The Walking Dead Game's Story Does Not Follow The Comics

Robert Kirkman's popular comic book series The Walking Dead hit the mainstream last year when AMC launched a TV series based on the comic's story. The two narrative diverge in a number of key ways, but they both follow the same core grouping of characters. Telltale Games' take on The Walking Dead won't do that at all, we've learned.

Telltale game designer Jake Rodkin let the first story details slip out on the upcoming zombie apocalypse game in an interview with Joystiq at San Diego Comic-Con last week. He confirmed that though we'll see Rick Grimes and other familiar faces -- though with less frequency as the story unfolds -- the real focus will be Lee and his traveling companion Clementine.

Lee is a convict who, when the game opens, is in the process of being transferred. The vehicle he's riding in crashes along the way, and when Lee comes to after the wreck he discovers that the dead have risen.

Our hero eventually finds his way to a seemingly empty house, though exploring the environment -- the kitchen, in the example given -- reveals that a young girl was at home with her babysitter when the zombies came. The girl turns out to be Clementine and the babysitter is... well... something you'll have to deal with. Using a claw hammer that your future traveling companion appears with in the nick of time.

Rodkin also revealed a few other game elements. Lee's past, what he did to end up in prison, will be a mystery at the start of the game and a story that unfolds over time. Your decisions will also carry over from episode to episode, everything from major events like traveling companions dying to minor ones, such as what other characters think of you based on how you speak to them.

Source: Joystiq