Activision Turning The Walking Dead Into a First-Person Shooter

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Activision Turning The Walking Dead Into a First-Person Shooter

Posted by Soulskill on Friday July 6, 2012 @01:16PM from the new-and-refreshing-take-on-the-fps-genre dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Activision, along with developer Terminal Reality, is turning The Walking Dead into a first-person shooter. For those of you who aren't familiar, The Walking Dead is a story about a group of people who are trying to survive the zombie apocalypse. It began as a comic book series, and was adapted into a successful television show by AMC. Now, apparently Activision feels the world needs another zombie shooter, and thinks The Walking Dead is the perfect backdrop. The game will 'revolve around Daryl Dixon and his brother Merle on a "haunting, unforgiving quest to make their way to the supposed safety of Atlanta." Players will control Daryl as they attempt to avoid detection from zombies that hunt using sight, sound and smell and will choose between fighting them or using stealth to avoid detection.' A video game adaptation of the story already exists as an episodic adventure game."

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Telltale Games by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-06 13:20 · Score: 1

Umm... Another "The Walking Dead" Game? Telltale Games may not have made a FPS, but it's the same thing.
1. Re:Telltale Games by byornski · 2012-07-06 14:35 · Score: 1
  
  Yes, completely agree with AC. The first of the telltale episodes was only released quite recently so it is pretty odd that the activision one makes the news.
I'm getting confused by Narrowband · 2012-07-06 13:22 · Score: 1

From the sound of it, I almost thought "The Walking Dead" was based on a FPS to begin with.

Heck, next they'll want to make a game out of that awful "Battleship" movie. Oh, wait...
1. Re:I'm getting confused by detritus. · 2012-07-06 13:55 · Score: 2
  
  You're thinking of Left for Dead.
  Watch them take the game and slap a new title on it...
Hope it's really successful! by R3d+M3rcury · 2012-07-06 13:22 · Score: 1

...then, maybe, they'll make a movie out of it.
1. Re:Hope it's really successful! by Nationless · 2012-07-06 13:57 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  And then a comic book spin-off
braiiiiins... by guygo · 2012-07-06 13:23 · Score: 1

braiiiiins!
First half of game will be slow by lemur3 · 2012-07-06 13:29 · Score: 5, Funny

Youll be looking for a lost little girl for the first half of the game ...and stuck in one location for the second half.
at least theyll only need 2 maps and it will load quickly...
1. Re:First half of game will be slow by theshibboleth · 2012-07-06 14:25 · Score: 1
  
  Well hopefully they might base it on the comic in which case they'd get up to what? 7 locations? That'd be a little better.
2. Re:First half of game will be slow by gandhi_2 · 2012-07-06 17:33 · Score: 1
  
  Also, you will be afforded no opportunity to fortify your position or conduct any tactical priorities of work.
  Instead, players conduct interpersonal conflict resolution and flirtation with NPCs until you are over-run.
  
  --
  THL phish sticks
3. Re:First half of game will be slow by Bill+Dog · 2012-07-06 17:47 · Score: 1
  
  What I want to know is how are they going to incorporate a love triangle, a secret pregnancy, little Timmy getting sick, and all the crying of 7th Heaven into a FPS?
  
  --
  Attention zealots and haters: 00100 00100
4. Re:First half of game will be slow by rtb61 · 2012-07-07 11:36 · Score: 1
  
  Still not as annoying as infinite enemy spawns rather than enemies at logical locations drawn by what ever is meant to attract them, allowing you to set logical traps and clear a region for a bit of peace and quite and to search for gear.
  
  --
  Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
If it's anything like Dead Island by Yosho-sama · 2012-07-06 13:36 · Score: 1

I will enjoy it. The only thing I didn't like about that game was the complete lack of story.

--
My kingdom for a donkey!
1. Re:If it's anything like Dead Island by firex726 · 2012-07-07 02:59 · Score: 1
  
  Did the Devs even see a lead pipe?
  Those things don't "break" after hitting a person a half dozen times.
Not really by mapuche · 2012-07-06 13:42 · Score: 1

If the game is based on the graphic novel and not the tv series, the story will develop very fast.
1. Re:Not really by Bloomy · 2012-07-06 16:01 · Score: 1
  
  The game's protagonists are characters created for the TV series, so it would fit into that. Unless they don't encounter the main group before the end of the game, allowing it to fit as a side story in either continuity.
2. Re:Not really by daddy32 · 2012-07-09 04:19 · Score: 1
  
  If the game is based on the graphic novel and not the tv series...
  It is not. Plus, it seems obvious the game will end where the TV series begins (Atlanta).
Damnit by Nemyst · 2012-07-06 13:43 · Score: 1

Activision's marketing machine is going to just entirely obscure the current The Walking Dead games, which are actually, you know, good. Activision's only good for making shitty derivative shooters and this just proves it. Telltale's take on it is visually interesting, plays nicely and generally feels different from the average zombie game.
Such a crying shame most people will come to associate "TWD game" as meaning "generic zombie shooter".
1. Re:Damnit by Joe+Tie. · 2012-07-06 15:20 · Score: 2
  
  The telltale games really are shockingly good. While the gaming aspect isn't that great, it's a fantastic storytelling medium. That sounds closer to a complaint than praise, which is why it took me a while to give it a chance. But I'm really glad I did. They tried something different, and it really paid off. While this fps sounds like a tired retread of a million other games.
  
  --
  Everything will be taken away from you.
2. Re:Damnit by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · 2012-07-06 16:22 · Score: 1
  
  In the hypothetical magic world of rainbows and unicorns, The Walking Dead could make a good FPS... Thief was an FPS with virtually no shooting(and when the shooting did break out, that was usually because you had fucked up) and that didn't stop it from kicking ass. And System Shock 2 demonstrated that first-person-desperate-creeping-around-the-ruins-of-a-once-familiar-world-where-things-have-gone-all-to-hell can be suitably harrowing and emotionally engaging.
  
  That said, it seems more reasonable to assume that the 'characters' aspect will be handled as elegantly as it was in Daikatana, and the game will be a painfully generic shooter with at least one frustratingly broken 'stealth' sequence that makes no sense whatsoever; but was necessary to establish the fact that this is the painfully generic shooter where you aren't a superhuman ass-kicking machine...
3. Re:Damnit by Gaygirlie · 2012-07-06 22:15 · Score: 1
  
  Thief was an FPS with virtually no shooting(and when the shooting did break out, that was usually because you had fucked up) and that didn't stop it from kicking ass.
  God, I loved Thief2 like all the way from the bottom of my heart. The pacing of the game was excellent, with some easy sequences to relax you, with some really tense ones to get you worked up, and a few but precious parts that really had you on the edge of your seat. And yes, if you got into a fight you most likely had f*cked up something, and very often getting into a fight meant you were going to die.
That's just great... by SternisheFan · 2012-07-06 13:55 · Score: 2

And I was just saying to my friend, "You know what would complete this life? ANOTHER FREAKING ZOMBIE GAME!!!" Nah, I think I'll be passing on that magic.
Mission List by Onetus · 2012-07-06 14:07 · Score: 4, Funny

Joy. I can see the high-range of options available:
Mission 1: Get Carl in the House
Mission 2: Get Carl into the next House
Mission 3: Get Carl into another House
1. Re:Mission List by Cyfun · 2012-07-07 22:28 · Score: 1
  
  I have a feeling this will be reminiscent of the HL1/Counter-Strike AI code, where you go up to an NCP, hit E to make them follow you. But when you're nearly to your objective (the farmhouse), you turn around to find that the damn thing is not there, so you double back and finally find him caught on a doorway running in place.
  
  --
  In Soviet Russia, dot slashes YOU!
Factual error in summary by Intropy · 2012-07-06 14:10 · Score: 2, Funny

It claims "The Walking Dead is a story" which is just not true.
1. Re:Factual error in summary by Riceballsan · 2012-07-06 16:03 · Score: 2
  
  The walking dead comic is a story, then the characters personalities were sucked dry to make the TV series. Now an FPS.... I just can't see that working, if they do the appropriate mix would be similar to dayZ, but the reality is it will most likely be like left4dead
2. Re:Factual error in summary by Gaygirlie · 2012-07-06 22:07 · Score: 2
  
  To be honest, the comics are actually pretty damn good. It's the TV-series that is mostly just lame drama and bickering over stupid things, and things like the woman driving on a completely empty road with no obstacles, no other traffic or anything, and still managing to hit the only tree in near vicinity. With that in mind I actually do recommend the comics, there's some quite unexpected turns there and the comics isn't afraid of f*cking life up even for the main characters, and plenty of things that I doubt the TV-series will ever show.
3. Re:Factual error in summary by KDR_11k · 2012-07-07 02:46 · Score: 1
  
  I think in reality it will be more like the Battleship game. Left 4 Dead was actually good.
  
  --
  Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
Well, since Diablo 3 was a fail by Rooked_One · 2012-07-06 14:15 · Score: 1

they have to move on to the next venture. Although it'd be hard to imagine them lowering the bar anymore than they've set it.
Why? by WiiVault · 2012-07-06 14:25 · Score: 2

Despite the insane bugs in Tell Tales' Walking Dead (WTF does this happen with every one of their releases? On every platform?) I find it true to the feeling of the comics and also the TV series. I like FPS games, I'm balls deep in Spec Ops: The Line right now; but not every story is best told with bang bang killstreak. Walking Dead is about suspense, and looking at humans as the problem. Not sure how Activision can translate that into a shooter. But I'm also not an asshole who pretends to know what the final product will look like. But I just can't see how this will fit with the narrative.
1. Re:Why? by Georules · 2012-07-06 14:52 · Score: 1
  
  Tell Tales' Walking Dead game is pretty great. I might even say better than the TV show. The only bugs I've dealt with are a few framerate drops.
2. Re:Why? by Nemyst · 2012-07-06 16:30 · Score: 1
  
  This is Activision we're speaking of. They have already said they believe franchises must be milkable every year in order to be worth it, and have shown this by shutting down the vast majority of studios which cannot fit that vision. They have also managed to run down Guitar Hero through multiple games a year, every year, and are doing the same with Call of Duty.
  Expecting anything but generic drivel in a cash grab effort from this is being utterly deluded.
Should have turned Pacman into a FPS by flimflammer · 2012-07-06 15:03 · Score: 1

Would have been more original.
oh noes by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-06 15:29 · Score: 1

Lemme guess, head game designer will be Jay Wilson of Activision Blizzard!
Another game by Darinbob · 2012-07-06 15:43 · Score: 1

Actually I haven't played any zombie game yet. All the ones so far look stupid.
1. Re:Another game by SternisheFan · 2012-07-07 00:17 · Score: 1
  
  Resident Evil, the first zombie game, did it right. Puzzle solving based third-person perspective shooter. Played it years ago on the original Playstation. If updated & tweaked out, that game with todays tech would make $, IMHO. It's the only game I've ever played that actually scared me. There was one time, while I was playing it in a darkened room, when a zombie that ''shouldn't'' have been on the other side of a door instantly started munching on my neck! I jumped out of the frickin' chair! Great game.
2. Re:Another game by Tukz · 2012-07-10 01:25 · Score: 1
  
  The dogs that jumps through the windows, nearly gave 3 people, including me, a heart attack.
  
  --
  - Don't do what I do, it's probably not healthy nor safe. -
Not Having High Hopes by gcountach · 2012-07-06 15:49 · Score: 1

Not having high hopes for this one. Developed my terminal reality who gave us BloodRayne, Ghostbusters: The Video Game, and Kinect Star Wars. Published by Ubisoft which hates the PC platform and, if the problems with the newest Ghost Recon are any indication, not too fond of consoles either. It's going to bomb. Even if it's playable, I suspect it'll be mediocre gameplay at best. The only thing it has going for it is the license. Those games are never worth the purchase price.
1. Re:Not Having High Hopes by gcountach · 2012-07-06 15:51 · Score: 1
  
  Whoops, just noticed it's actually being published from Activison. My blind rage of ubisoft has gotten the best of me yet again.
2. Re:Not Having High Hopes by Nemyst · 2012-07-06 16:31 · Score: 2
  
  Not that that helps, as Activision is worse in just about every respect.
3. Re:Not Having High Hopes by GameboyRMH · 2012-07-09 08:37 · Score: 1
  
  What was wrong with BloodRayne?
  Terminal Reality also made Terminal Velocity, 4x4 Evo series, Monster Truck Madness series...actually it seems that most of their good games were vehicle-based...
  
  --
  "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Game Shmame by Ukab+the+Great · 2012-07-06 16:44 · Score: 4, Funny

Call me back when they turn it into a musical.
As long as it's a FPS not a 3rd Person Shooter by Nyder · 2012-07-06 16:49 · Score: 5, Insightful

I hate how everyone and their twin brother are making shooter games where you play in the 3rd person.
Look, Dead Space was NOT scary because I was in 3rd Person.
Postal 3? sucked because I was in 3rd person.
How the fuck can I enjoy a game by trying to pretend I'm the character, when I'm looking over it's shoulder or at it's butt all the time?
I don't have a problem with all the Zombie games, I have a problem with all the 3rd Person Zombie games.
Left 4 Dead 1 & 2 is fun, because I feel like i'm there, killing the shit.
Those other games, not so much. Dead Island's problem was that zombies just spawned back up after you killed them and left the area. I'm on a fucking island, if I kill a zombie, it should stay fucking dead. But whatever, I guess I'm stupid for expecting some realism in my zombie shooters.

--
Be seeing you...
1. Re:As long as it's a FPS not a 3rd Person Shooter by Gaygirlie · 2012-07-06 22:01 · Score: 1
  
  Slightly off-topic, but..... If you want a game displayed from first person and want it to be scary Amnesia: Dark Descent ( http://amnesiagame.com/#main ) should prove to be quite effective, though it is not a shooter-game, you're mostly just trying to stay the f*ck alive while trying your damnedest not to piss in your pants. With that in mind it might or might not be what you're hoping for. Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs is still in development, but it, too, looks quite promising.
2. Re:As long as it's a FPS not a 3rd Person Shooter by KDR_11k · 2012-07-07 02:50 · Score: 1
  
  Are you sure Dead Space's anti-horror part was the third person view and not the giant effing cannons that rip the supposed horrors apart in funny ways?
  if I kill a zombie, it should stay fucking dead
  I thought the whole point of a zombie is that it's dead and still moving.
  
  --
  Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
They are dong it backwards by fragMasterFlash · 2012-07-06 16:50 · Score: 3, Insightful

If the creative minds behind The Walking Dead want to do something unique and interesting they should shoot live action episodes where the cast meets up the cast of some of the better recent zombie shooter games. The players from Left for Dead II could blend in with The Walking Dead cast quite nicely, IMHO.
We're on a roll today! by billsayswow · 2012-07-06 16:51 · Score: 1

First there was the article about some website's poorly-written preview of the "Steampunk Action-Adventure game Dishonored", and now there's this. All that's left is for Ubisoft to announce "Tim Burton Presents: Dexter vs The Joker", and Hot Topic will be forced to start stocking a video game section.
Now Shaun of the Dead would make an excellent game by K8Fan · 2012-07-06 16:57 · Score: 3, Informative

Killing zombies by throwing records at them, having to get past the zombies by pretending to be a zombie, no weapons. Excellent movie.

--
"How perfectly Goddamn delightful it all is, to be sure" Charles Crumb
Not an MMO? Back to DayZ then :/ by citizenr · 2012-07-06 17:24 · Score: 4, Informative

http://dayzmod.com/
Perma death, no easy mode, no QTE, no intros, no cut scenes, no bullshit.

--
Who logs in to gdm? Not I, said the duck.
1. Re:Not an MMO? Back to DayZ then :/ by EnsilZah · 2012-07-06 23:29 · Score: 1
  
  Plus, watching playthroughs on Youtube, the characters are more compelling than the TV show.
2. Re:Not an MMO? Back to DayZ then :/ by citizenr · 2012-07-07 01:08 · Score: 1
  
  Plus, watching playthroughs on Youtube, the characters are more compelling than the TV show.
  yep, check this one out for example
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NO-P9tucGg
  hilarious :D
  
  --
  Who logs in to gdm? Not I, said the duck.
3. Re:Not an MMO? Back to DayZ then :/ by Tukz · 2012-07-10 01:29 · Score: 1
  
  I have absolutely no idea of what is going on in that video...
  
  --
  - Don't do what I do, it's probably not healthy nor safe. -
subject by Legion303 · 2012-07-06 17:33 · Score: 2

Well it's a good thing zombies weren't completely played out 5 years ago, otherwise this would just seem pathetic.
1. Re:subject by Kreigaffe · 2012-07-06 17:46 · Score: 2
  
  Eh, zombies aren't entirely played out.
  We haven't had a zombie that sparkles when it gets shot in the head yet. That will signal the end.
  
  --
  ... still waiting for this free-as-in-beer free beer I keep hearing about. :|
2. Re:subject by MMMDI · 2012-07-06 21:06 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  You haven't played Lollipop Chainsaw yet, have you?
already two board games by Xtifr · 2012-07-06 19:56 · Score: 1

I dunno about video games, but there's already two board games. The first one, based on the comic, is actually pretty good. The second one, based on the show, sucks. Big surprise, eh?
Based on that precedent, I'll probably skip the video game based on the show, and wait for the small indie game based on the comic. :)
Lone Survivor by Hyperhaplo · 2012-07-06 21:04 · Score: 1

Another Zombie FPS? Whyyyy.
Just grab Lonesurvivor and try a new take on surviving a zombie apocalypse.
Was part of the recent HumbleBundle and is well worth a play. Now, I just have a niggling problem to deal with involving what looks like an oversized velociraptor..

--
You have a sick, twisted mind. Please subscribe me to your newsletter.
Playing Michonne would be more fun the Daryl by Muntyhoven · 2012-07-06 21:37 · Score: 1

With her samurai sword and all. But she's not yet appeared in the TV version (realise she is in season 3), which is ace but pretty plodding in the zombie-killing stakes compered to the comics. Many other good stories from the comics could be good: playing the cannibals for one (perhaps better not try and eat Dale 'tho)
Never 'got' Walking Dead by Leo+Sasquatch · 2012-07-06 21:51 · Score: 2

Read the first issues of the comic - kudos to the creator for trying, but it wasn't very good.

Watched the first episode of the TV series, which was just utter shit. An inherent problem with zombie-based plots, is that no-one in them is allowed to have ever seen a zombie film, read a zombie comic, played House of the Dead etc. So they act stupid, which gets them killed, and if you're acting stupider than a zombie, that's pretty damn stupid. The hero finds a perfect location - a police station with its own generator, hot water supply, a supply of guns and ammo, and the closest thing to an actual fortress that you'll find in a modern city. Eminently defensible. So he leaves after taking a shower. And wanders among the zombies wearing a short-sleeved shirt. At which point, I lost all interest in the doings of anybody so retarded. He might as well have doused himself in steak sauce, shoved a sprig of parsley up his arse and laid down next to a sign reading Welcome To The All-You-Can-Eat Fuckwit Buffet.

Although you'd think zombies would be the perfect enemies for a video game, (no remorse about killing something already dead), few have been any good. Dead Rising could have been excellent, were it not for the fact that weapons broke so easily. Have you ever tried to break a crowbar? Dead Island was just appalling, and Left for Dead is ok, if you have a group of decent players, as the bots are not overly bright. It also feels a little odd - computer-controlled NPCs vs computer-controlled zombies - kinda feels like you could leave the machine on, not pick up a controller, and the game would play away quite happily without you. Not exactly the sense of total immersion I want in a game.
1. Re:Never 'got' Walking Dead by CronoCloud · 2012-07-07 05:43 · Score: 2
  
  An inherent problem with zombie-based plots, is that no-one in them is allowed to have ever seen a zombie film, read a zombie comic, played House of the Dead etc. So they act stupid, which gets them killed, and if you're acting stupider than a zombie, that's pretty damn stupid.
  
  In the TV shows aftershow, it was once mentioned by Kirkland that the TV show takes place in an alternate Walking Dead universe where George Romero never made the original Night of the Living Dead, so they don't have the "zombie movie/game" genre. That's why in the TV show they never call them zombies but always call them Walkers, while in the comic book they are sometimes called zombies.
  
  The hero finds a perfect location - a police station with its own generator, hot water supply, a supply of guns and ammo, and the closest thing to an actual fortress that you'll find in a modern city. Eminently defensible. So he leaves after taking a shower. And wanders among the zombies wearing a short-sleeved shirt.
  
  Yeah, I mentioned to a family member that the police station would have made a great place to set up a "base" and then slowly extend the "area of control" around it as they find more survivors. But he did leave it to find his family, though when he DID find them he should have rounded everyone up and took them back there....or found another police/sheriff/fire station or national guard armory close by the base camp.
DayZ.... by coffeeaddict2004 · 2012-07-06 22:21 · Score: 1

Looking for a fresh gaming experience? Forget the big budget game factory hype machines.

"Go Solo, team up with friends or take on the world as you choose your path in this brutal and chilling landscape using whatever means you stumble upon to survive."
- from http://www.dayzmod.com/

Stock up on beans this game is addictive.
UrbanDead for the win! by hawkinspeter · 2012-07-06 22:44 · Score: 1

I don't see why we need anything better the www.urbandead.com - a free to play browser based game where all the zombies and survivors are players. Admittedly, the graphics aren't great.

--
You're a temporary arrangement of matter sliding towards oblivion in a cold, uncaring universe
1. Re:UrbanDead for the win! by Gaygirlie · 2012-07-07 02:19 · Score: 1
  
  browser based game
  That's how far I got into your comment before I lost interest.
2. Re:UrbanDead for the win! by hawkinspeter · 2012-07-07 06:03 · Score: 1
  
  It's not your typical browser based game. It doesn't use flash/html5 or anything like that. It barely uses graphics.
  
  --
  You're a temporary arrangement of matter sliding towards oblivion in a cold, uncaring universe
A more interesting one: Zombie Playground by gottabeme · 2012-07-07 07:39 · Score: 1

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/massiveblack/zombie-playground-zpg-3d-action-online-battle-rpg

--
"Those who consume the bulk of goods are those who make them. We must never forget this secret of our prosperity."
Poor TRI by Hsien-Ko · 2012-07-07 14:06 · Score: 1

Remember all those poorly rated Blair Witch games they had to do just after Nocturne?

On the other hand, this is their first FPS since 1996's Hellbender.
Multiplayer by Cyfun · 2012-07-07 22:37 · Score: 1

I just want there to be a multiplayer mode where you can play as a zombie! First thing I'm gonna do is bite that bitch Laurie, she's always whining and causing drama. And then Carl because it's a safe bet he ain't in the house.

--
In Soviet Russia, dot slashes YOU!