Redefining Survival Horror

Two episodes in, and Telltale's The Walking Dead is proving to be something of a trans-formative, revelatory title for not just the company, but for an entire genre.

First off, despite the studio's pedigree, don't think of The Walking Dead as an adventure game. It's not. It's something much more- a true evolution of survival horror.

The fact is, survival horror as a genre has been at best stalled, and at worst dead in the water since Silent Hill 2. After the release of that monumental title, it's almost like no one knew what to do with the genre. We had Resident Evil 4 move the series into action game territory, Dead Space refine what Res4 started, and Silent Hill itself lose it's footing and stumble over the course of a decade. There were other contenders who came close- the Siren's and Fatal Frame's of the world, but all of these titles made the same mistake:

Survival Horror shouldn't be about the combat.

What The Walking Dead accomplishes is it puts you in a character's shoes, and doesn't let you out of them no matter what. You make the decisions that no one else can. You have to live with the consequences of those choices. For context, imagine if the revelation of your wife in Silent Hill 2 was your decision to make. Imagine if you had to do the blood test in The Thing, or pull the trigger at the end of The Mist. These are the situations you find yourself in when playing The Walking Dead, and the result is a pitch-perfect blend of jump scares, psychological horror, and devastating fallout.

As long as they stick the landing with episodes three through five, Telltale will have produced a masterpiece- one that several will try to replicate and improve upon for years to come, just as others have done with Silent Hill 2.

This is quickly shaping up to be my game of the year.