The Walking Dead – 400 Days

A review of the latest in Telltale’s Walking Dead saga.

Image Credit: TellTale Games

Heads Up! – The following is a review of the new Walking Dead expansion 400 days. I’ll do my best to keep spoilers out of it, but if you haven’t played up to the end of season one yet, maybe best to look away. You were warned…

After the emotional roller coaster that was season one of Telltale’s Walking Dead series, fans like myself can’t wait to see what they will do next. In a lot of ways, it’s difficult to imagine where they can go with it, after the series ended with so many characters either dead, or missing presumed dead.

400 days does link in to the first season, and does carry over your save, but for the most part, it’s a standalone outing with new characters. The only link that I did notice to the first season could easily be missed.

It takes place during the first 400 days (no way!) after the outbreak, and tells 5 separate stories of new characters trying to keep the zombie hoards at bay.

This chapter does have a very different feel to the others so far. Each character is totally new to you, and they each get a small amount of game time (you can finish each character’s section of the game in 10 or 15 minutes). While this leads to a wider view of the outbreak as a whole, it can leave you caring less about the decisions you have to make. Killing or saving people can seem less important when you don’t know anything about the moral compass of your character.

All that aside, this chapter is much more suited for mobile play. Season one was regularly slated for not having the ability to save and resume on demand in the iOS versions, leading the player to replay large sections, having stopped play when their bus arrived; or they finished their work lunch break. Checkpoints are now more regular, and you lose a lot less play between them.

All in, this is still a solid game, and it’s enough entertainment to tide over fans eagerly waiting for the next season to start. However, it doesn’t really have the depth that Lee and Clementine’s episodes had. This feels more like a trailer than a full game.

If you’re a fan of the series, it’s a must buy. If you haven’t played the others, then this isn’t the one to start on.