Angry. Disturbed. Flustered. These are the only words I can use to describe how I felt after finishing the first episode of Telltale Game's take on The Walking Dead franchise.

I didn't at all expect to get so emotionally involved with it.

If you don't know, the masters of adventure games at Telltale Games has been working on a five-episode video game arc based on The Walking Dead comic book. Each month, for the next five months, they'll be releasing a new chapter of a story that runs parallel with the characters found in the graphic novels. Instead of just making another zombie shooter, however, the developers have stuck to their adventure pedigree and chosen to put the spotlight on how people react to one another when living in a zombie apocalypse – much like how The Walking Dead creator, Robert Kirkman, has already done with the comics and the AMC television show.

And if this episode is any indication, then we're in for one hell of a ride.

Much like the Mass Effect trilogy before it, players are given crucial choices and conversation points to make while you play the game, and these choices will be carried from one chapter to the next. We've already seen all kinds of discussion on the way Mass Effect 3 has handled player choices from the first two games, and I think The Walking Dead can inspire similar diverging view points as well, based on our individual experiences.

So as a fun way to keep up with the episodic nature of the game, I thought it'd be cool to set up a single post for episode discussion every month, where everyone can chime in on the choices they made in each episode, as well any comments, thoughts, concerns, or predictions. Think of it like a book club, or a text-only version of AMC's Talking Dead talk show (admittedly, I'm not as charming or witty as its host, Chris Hardwick. Sorry).

I'll present my thoughts on the first episode below, but by all means, comment with your own experiences afterward. Spoilers will be present of course, so please stop reading here if you don't want to know what happens.

“Larry is such a dick!”

I probably yelled this like a dozen times while playing through the episode, and even now, I can't stop myself from getting all angry about it. Not only did he want to kill the boy, but you have to risk your own life to get the Pharmacy keys to grab the pills he needs for his heart condition, and you still get no respect or even a thank you. Instead, he leaves you to die and still chooses to be an asshole about everything when everyone is finally safe.

As soon as I'm given the chance, I'm going to let that bastard die – that option has to be in the works, right?

From my mini-rant, you can tell how invested I've already become to the characters in the game. Though my play time only clocked in at around two and a half hours, the first episode does a great job of immersing yourself with Lee Everett and the survivors he meets along the way. I was almost taken aback at how quickly the game presents you with do-or-die choices (like when you have to choose between saving Hershel's son or the little boy, Duck), but it fits perfectly with the dim realities of living in a zombie-infested world.

Since I left the story notifications on while I played, seeing how some characters were reacting to my conversation choices was both relieving and stressful. When it told me that Hershel “will remember” what I said in Lee's first conversation with him – where I lied about who Lee was – I just brushed it off. But when he confronts Lee about this lie in the barn later on, not only did I feel horrible, but I kept thinking “Oh for fuck's sake, did I screw things up for myself already?”

Or when I chose to lie to Clementine about the grisly fate of her parents, I also felt a pang of guilt of keeping this little girl (who's already been traumatized from what she's been through) from the truth – I honestly wanted to protect her from it. I don't know what it is exactly that Telltale has done to make me care so much about the characters: it might be the dire consequences of the situation, the intimacy of having everyone trapped in such small quarters, or the excellent voice acting. 

What I do know, is that they have absolutely nailed  the dark tone set in the comic books (and to a certain extent, the TV show).

      These were my choices. How did you do?

Not knowing how certain characters will react to what I do or say is almost more exciting than fighting the zombies themselves. I knew the developers aimed to have each personal zombie encounter be a harrowing experience, but damn, it felt like I was fighting some type of boss battle each and every time Lee came into contact with one.

Everything in this game just feels so fragile and vulnerable, and I love how you can't just pump an endless stream of bullets into the zombies as a way of getting rid of them. Fighting them is slow, brutal and tough – just the way it should be. It also requires a bit of more strategy than I expected, especially when it came time to rescue Glenn at the motel. I liked how it was structured more as a problem-solving exercise rather than an all-out gore fest, and more than once I thought of risking even more danger by smashing the car window to grab the ice pick (it took me awhile to realize I could grab the pillow to silence Carley's gunshots).

The walkers here are dangerous, and while they are merely the framing device for the unfolding human drama, their presence outside those conditions constantly remind you that you're never really safe. With the constant threat of the walkers and the mounting tension between Lee, Larry, and the others, along with a precarious promise of safety at the motel, I thought episode one ended on a pitch-perfect note: having just enough story and action to set up the implications for what's to come without appearing too much like a cheap cliffhanger.

Bring it, Telltale Games. I'm so ready for episode two.

As you can tell, I love the game so far, despite some framerate stuttering that the PS3 version seemed to suffer from. What was your experience like with the first episode? Did you make different choices from mine? How do you think these choices will play out going forward?