New The Walking Dead game lets you fix the TV series
Previously on AMC's The Walking Dead, we were left with a bunch of lacklustre video games that failed to capitalise on the success of Robert Kirkman's comic and the live-action series of the same name. Much like how it's a struggle to make a good co-op Alien game, we're worried the Walking Dead name is cursed.
It's true that Telltale's The Walking Dead was a beloved episodic adventure that we'd hoped to have seen more of, but in terms of titles like Activision's Survival Instinct and Overkill's The Walking Dead, they've largely been duds. Could The Walking Dead: Destinies redeem the shuffling IP?
The Walking Dead: Destinies lets you change the TV show
While Kirkman's comic had been going strong by the time Andrew Lincoln first donned his sheriff's hat for The Walking Dead in 2010, the early days of the series were a faithful adaptation of his work. Similar to HBO's The Last of Us, The Walking Dead blew fans away with its loving retelling of the source material.
The Walking Dead: Destinies aims to honour that, taking place during the events of the first four seasons. Although The Walking Dead is likely remembered for the shock deaths of the Season 7 premiere, many have fond memories of those early days on Hershel's farm and at the prison.
In the trailer for The Walking Dead: Destinies, we see a recap of the first few seasons but with a Marvel's What If...? twist. Imagine if Shane stabbed Rick in Season 2, what if Lori didn't die in Season 3, and what if the Governor never decapitated Herschel in Season 4?
The choice-driven narrative game is made in conjunction with AMC and GameMill Entertainment. The Walking Dead: Destinies is a third-person game coming to PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and PC via Steam, although there's no release date yet. Still, it comes with a pretty hefty price tag of $49.99.
Fans divided by The Walking Dead: Destinies
Click to enlargeWith the series going out with something of a whimper in Season 1 - and being accused of jumping the shark since Lincoln left in Season 9 - you might think we'd be ravenous for a game set during its most beloved period. Not everyone is convinced though, and not just because we've not lured the actors back.
Slamming the graphics, one wrote, "Nice...love it when they re-release games from 2005," while another added, "This is gonna be the hit the PS3 needs!!" Giving it the ultimate thumbs down, someone concluded, "After this releases people will say Gollum was groundbreaking and inspired many developers to unevolve with them."
As much as we love the idea of a Walking Dead game where you can change some of the few stumbles of its early days, this doesn't seem to be it. Critics need some serious winning over if they've expected to part with their cash for Destinies. To be honest, we'd rather read an actual What If comic from Kirkman.