well for seasons one and two, it’s a three- part “miniseries”. It also abandons the cast that the studio spent so long cultivating, shifting the focus to katana- wielding melancholic Michonne.
But in other ways this first part, titled In Too Deep, feels like more of the same. A stylised opening sets up our lead’s traumatic past and damaged present, but it plays out in an extended QTE scuffle with a throng of Walkers. These encounters are as grisly as ever, but so little has changed since 2012 that the impact has been lost.
Of course, you’re soon tussling with the living too. This first episode revolves around a scavenging mission gone wrong, with three sets of survivors all after the same goods. As the tension escalates, mistrust reigns, and you’ll spend much of your time navigating dialogue trees as you try to figure out not only who’s telling you the truth, but who you can share the truth of your own circumstances with.
But, across barely 90 minutes of playtime, there’s disappointingly little opportunity to see the consequences of these decisions play out in meaningful ways. That’s partly because, rather than depicting a self- contained incident in a larger story arc, In Too Deep is simply part one of the narrative.
With so much mistrust and mystery, decision- making can feel like guesswork, but it certainly generates intrigue, and we’re eager to learn the fate of everyone’s favourite sourpuss swordswoman. A competent enough opening part, with strong vocal performances, but we’re yet to see the flair we’d hoped for.
Michonne is voiced by Samira Wiley, who plays Poussey Washington in Orange Is The New Black.