The series has been praised for its strong narratives and impact of player choices. The first season was particularly noted as having been considered as revitalizing the waning adventure game genre, which had been languishing since around 2000. [1] Concept [ edit ] Announcing The Walking Dead Pinball". Zen Studios Blog. June 4, 2014. Archived from the original on September 24, 2014 . Retrieved October 19, 2014. Savage, Phil (June 15, 2015). "Telltale announces The Walking Dead: Michonne". PC Gamer. pcgamer.com . Retrieved June 15, 2015. The Walking Dead Episode 4 – Around Every Corner (PS3)". metacritic.com . Retrieved January 21, 2015.

While the series was primarily developed and published by Telltale Games under license from Skybound, the studio effectively shuttered in late 2018 in the midst of the fourth main series, The Final Season. Robert Kirkman, creator of The Walking Dead and of Skybound, felt it was necessary to finish off Clementine's story, and hired some of the Telltale staff to finish off the series. Skybound also took over publishing duties for the other games in the series. Part of that connection comes from excellent writing from the Telltale staff that manages to be funny, tense and scary at the right moments, amazing voice acting from Lee and Clementine, and a visual style that’s pulled from the comic book world the game is set in and that never manages to get boring. There’s this perfect storm here that manages to create such believable characters and set us in their world. Sarkar, Samit (June 4, 2014). "The Walking Dead table shambling to Zen Pinball". Polygon . Retrieved June 4, 2014. And while the game is very engaging and certainly a fun adventure game, the game can feel very short. As said before, each episode can take from 1-2 hours to complete, and with only 5 available (sources claim a second season is in the works) this can get pretty short. And while 5 dollars (approximately 400 Microsoft Points) isn't much, when added up its a fairly steep price for a few hours of gameplay. The cast of teens are all great this time around and with only four episodes, The Final Season feels more focused than any other. It cleverly references the series’ past and knows what parts of its history to touch upon again. It’s also Telltale’s most impressive title, gameplay-wise. Fixed camera angles are gone and the game even features a light combat system.Behind the Scenes Bonuses: Exclusive looks at the making of the game from the developers, VO artists, and other team members that brought Clementine’s story to life. This includes over 10+ hours of developer commentary and “Return of the Walking Dead” documentary short. The series, like the comic, starts with a pandemic that turns the dead into zombie-like "walkers" that decimates civilization, and takes place along the United States eastern seaboard. The series focuses on the character of Clementine, a young girl that is cared for by Lee Everett during the first season, and subsequently travels both by herself and with other groups in later seasons after Lee sacrifices himself for her. During the second season, she becomes the adoptive caretaker of AJ, an infant left parentless. When Clementine later joins with a survival group called the New Frontier in the third season, they strip AJ from her, and Clementine works with another survivor, Javier Garcia, to rescue both their families from the New Frontier. During the final season, some years later, Clementine and AJ join other teenagers holding out at their boarding school to protect it from bandits and walkers. Some of the characters from the comic series, such as Shawn Greene, Glenn Rhee, Hershel Greene, Michonne, Siddiq and Paul "Jesus" Monroe, have appeared during the video game series. Aiyed, Mona (February 10, 2016). "The Walking Dead: Michonne Release Date Announced". IGN . Retrieved February 10, 2016. The Walking Dead Episode 3 – In Harm's Way (Xboy 360)". metacritic.com . Retrieved January 21, 2015.

Announced in November 2017, The Walking Dead Collection includes all episodes from the first three seasons, as well as "400 Days" and The Walking Dead: Michonne. The collection was released on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on December 5, 2017. [32] The content of the first two seasons and "400 Days" has been visually improved, reflecting on improvements Telltale has made in their engine since these seasons were first released, including high-definition texture mapping for all survivor characters, improved dynamic lighting, and upgrading the game's graphics to use DirectX 11 over DirectX 9. The older games also use the user interface elements developed for the third season as to provide a consistent interface to the players. [33] Marks, Tom (July 19, 2018). "Telltale Doesn't Rule Out More The Walking Dead Games After Season 4 – Comic-con 2018". IGN . Retrieved July 19, 2018. The Walking Dead Episode 1 – All That Remains (Xbox 360)". metacritic.com . Retrieved January 21, 2015. Oliver Snyders (December 17, 2013). "Telltale confirms The Walking Dead: Season 2 will release on PS3 this week". El33tononline.com. Archived from the original on February 10, 2019 . Retrieved December 17, 2013. Walking Dead is closer to a TV show or book than a traditional zombie video game. Most of the walking is only done to go from one interaction point to another, and weapons are only available during action sequences. There is no healing system, if a walker bites you during an action sequence, you are dead and must restart from the beginning of the sequence. While not entirely a bad thing, this can become tedious overtime.

The Walking Dead Episode 4 – Around Every Corner (PC)". metacritic.com . Retrieved January 21, 2015.