4. Decisions and Choice
The Walking Dead is a game about choice. We often hear that in branching games like this: "This is a game about choice." Well of course it is - the player's ability to make narrative-altering decisions is one of the game's defining attributes. But The Walking Dead has something real to say about choice. Namely, that in the heat of the moment, difficult choices barely feel like choices at all: every time Lee looks back at a difficult decision he made while under pressure, he says something that rings true: it didn't feel like a choice because he didn't have time to think. "Sometimes," he says, "we don't make choices; we just do what we do."
5. Lastly... The Kid Isn't Annoying
Clementine is probably my favourite character: she's cute, funny and smarter than she lets on, yet she still acts like a kid. She's one of the most realistically drawn kids I've encountered in a video game in some time. I spent the entire first chapter having Lee tell her half-truths in just the way that we really do with young kidsI'm not going to spell out for her that her family is most likely dead, and I'm not going to tell her the full story of my checkered criminal past. I could if I wanted to (those are dialogue options), but those just aren't things I would tell a little kid. I liked her and I found that I (Lee) wanted to shelter her from what was happening as well as I could. We'd love to hear what title you think should have won the VGA GOTY 2012 and whether or not you think The Walking Dead is worthy of the GOTY award!