The Walking Dead: Michonne Episode One - In Too Deep

yt
Subscribe to Pocket Gamer on

Set between Seasons one and two of Telltale's point-and-click series, The Walking Dead: Michonne chronicles a pilgrimage of self-discovery for the katana-wielding nomad as she decides to leave behind Rick and her trusted group of allies.

The good news is that she starts off with some solid first steps.

Why did she leave the group?

Probably because they smell. That, or they kept subjecting her to painfully unfunny zombie bants.

Regardless, Michonne is a survivor and perfectly capable of looking out for herself. The game immediately makes you aware of her natural instincts and deft fighting abilities, offering numerous opportunities to pull off satisfying slashes at reanimated corpses.

There's also plenty of character development to discover as In Too Deep explores both Michonne's pain-driven past, and incredulous sense of loyalty.

It's clear that Telltale's writers understand the character perfectly, and have created dialogue that play to Michonne's strengths and weaknesses.

Based on her own experiences, she's intent on helping her new allies come to terms with their identities so they can acclimatise to this strange new world, while trying to restore some semblance of balance to the lopsided scales of humanity.

As with all Telltale Games, most of the game's action takes place through multi-choice dialogue and decision-making sequences, as well as quick-time events.

Depending on what you say or do in any particular scene, there will be resulting consequences for existing, and future relationships.

Unfortunately though, most decisions don't seem particularly significant or bear any long-lasting consequences until the final chapter.

Everything plays out just the way you'd expect, and there's never an impending sense of dread or anything that fills you with regret the moment you sign off on it.

The pacing of the episode is great, though. In Too Deep is full of variety, and there is never a dull moment, or a scene that doesn't feel pertinent to the over-arching story.

Do dead men tell good tales?

This runs smoother on mobile than any Telltale game before it, and the engine has never looked better. Michonne's facial expressions sometimes say more than her words, and can also provide key clues about characters she interacts with.

There's also a real emphasis on presentation and style. From its Bond-esque title card, to the consistent purple complexion, In Too Deep does a wonderful job of marrying up Telltale's existing work with the vivid effects found in both the comics and TV series.

And in top of all that, Samira Wiley - Poussey from Orange is the New Black - does an outstanding job capturing both Michonne's conflict and compassion, while also keeping her dry sense of humour intact.

In Too Deep does feel a bit emotionally void, and doesn't offer any obvious tie-in with previous games, but it sets some interesting sequences in motion, while also adequately developing an established lead character, providing her an interesting sub-cast to play off.

The Walking Dead: Michonne Episode One - In Too Deep

In Too Deep is a focused start for this promising mini-series, but never really gets out of third-gear
Score
Ray Willmott
Ray Willmott
When not objecting to witnesses in Phoenix Wright or gushing over Monkey Island, Ray does social things for Steel Media. He also pretends to look like Han Solo in his profile picture.