If you've watched The Walking Dead TV show, then you probably know Michonne as the almost-immortal bad-ass with the samurai sword who chops off zombie heads as if her sole purpose is helping the poor creatures depart this world. The Michonne of the TV show has consistently been the most independent and strongest of the survivors, despite a few moments when her traumatic past rises to the surface. Those few moments aside, Michonne's character stands as the glue that often holds the group together, and her sheer will, determination, and head-chopping skills have turned her into possibly the greatest symbol of strength in the face of adversity. Having this Michonne in mind, I was immediately surprised by the way she's portrayed in the first episode of Telltale's three-part miniseries, The Walking Dead: Michonne [].
You see, the writers decided to chart a different course with their version of Michonne and instead of building her up as an almost-indestructible force of destruction, they humanized her by drawing a thread from her current predicaments all the way back to her pre-zombie existence. At the end of that thread, they placed Michonne's two daughters as anchors that hold the character grounded in what is otherwise a grim, zombie infested world that thwarts any sense of a stable self. By making the character first and foremost human, The Walking Dead: Michonne writers manage to give us a fresh take on a very well-known character. At the same time, they've succeeded in making the game scarier than previous TWD games by introducing an element of psychological horror, which is far creepier than the usual sight of half-rotting, animated corpses walking around a devastated landscape.
Episode 1: In Too Deep
The opening scene of the first episode, In Too Deep, cleverly works on two narrative layers as the writers blend a scene from Michonne's past with a scene from her current post-apocalyptic existence. The first zombie scene is preceded by Michonne imagining her two children in the forest and following them through an imaginary door that leads to her house. The dead children, who we see repeatedly throughout the episode, offer a spookiness to In Too Deep that was quite welcome. Once through the door, Michonne kills several zombies in a fight that takes place in between the worlds of now and then, of the reality and of the mind.
The whole scene is pretty complex, and I could probably spend a thousand words just talking about how the door to the house could be seen as the door to Michonne's inner demons and regrets, but that would make this review way too long. What's important to note, though, is that the opening scene shifts from Michonne haunted by the thought of the two people she can never forget to the series' heroine putting a gun to her own head. This scene sets the stakes for the rest of the miniseries since we have a heroine teetering on the edge of sanity, haunted by her past actions (which I'm sure we'll hear more about as the miniseries unfolds), and striving to find a reason to put one foot in front of the other and keep on living.
This brief fight scene also gave me the opportunity to see Telltale's improvement in handling fight scenes, often one of the company's greatest weakness. The quicktime events were better designed than in other, earlier series, and I didn't have to suffer through too many unnecessary taps or swipes. I still have some issues with the way the camera angles will often restrict your view in weird ways during these quicktime events, but overall I found the slicing and dicing of zombies quite well made. I haven't decided yet if these quicktime events are even necessary in Telltale games, but I suppose players would complain about a lack of interactivity if the developers decided to get rid of them completely.
The series starts in earnest once Pete, one of the crew of The Companion, gives Michonne a hand when she's at her lowest and offers her a place among his crew and, in extension, a semblance of normalcy. Aboard The Companion, Michonne continues her fight for survival while still haunted by visions of her children both in her waking and sleeping hours. As is usually the case in stories unfolding in the zombie apocalypse of TWD universe, the need to either fix something or scavenge a location (or both) becomes the impetus for moments of crisis that put the heroes in jeopardy and, consequently, force them to make difficult, and often life and death, decisions. Unsurprisingly, then, Pete and Michonne set out to scavenge a boat only to find themselves first stranded and then right in the middle of a clash between one group of survivors - represented by two teenagers - and another consisting of ruthless adults who don't hesitate when it comes to protecting what's theirs.
While the game's writers could have gone with a clear good guys/bad guys dichotomy, they drew in shades of grey, a move appropriate for TWD universe and also one that makes Michonne's choices less self-evident. The episode initially presents the inhabitants of the floating colony of Monroe as cold-blooded killers, but then their leader, Norma, makes some pretty good points about survival in a post-zombie world, points that even Michonne has to agree with (as long as you pick to play her as a realist). Norma's character is actually very intriguing, and I'm curious to see how she'll evolve in the rest of the episodes (since I expect her to be your arch-enemy). I have to say the choice of having two strong female characters dominate the episode was a welcome change since TWD universe has a tendency to be ruled by overbearing male characters like Rick, the Governor, and many more.
Once you hit the Monroe colony, the situation deteriorates quite rapidly with choices coming Michonne's way fast and furious. Most of the episode takes place in the tight quarters of the colony with Michonne mostly restrained and under immense pressure from Norma and her crew. Even though the Monroe part feels a bit short, mostly because of how the game forces you to constantly make decision upon decision, the way you decide to play Michonne and the choices you make can really change the feel of the episode. While many of the decisions I made in Monroe were obviously setting up conflicts for the rest of the season, my decisions still felt immediate enough to keep me invested and interested. The episode builds to a pretty promising cliffhanger, and I was left quite invested in Michonne's fate, always a good sign when it comes to a narrative-heavy, character-driven game.
In Too Deep is a promising start to Telltale's new series, and Michonne is definitely a character worth exploring, not that I had a doubt about that. Bringing in the psychological horror created by the character's momentous personal losses adds an intriguing sense of horror to a universe usually filled only with the jump-scares of the dead or the depravity of the living. Children can be quite creepy (see The Shining), so the use of Michonne's long-dead children definitely added some enjoyably-creepy moments. Even though most of the male characters are a bit one-dimensional, the complex female characters definitely give the episode the appropriate depth. So, Telltale has another hit on its hands, and as long as you have even the slightest interest in the character of Michonne, you should definitely be playing this miniseries.
Rating: 4.5/5
You see, the writers decided to chart a different course with their version of Michonne and instead of building her up as an almost-indestructible force of destruction, they humanized her by drawing a thread from her current predicaments all the way back to her pre-zombie existence. At the end of that thread, they placed Michonne's two daughters as anchors that hold the character grounded in what is otherwise a grim, zombie infested world that thwarts any sense of a stable self. By making the character first and foremost human, The Walking Dead: Michonne writers manage to give us a fresh take on a very well-known character. At the same time, they've succeeded in making the game scarier than previous TWD games by introducing an element of psychological horror, which is far creepier than the usual sight of half-rotting, animated corpses walking around a devastated landscape.
Episode 1: In Too Deep
The opening scene of the first episode, In Too Deep, cleverly works on two narrative layers as the writers blend a scene from Michonne's past with a scene from her current post-apocalyptic existence. The first zombie scene is preceded by Michonne imagining her two children in the forest and following them through an imaginary door that leads to her house. The dead children, who we see repeatedly throughout the episode, offer a spookiness to In Too Deep that was quite welcome. Once through the door, Michonne kills several zombies in a fight that takes place in between the worlds of now and then, of the reality and of the mind.
The whole scene is pretty complex, and I could probably spend a thousand words just talking about how the door to the house could be seen as the door to Michonne's inner demons and regrets, but that would make this review way too long. What's important to note, though, is that the opening scene shifts from Michonne haunted by the thought of the two people she can never forget to the series' heroine putting a gun to her own head. This scene sets the stakes for the rest of the miniseries since we have a heroine teetering on the edge of sanity, haunted by her past actions (which I'm sure we'll hear more about as the miniseries unfolds), and striving to find a reason to put one foot in front of the other and keep on living.
This brief fight scene also gave me the opportunity to see Telltale's improvement in handling fight scenes, often one of the company's greatest weakness. The quicktime events were better designed than in other, earlier series, and I didn't have to suffer through too many unnecessary taps or swipes. I still have some issues with the way the camera angles will often restrict your view in weird ways during these quicktime events, but overall I found the slicing and dicing of zombies quite well made. I haven't decided yet if these quicktime events are even necessary in Telltale games, but I suppose players would complain about a lack of interactivity if the developers decided to get rid of them completely.
The series starts in earnest once Pete, one of the crew of The Companion, gives Michonne a hand when she's at her lowest and offers her a place among his crew and, in extension, a semblance of normalcy. Aboard The Companion, Michonne continues her fight for survival while still haunted by visions of her children both in her waking and sleeping hours. As is usually the case in stories unfolding in the zombie apocalypse of TWD universe, the need to either fix something or scavenge a location (or both) becomes the impetus for moments of crisis that put the heroes in jeopardy and, consequently, force them to make difficult, and often life and death, decisions. Unsurprisingly, then, Pete and Michonne set out to scavenge a boat only to find themselves first stranded and then right in the middle of a clash between one group of survivors - represented by two teenagers - and another consisting of ruthless adults who don't hesitate when it comes to protecting what's theirs.
Once you hit the Monroe colony, the situation deteriorates quite rapidly with choices coming Michonne's way fast and furious. Most of the episode takes place in the tight quarters of the colony with Michonne mostly restrained and under immense pressure from Norma and her crew. Even though the Monroe part feels a bit short, mostly because of how the game forces you to constantly make decision upon decision, the way you decide to play Michonne and the choices you make can really change the feel of the episode. While many of the decisions I made in Monroe were obviously setting up conflicts for the rest of the season, my decisions still felt immediate enough to keep me invested and interested. The episode builds to a pretty promising cliffhanger, and I was left quite invested in Michonne's fate, always a good sign when it comes to a narrative-heavy, character-driven game.
In Too Deep is a promising start to Telltale's new series, and Michonne is definitely a character worth exploring, not that I had a doubt about that. Bringing in the psychological horror created by the character's momentous personal losses adds an intriguing sense of horror to a universe usually filled only with the jump-scares of the dead or the depravity of the living. Children can be quite creepy (see The Shining), so the use of Michonne's long-dead children definitely added some enjoyably-creepy moments. Even though most of the male characters are a bit one-dimensional, the complex female characters definitely give the episode the appropriate depth. So, Telltale has another hit on its hands, and as long as you have even the slightest interest in the character of Michonne, you should definitely be playing this miniseries.
Rating: 4.5/5