Top 10 Moments In The Walking Dead Video Game

Telltale’s The Walking Dead game came out of nowhere to be, surprisingly, one of the best games of 2012. Set over 5 episodes, each lasting a couple of hours, the game prides itself on an emotional and engaging story with well-rounded and defined characters, and with an endless amount of choice and different ways for the game to go, it’s easy to see why the game is so brilliant.

This list looks at the top 10 moments form my play though. Some people might have it differently but a lot of these moments come up for everyone.

There are SPOILERS throughout.

Honourable Mention: The After-Credits Scene. (Episode 5)

I won’t say much on this, just that after the credits with that beautiful folk song we get an extra ending that sets things up for season 2 next year if they continue this storyline.

10 – Food Rations (Episode 2)

Throughout all five episodes, you’ll have times when you have to choose whether a person will live or die. Ironically enough, one of the hardest choices in the game is near the start of episode 2 where Lily has you give out the rations for the day. You have 4 pieces of food and there are 10 hungry people, I found it even harder because I fed the two children first – who wouldn’t – leaving only two pieces of food for 8 hungry people. It makes you think about who’s side you want to be on.

9 – Doug Or Carly (Episode 1)

While you do have a lot of choices throughout the first episode that affect the game, this is the first one that’s one and done, once you make it there’s no going back and it affects the storyline from here on out. When the pharmacy  the group is hiding in gets overrun you have to make a choice to save tech-savvy Doug or gun-toting Carly, there’s no right answer here and both help out in their own way later on in the game but just having to choose between two people shows that this game isn’t messing around.

8 – Kenny The Hero (Episode 5)

This can turn out one of two ways, depending on whether Ben survives episode 4 or not. He did in my play through resulting in a pretty damn tense scene in the alleyway. With Ben critically injured from a fall, Kenny and Lee go to help him just as Walkers start closing in on them. Seeing nothing left, Kenny saves Lee, uses the final bullet in his gun to mercy kill Ben and we watch the Walkers surround him, his death isn’t seen but it is heard. The alternative way is great as well, Kenny fighting for his life in the dark, but that alleyway scene edges it out a little bit for me because we lose two characters, one of whom has been with us near enough from the start. And asshole or not, Kenny was a good guy.

7 – Lily The Murderer (Episode 3)

This scene is changed, depending on whether you saved Doug or Carly. The game does a good job at characterisation and Lily is one of the best. Already stressed out from having to lead the group, losing her father in episode 2 causes her to become violent and paranoid. The discovery that one of the group has been slipping supplies to the bandits is the final straw for her. If Carly is alive, Lily will blmae her and Ben, trying to get one of them to slip, when Carly tries to stand up for herself, Lily snaps and shoots her in the face. If Doug is alive, Lily will only blame Ben but when she tries to kill him, Doug pushed Ben out the way and gets killed himself. I like Carly dying better because it better conveys the true madness Lily has gone through in the storyline. Either way, it’s clear Lily has lost it.

6 – The Hotel Room (Episode 5)

At the end of episode 3, it’s clear that Clementine’s broken Walkie is working and she’s been talking to some stranger. That stranger torments the group and kidnaps Clementine, forcing Lee to go after him. I loved the confrontation between Lee and the Stranger because it started off so tense. There was no music, there was no sounds, just Lee and the Stranger talking to each other, as bit by bit the pieces fall into place and you realize who this guy is and how a simple choice made several episodes ago had long running consequences throughout.

5 – The Meat Locker (Episode 2)

This is one of the most shocking moments in the game, especially if you choose to help Lily. Locked in a meat locker with Kenny, Lilly, Clementine and Larry, the attempt to escape takes a dark turn when Larry’s heart problems hit him hard and he has a heart attack. Now you’re given a choice, help Lily save her dad and help Kenny kill the massive tank of a man before he dies and turns. Now either way Larry is killed by Kenny by dropping a salt-lick on his head – in one of the most gruesome deaths in the game. I’m giving this moment to when you choose to help Lily because there’s nothing to stop Larry from surviving and if you look close you can actually see his mouth move, showing he’s still alive, and then the salt-lick comes out of nowhere. It’s sudden and it’s gory and it’s brilliant.

4 – Boy In The Attic (Episode 4)

Something that The Walking Dead never shies away from, in any of it’s media forms, is reminding us that each zombie was a person once with their own story and life. One of which is this little boy in the attic. Hiding out in a house after escaping a herd, Lee finds Kenny in the attic as they watch this little boy zombie stand up only to fall back down again. It’s clear that the boy hid in the attic and starved to death. His body is frail and weak, he can hardly stand let along walk. He’s not a threat to the group, he’s not a monster, he’s just a little boy who got scared. The music really helps this scene a lot, as you or Kenny kill the boy then bury him outside.

3 – Family Reunion (Episode 1)

I call this moment the ‘Yeah, we’re gonna pull your heartstrings moment’. Needing to get into a locked room, Lee discovers his own brother, now dead and zombified, is trapped under a power line outside and has the keys on him. It’s a sad scene no doubt, made more so because Lee has to say goodbye but also needs to hurry up because he has a limited amount of time. So the game forces you to swing an axe at your brother’s head. Repeatedly. Just to hammer the point across they make you hit him over and over and over. And this isn’t even the saddest moment in the game.

2 – Desperate Times (Episode 5)

This is a purely optional scene but I chose it and by god is it uncomfortable. Lee gets bitten at the end of episode 4 and the bite is starting to get to him. In attempt to save him the group suggests cutting his arm off, a sound choice. If you pick yes then what follows is a no-holding-back scene where you see one of the group suddenly sawing into you, it’s extremely shocking to say the least and it’s a hell of a way to start the episode.

1 – Kenny’s Family (Episode 3)

This scene kills me every time. Escaping the motor inn, Duck gets bitten and slowly he gets sicker and sicker. Kenny refuses to believe his son is dying but you help bring some sense into him. This scene can go one of two way, if you or Kenny decide to kill Duck then Kenny and Katja will take their son into the woods, if Katja is chosen then she’ll take Duck into the woods alone. Either way, you and Kenny find Katja dead, having killed herself from grief. Even worse, she does it before killing Duck, meaning that Kenny has now lost everything, his family is gone and he has no-one there to support him. Whether you or Kenny choose to kill Duck doesn’t matter, he’s still dead and Kenny’s whole family is gone is seconds.