The Walking Dead: Michonne - Episode 1: In Too Deep Reviews
As far as gameplay goes, if you've played anything by Telltale then you know what to expect: a story-driven game filled with dialogue choices, quick time events, and a bit of exploration.
The Walking Dead: Michonne feels like twice the amount of well-worn territory than Telltale series typically deal with, and much of that comes from its existing within a property that is reaching the ceiling of its dramatic potential.
More of the same just isn't good enough.
Telltale have a written a compelling start of a trilogy that manages to immerse you without tweaking the formula.
In Too Deep is yet another solid addition to Telltale's growing portfolio.
Though some new ground is tread, the first episode of The Walking Dead: Michonne doesn't bring much we didn't already know to the front.
Despite the burdens of a slow opening and short length, The Walking Dead: Michonne Episode 1 - In Too Deep expands on Telltale's established methods in clever ways, and delivers a promising start to the franchise's first miniseries.
The Walking Dead: Michonne - In Too Deep is a strong opening chapter, but the overall experience doesn't stray too much from past seasons. Future episodes will prove whether Michonne has an explosive payoff or is simply an average mini-series for passing the time.
The Walking Dead: Michonne "In Too Deep" is easily one of the shortest episodes to be released and won't take you long to complete, but Michonne is an intriguing character and she has a lot of emotional baggage. Seeing how she will develop in the next two episodes is enough to make you want to come back for more. Those who decide to jump into the game will likely have experienced Telltale in one form or another; the gameplay remains the same as previous TellTale experiences and occasional lag unfortunately creeps back in.
As the first episode of a new series, In Too Deep is a very strong start. The gameplay formula isn't any different from past The Walking Dead games, sure, but Michonne is a great character and the story has the potential to be very good. Unfortunately, the first episode has no real story payoff, due to how the whole series is structured, so it will be Episode 2 and 3 that will make The Walking Dead Michonne great, or just another adventure game based on a popular franchise.
In Too Deep is a stepping stone to introduce Michonne that detrimentally plays it safe. There aren't any advances in Telltale's formula or notable sequences that we haven't seen in other forms before, but the miniseries can be a cut above its predecessors if it takes advantage of the brutality and moral centre of the protagonist by embroiling her in more memorable confrontations with both the infected and the living.
At this point I'm starting to tire from the Telltale formula, especially when it doesn't provide a cast of memorable characters from the get-go, but Michonne herself was enough to power me through the episode and keep me interested. In Too Deep hasn't topped either season of The Walking Dead so far, but if you can still stomach a few empty "remember" prompts, you'll enjoy the story they're trying to tell.
I'm still kind of let down that the core gameplay remains mainly unchanged over the years. Telltale is great with character choices and delivering a striking painterly color palate, but all of that can grind to a halt since the hacking and slashing gameplay feels repetitive, especially compared to last year's adventure breakout Life Is Strange. Telltale is still the king at what they do, making the active conversation in a game feel tense, urgent. I just hope that's enough for the remaining two episodes of The Walking Dead: Michonne.
After a dull start the tension amps up, resulting in a promising-but-rocky beginning
True to its title, The Walking Dead: Michonne - Episode 1 is all about one character, somewhat to the detriment of the story and other characters. Michonne is so well done, though, from her impressive survival skills to the hollow look in her eyes, that she easily carries the entire episode. Even though I wasn't invested in the story, I did care about Michonne — everything she said, every walker she killed, and what will happen to her moving forward.
Will you enjoy In Too Deep if you liked Telltale's other The Walking Dead series? Absolutely. Does it stand up to our expectations based on the previous series? Not really. A Walking Dead game in shape and form, Michonne just lacks the tension in atmosphere and decision making.
Michonne is a fascinating character, and one that makes for some interesting storytelling. Unfortunately, the first episode of her tale loses steam after the first few minutes, and boils down into something that feels like it's been done before.
This won't create any new fans of the series or bring anything extremely different to the foray, but it's still a solid first start to a 3 part miniseries. I do hope the other two episode play out just a little longer than the 90 minutes this lasted, but otherwise, I'm definitely down for the next episodes.
Michonne travels the apocalyptic world, never staying in the same place long and never letting false promises of security get in her way. She never gives in to threats and faces adversity head on, which makes for a promising adventure.
Despite a slow start and slow character development with secondary characters, The Walking Dead: Michonne has a lot of promise looking ahead. If the momentum gained in the last half of this episode keeps rolling into Episodes Two and Three, I have no doubt that this series will be regarded as highly as it's two predecessors.