The Walking Dead Episode 4: Around Every Corner (Video Game Review)

The Walking Dead Episode 4: Around Every Corner continues the epic journey and may be the best episode this far. The story so far has focused on Lee and Clem’s survival among the undead but the new episode was written by Gary Whitta. Who is Gary Whitta you ask? Well he racked up many years as the Editor In Chief for PC Gamer magazine before he made his way to Hollywood. He his best known for the 2010 film The Book Of Eli with Denzel Washington. Gary Whitta has acted as a supervisor over the game’s writing team until recently. However, in episode 4, Whitta stepped up to write the episode himself and fans can tell it! Whitta has seamlessly blended his episode with the others before it, and did an outstanding job of doing so. Whitta delivers excellent characterization while giving fans more of what they already loved from the series in Episode 4.

The story incorporates a few new elements but will give players the familiarity they have come to know from previous episodes as well. As time has went on each episode has got darker than the previous one and this applies to Episode 4. Players will notice this right off the bat during gameplay--as Lee digs up a dog's corpse to get its collar in order to use it to get through a pet door that is activated by a chip. If digging up corpses of family pets wasn't enough then it will get much darker as the episode plays out. This example serves as a short and snappy description of what fans can except from Around Every Corner as a whole. The episode is gorier, darker and still manages to magnify the humor from Episode 3.

The unique blend of dark humor gives the episode a nice distraction for taking the player’s mind off the morbidity and lonely struggle of the characters. Around Every Corner offers new concepts in regards to its mechanics. The mini-games are somewhat better than what players may have seen in the previous episodes. Episode 4: Around Every Corner delivered everything we loved from the series this far including beautiful comic-style art, amazing voice-over work, engaging storyline and interesting characters. It is getting harder to see how Telltale Games can top what they already done, especially with Episode 4. I guess we will just have to wait and see what the finale brings! You can visit the official The Walking Dead website to learn more about the game.

Game Information
Developed and Distributed by Telltale Games
Available for Xbox 360 (Reviewed), PlayStation 3, iOS, Mac & PC
Rated M for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language & Suggestive Themes


Game Features

• A tailored game experience – Live with the profound and lasting consequences of the decisions that you make in each episode.
• Your actions and choices will affect how your story plays out across the entire series.
• Experience events, meet people and visit locations that foreshadow the story of Deputy Sheriff Rick Grimes. Meet Glenn before he heads to Atlanta, explore Hershel’s farm before Rick and his group of survivors arrive and before the barn becomes a notorious location in Walking Dead lore.
• You’ll be forced to make decisions that are not only difficult, but that will require you to make an almost immediate choice. There’s no time to ponder when the undead are pounding the door down!
• An Adventure Horror game of 5 episodes. Features meaningful decision-making, exploration, problem solving and a constant fight for survival in a world overrun by the undead.
• Artwork inspired by the original comic books.

Score: 8 out of 10