Walking Dead creator, Robert Kirkman, sits down with IGN to talk about the upcoming Walking Dead video game. The video game takes place within the Walking Dead universe, but does not include Rick in the story telling. When asked why the game does not include Rick, Kirkman stated that the comic book basically shows every moment of Rick’s story; the TV series is a different Rick story. Had the game’s protagonist been Rick, players would “basically be doing the same stuff, or you would be playing some kind of B.S. game that doesn’t really have anything to do with the comic series.”
Kirkman continues: “By focusing on a character that isn’t key to the comic book series, you’re able to see stories that actually do matter to the continuity. You’re seeing, you’re going to be seeing, like Glen for instance, that’s the comic book Glen. The story that you’re going to see in this game actually happened in the universe of the Walking Dead comic book series and so you may get a little bit of insight into what his life was like before he lived in the comic book.
Kirkman hopes that by giving fans a deeper look into the Walking Dead universe through the game will hopefully be fulfilling for fans. The other hope is that the game will become as important to the Walking Dead universe.
The game is being designed by Telltall Games, who are known for their adventure games. The Walking Dead game will not be an open-world shooter though. When asked why that’s the case, Kirkman said, “You can play Left for Dead, you can play Dead Rising, you can play Resident Evil; those are all great games, and I do that and I think other people should do that. To do a Walking Dead game that’s just that, would be pointless. I think you’d always be compared to that. You’d be better or you’d be worse, it would be the same kind of game and that’s no fun. The thing that’s important about The Walking Dead is that it has heart, it has drama and it’s about people surviving in this world. It’s about how they deal with the end of the world and how they interact with other people and what that does to a person. It’s all about evolution, and how a character changes over time. That’s something that Telltale is able to incorporate in the game; which they wouldn’t do if it was a run and gun, cut people up kind of game.”
Since the game is about character evolution and choices, players will be able to play the game and then start a new game and make different choices and see how those choices and actions affect the game. That, to Kirkman, is really unique and exciting.
Fans of the comic books will notice that the art style is very similar to Charlie Adlard’s art. At first Kirkman was apprehensive, stating that he doesn’t like the art style of Capcom’s Marvel vs. Capcom because of the way the Marvel characters looked.
The ultimate goal of the game is a heightening of The Walking Dead experience. The game is ultimately for fans that have read the comic books and watched the television series. The game will let people better judge how they would react in these situations. The game will let people better feel the terror and loss from the decisions players make in order to survive.
Below is a link to the entire interview. If you want to see game play footage, skip ahead to 7:02 and then again to 11:50.
[Via IGN]