A new Walking Dead?

 What is that? What is that?

Who remembers when The Walking Dead was the single biggest show in the world? The depressive and dramatic zombie show portraying the slow withering of the last kernels of human society in a story that just seemed to beat down and down until the audience became numb to tragedy and stopped watching the thing. Of course there was much more going on than just that. The show also became overly dramatic where it didn't need to be, juggled more loose narrative threads where those didn't need to exist, and then tried to pull a double shock murder scene which ended up feeling like a bad betrayal to those that where already being stretched to a razor's edge. (Also, some of the episodes released literally unfinished. I'll never forget that scene where Glenn got jumped by Zombies in the woods and survived purely by merit of the scene cutting away and forgetting to pick up with him later.)

Don't you sometimes wish you could just reach back into time and grab that essence of what The Walking Dead good and bitterly hold onto that with every little thing that you've got? Make every season of The Walking Dead as poignant and haunting and purpose-filled as that first? Because the show really did have potential, and judging from the recent catch-up I've ended up doing with the franchise by merit of the endless Youtube Shorts I've watched on the show, even the later seasons have their rare moments worth sticking around for. (Although judging from those that did stick around, those moments work better in a vacuum rather than tied to the series itself) Still, what if I told you that there was an opportunity to relieve the glory days of The Walking Dead in exactly that fashion I described?

Well if I were to say that then I would be blatantly overhyping you because what I'm actually talking about today is 'The Walking Dead: Destines'; yet another example of a major entertainment franchise completely shirking reputable studios in favour of licencing out to the 'cheaper option'. (To be fair: what reputable studio these days is actually accepting licenced games? The only ones I can think of are   Indiana Jones and Star Wars- both Lucasfilms properties.) This new face of Walking Dead gaming seeks to blend the narrative-driven heart of the Telltale games and the moment-to-moment action gameplay of... all the bad Walking Dead games. Well that sounds like an ominous recipe given that as I've suggested, if Telltale aren't making it, The Walking Dead's track record tends to be absolute trash when it comes to games. (Not Saints and Sinners. That is the singular exception.)

But here's a brand new title with the selling point of changing the course of the series by killing Rick and ruling as Shane. We seem to have been put under the impression that there will be a great many potential opportunities to switch The Walking Dead narrative around, but for now we're leading with that and I have to admit- it's a tempting proposition. Shane was always the one who seemed to acclimatise most effectively (and entertainingly) to the outbreak and if there's one thing fans constantly say about the series it's that they wish Shane stuck around for longer. With his hair trigger temper and "Lemme tell yah sumthin'" catchphrase that blunt-instrument of an ex-cop was the lighting rod of drama that the series needed, and the foil to Rick's early show antics making him look even more like a hero- despite the fact that Rick literally antagonised and then gunned down two guys in a bar in the first season. (He didn't even have the murder jacket yet, so you can't blame it on that!)

So a fine enough concept and enough to get a few hearts aflutter with dreams of the famous 'This is not a Democracy' speech through Jon Bernthal's authentic gait- even if I suspect they may have already spoiled it in the trailer- but there's a bit of a problem here, isn't there? His voice... that isn't Jon Bernthal! Heck, that doesn't even sound close to Jon Bernthal. It sounds like a guy struggling to make his voice sound gravelly and weathered in rough approximation of what he was told Shane sounds like, because he never watched the show before himself. And what's with his face? He looks like a mouldy potato that's been dropped off a bypass and splattered on the windscreen of a 4x4. That doesn't look a thing like Jon Bernthal! Although, it's reminiscent enough that I bet they had to pay 'likeness royalties'. What is going on?

And then you start to take a harder look at the rest of the trailer, through the tiny stolen glances offered of genuine gameplay in a tease that seems eager not to present itself. The sparse and largely flat landscapes which look like something out of an amateur studio's first few projects working with Unity before they really master the toolset. The overall unpleasant texture work and unimpressive character models. The quality of the voice talent which pop up throughout the clips. (Rick isn't much better himself.) I mean, I know I've been enjoying fine wine dining with Baldur's Gate 3 recently, but even bringing myself down to earth I cannot deny the fact that this whole game feels unrefined, unprofessional... and in danger of repeating the point for effect- Amateur.

It just doesn't speak well of 'Flux Games', described by themselves as 'A leading professional game studio in Brazil'. Hear that? They're leading! Leading what? Umm... I haven't got a Scooby Doo, mate. Let's try and figure that out with a little gander at their discography, shall we? Let's see we have... 'Get Over Here' a fun-styled fighter with a Mortal Kombat reference for a title. That's... cute. Trench Unlimited... a mobile-looking Puzzle game? Look, that's their first game, it works at least. And a side-scrolling Kobra Kai fighting game? Ah... I think I know why AMC let them acquire the licence now. (To be fair, their other games actually look alright for what they are. 'Walking Dead: Destinies' looks the worst by a mile.)

Sometimes it really does feel like those within the gaming world live in an entirely different world to the one's that these franchise owners inhabit; we must to repeatedly get into situations only possible if such decision makers physically can't see how entrusting their game to a, with all the love I can muster, AA-at-best studio devalues their overall brand. I like the idea of what The Walking Dead: Destinies seeks to do, but it could be achieved to perhaps greater effect in a Visual Novel. Slap a crappy action adventure zombie slap-athon on top of the product and no one is going to stick around long enough to get to the narrative implications of event switching. Once again, game loving Walking Dead fans are forced to dig through the refuse of the bargain bucket to get their franchise fix- yet again dooming these starving fans to wonder around aimlessly hoping for anything with the kind of quality that Telltale used to dish out. Truly those fans are... Desperately underserved by AMC. (Seriously, what a shame.)