The Walking Dead: Michonne is the latest in Telltales take on Robert Kirkmans award winning franchise. And of course, the focus is on a key character in both the comic book and the show. Michonne, the samurai badass who has a heart of gold, yet can be cold as ice if needed. The only character on the show who slices and dices her foes and makes mincemeat out of all (walker or human) who cross her way. Yet, instead of walking the same path that the comic or the show does, Telltale spins an all new story with new and fresh characters who are currently not a part of the main series in any shape or form. This is a good thing, and the lore and backstory into Michonne's past is a insight and testament into how much that she has been through and grown "cold" to the world around her. Not only do we learn more about her troubled past, but we meet some new interesting faces along the way.
If you have played Telltales earlier entries The Walking Season 1 or Season 2, then you generally know what to expect here. A non-open world of horror and hard decisions that will more often than not, seal your comrades' fate. While the concept remains the same and not a lot has added to the mix of things, the story is interesting enough to keep ones attention as well as the bigger decisions the game forces players to make, also make for an interesting turn of events. The world would be so much more immersive IF a little exploring capabilities were added here and there, it is overlooked by the games dreadful and unpredictable plot.
As stated previously, you control Michonne, who is battling demons of her own right from the very start, having left behind her 2 little girls to a seemingly deadly fate, Michonne is a bottle of emotions. She is constantly being reminded of her daughters by vivid and dark images of their silhouettes popping up, and she can seem a bit cold and empty and at times harsh to those blind to the struggles she is undertaking. Without reassurance or knowledge of her childrens safe being, she has managed to join a group of sailors with a boat which is captained by a man named Pete. Again, the existence of these characters lie only in Telltales account of Michonne's past, and has nothing to do with the comic or story from the show. As Michonne, you start off on an unforeseeable journey with Pete and the Oak and the rest of his crew, until you get a radio transmission of an unknown person who may or may not be requesting help. And the story takes off from there and does enough to captivate and keep your attention. Ep. 1 is the slowest and most boring out of the bunch, however at the climax of Ep 1 is where things really turn up as players are introduced to the Walking Dead: Michonnes very own villains, Randall & Norma and their populated gang of followers. I will not get into it any more and leave it at this, the story is an emotional roller coaster and is an enjoyable one, which believe it or not, will surprise most with its shocking sequence of events and plot twists. Telltale nails it again with the story and twisting dreadful events that almost live up perfectly to the show and comic and it is very evident that Telltale did their research on both, as influences and similarities can be drew from both.
Aside from the shocking plot and turn of events, the choices you make may seem like very few, but there are a couple noteworthy decisions Michonne must make that are hard and completely differ in results. Some can get your friends killed, some can result in gaining an upper hand on the enemy, some can even shape the way Ep.3 is played. Telltale manages to piece together a nice backdrop into one of the most interesting characters from the show and comic, and while it could have been a little lengthier and a little more vast in its exploratory regions, the hard and rewarding decisions you will be forced to make mixed with the tense and dreadful melodrama equals out as a easy must have for fans of either The walking Dead or Telltale games. Michonnes latest pays good homage to its roots while offering a new and previously unexplored insight into one of the most interesting ficitional worlds on television today. A great grab for 15$ and a break from the normalcy of the show and comic books events. Go get it!