Reflecting on The Walking Dead Video GameDecember 12, 2012 by


It has been over two weeks since The Walking Dead a Telltale game, wrapped up through the choices we have made along the way up to its final episode, “No time Left.” Gamers witnessed one of the saddest endings of any video game. Episode five concludes with the death of Lee Everett, the main character that you got to know and played as since the start of the game, either by the infection or by the hands of sweet Clementine, depending on your choice.

Although the depressing ending shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who is familiar with The Walking Dead franchise, it was still a conclusion that put many fans and players in tears. Overall, the game had a purpose to pull you into the story and its characters while getting you emotionally involved. Something it achieved in spades compared to countless games that have tried to hit a familiar chord between players and the character they are playing with.

What specifically sets The Walking Dead game apart from other games, is that it makes us feel real sadness, real emotions, that as humans we experience on a daily basis for others. Its important to realize this because there are skeptics who believe that video games don’t go any deeper than just being a game and that it cant evoke any real emotions. Telltale alone generated a response, proving that games are a significant medium that conjures emotion; not only correctly but better than a book, movie or show. How else can a person experience what a fictional character goes through in times of hardship?

The argument can be made that books are written in great detail, but the script to The Walking Dead, the dialogue is what absorbs you. Another problem with books is that you never see a face; you never see what’s going on. Whether it be the surroundings or small details such as a glance or a smile. Then again you can also argue that movies and television achieve this, since these are things you can watch. But you are limited to a story that’s given to you; the way things progress is not in your control. But in The Walking Dead, in a video game, you have the freedom to be put in moments, otherwise impossible in reality (zombie apocalypse) and live, walk and interact with characters and the world.  Through a video game you can live in the space the character is living in, see what’s going on and choose what you want to happen. In the Walking Dead falling in love and being attached to these characters was simple, because when it comes down to it, it was out choices that developed these relationships. It was our choices; these little bits of who we are that moved the story along. More important Lee Everett and Clementine come from reality, they are relatable characters that come from a real place, from the minds of people with kids of parents or guardians.

Most of what made us so invested in The Walking Dead game was Lee and Clementine’s interactions and their personalities. Matched with strong performances we became concerned and cared about what would happen to Clementine and Lee, we cared for her as Lee did in the game. Telltale has a twitter hashtag (#ForCelementine) where fans express how fare they would go for her (GameInformer). Melissa Hutchison, who voices Clementine, told GameInformer “I have seen people get downright pissed at other characters in the game if they try to put Clementine in dangerous situations. It is awesome to see how protective people have become for her.” People care for Clem as if she were their own, this proves that emotions don’t have boundaries and they are felt in our world and within the game. Walking Dead’s Venaman, has spoken of stats that show that players decisions change depending on Clementine’s presence in the scene.

“The fact that people care about Clementine is invaluable, fans are so passionate and emotionally-invested that they often react to her like she’s a real person,” Melissa Hutchison.


If one wanted to think deeper in what you would call the psychology of emotion when playing The Walking Dead Game, is that even though we feel for these fictional characters at one point those feelings become true outside of when you are playing.  Maybe not to the extent of how a person would feel when a loved one in their life dies, but the impact of Lee’s death at the end was felt and thought about after the game ended. It also made me ask a lot of question, questions similar to when you hear of someones passing: Why did he have to die? Could he have lived? What would have happened if he lived? What’s going to happen to Clem? and finally the realization that the character is never coming back, that “damn we will never see Lee again, his story is over.” These are similar question one may ask when faced with real death. Yes, it is just a work of fiction, it’s not real and it’s kind of extreme to compare the two. While this may be true, at the core of it all emotions exist, within the game and in real life, you felt sad and grief, which is universal. As a player who invested time from beginning to end, we got emotional, we got sad. Seeing pictures of Lee and Clementine together in the new GameInformer, two weeks after I finished the game made me a little sad and made me think back to the ending, realizing again that Lee will no longer be apart of the Walking Dead world; that as much as id love more of a story with Lee and Clem it wont happen.

“She has become my own, my love, my precious, I too have become very protective of her.” Melissa Hutchison.

At the core video games help build better emotional ties and emotions better than other books and movies can. The impact of a characters death is felt, when done correctly like in The Walking Dead. What we felt for these characters may be what we feel for a person, even if they are fictional characters. I don’t think emotions are separated, sadness is sadness and joy is joy. When my sister found out that Glen died in the comics, she began to cry, it was hard comforting her, all I could say is that he’s not a real character. “I know but still, you know it was Glen,” is all she said and I understood. It was how I felt when Lee died or when the fresh prince came to an end, which is damn, that’s it its never coming back. There is no alternate ending and that is as real as it gets.

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