Aaron Escalante

Kati Lewis
English 2010
February 7, 2016
Zombie Text Review
The Walking Dead Review
It is a beautiful day in the lovely city of Taylorsville, Utah. The flowers are blooming, the
snow is as white assugar and there are no teenagers in sight. There is nothing that can possibly
go wrong today! All of a sudden, you hear screams and car crashes and the world around you is
going to hell. The taskforce made to protect you, an everyday citizen, has failed and now you are
amidst the zombie apocalypse. You run home, eager to see to your familys safety. However,
when you arrive, you come to the horrible realization that you are not prepared to deal with this
disaster, or any disaster for that matter. Zombies begin to break in, and all you can do is watch as
they almost effortlessly get through your last minute fortifications to feed on you and your loved
ones. Regret is the last thing you feel before you are ripped to pieces.
Disaster preparedness is one of those
things that people should do but usually do
not. However, unlike doing your homework
before the day its due or turning off the water
while you are brushing your teeth, this could
cost you and all the people you care about
their life. According to an article regarding disaster preparedness, Natural disasters are not
planned. They can strike quickly, without warning and can wreak havoc on a community, leaving
residents without basic services for days or even weeks. (Backscheider 1) That is why this
zombie text is invaluable to the citizens of Utah. It serves as a wakeup call that says that even
though there is a taskforce on the case, the citizens themselves have to prepare for the impending
apocalypse because while we will try to help everyone, we cannot save them all.
The Walking Dead by Telltale Games is a virtual masterpiece that really captures the
emotional struggles of being in a zombie apocalypse. From beginning to end, the story and
emotional draw keep players wanting to know whether a certain character makes it or meets his
or her end either to other humans or to the undead. The Walking Dead by Telltale Games was
released to the public on April 24, 2012, and it has captivated practically all who have played it.

Players begin the game as Lee Everett, a convicted man en route to prison for murder
when zombies suddenly appear, leaving Lee stranded and injured up until he finds a small girl by
the name of Clementine who assists him. From that point on, it is a fight for survival for the
player as Lee struggles not only to protect himself, but also Clementine from bandits, starvation,
and the walking dead.

Towards the end of the first

episode, (SPOILER) you find yourself
and Clementine with a small group of
survivors and have already had to make a
hard decision that cost someone their life.
(END SPOILER) This is the start of
many hard decisions you make, decisions
that not only cause people to potentially
die, but leave a lasting effect on the other
survivors as they assess your loyalty or trustworthiness. One of the characters in game, Hershel
Greene, even acknowledges this when he tells Lee, You're gonna have to depend on the honesty
of strangers if you're gonna make it. And if those same people get to questioning yours, you're
gonna be in trouble (Wiki 1). This piece of advice is not to be taken lightly as many times
throughout the game, you will be notified that a fellow survivor noticed your concern or that a
person will remember that you did a certain action or said a certain thing. These choices stick to
those survivors memories and determine what they think of you and ultimately whether or not to
help you when you need them. A good example of this highly applauded feature is during
Episode 2 when (SPOILER) Lee confronts one of the St. John boys and, after a skirmish, is
being forced into an electric fence. One of the survivors in the group is standing by with a rifle,
and depending on whether or not you helped her prior, she may not bother to help and instead
idly watch you as you struggle to stay alive. (SPOILER END)
The interactions that the player has with the other survivors is phenomenal and certain to
leave you with some memorable
characters, however it is the
interaction between Lee and
Clementine that has been deemed
the best part of the game by a
reviewer for gaming corporation
IGN when he stated, this is where
the Walking Deads power comes
from. This story of Lee and Clementine is so well acted and well told that the players connect
with these characters in a way most video game developers can only dream of (Miller 1).

The video game has much to offer, not just in the way of great story, but in cultural
problems too. The Walking Dead can be viewed as a commentary of disaster preparedness, an
issue that is usually ignored by most American families as Gaye Levy points out when he states,
Sitting around the holiday dinner tablethe
conversation turned to the economy, natural
disasters and the need to preparethere were
a lot of roll-eyes as your companions thought,
Oh boy, here we go again. (Levy 1) This is
also reflected in the characters of the video
game as, when asked, most of the survivors
credit their survival to luck saying that they
had been at the right place at the right time.
Some of the survivors even say that had they
been anywhere else, they would have undoubtedly died. No one claimed to be prepared for any
disaster. This connects with preparing the citizens perfectly because there are going to be people
who didnt take any actions to prepare for the coming apocalypse, and like the many that died in
this videogame, they too will fall prey to the undead army.
Disaster preparation is an important process that society does not think to do and in some
cases go against as Levy said. The characters in the game reflect that as each of them mourns
over the loss they have suffered because they were not prepared. The ideal example of this is in
episode 1 (SPOILER) where Lee and Clementine are saved by Sean Greene and Chet, two boys
from an isolated farm who were scouting out the town. Lee and Clementine are then taken back
to that farm where they meet Hershel Greene, a man who does not believe in the zombie
apocalypse for he has not seen it because of how isolated his farm is. Sean wants to fortify the
fences surrounding the farm while Hershel, his father, sees no reason for it. The next day, not
only does Hershel reveal that it was not his plan when he was younger to live on this farm, but
zombies attack resulting in the death of Sean Greene because the defenses hadnt been built in
time (END SPOILERS). Hershel living on a farm, being excluded from the rest of the world was
not his plan, but he survived because of it. In addition, had Hershel taken the time to prepare for
the disaster his son was warning him about, he would likely not have ended up losing as much as
he did.
In conclusion, The Walking Dead is an effective comment on societys lack of disaster
preparation through the characters and their tragic stories, the dialogue that conveys these stories,
and the atmosphere that reminds the player of the need to prepare for the worst. I myself
sometimes procrastinate when it comes to disaster preparation, it is something inside us that tells
us that there are better uses of our time than preparing for something that may or may not come.
Its not easy to fight against, but for our families and loved ones, we have to! The Walking Dead
will hopefully become the catalyst for people to start preparing for the zombie apocalypse. If
they need any more inspiration beyond that tear-jerking masterpiece, refer to the cat below.

Works Cited.
Backscheider, Kurt. "Delhi Offering Free Disaster Preparedness Training." Cincinnati.
USA Today, 21 Jan. 2016. Web. 12 Feb. 2016.
Levy, Gaye. "7 Reasons People Refuse To Prepare For Disaster." Activist Post. 5 Jan.
2012. Web. 7 Feb. 2016.
Miller, Greg. "The Walking Dead: The Game Review." Rev. of The Walking Dead. IGN.
Ziff Davis LLC, 12 Dec. 2012. Web. 3 Feb. 2016.
Multiple Authors. "Hershel Greene (Video Game)." The Walking Dead Wiki. Wikia. Web.
7 Feb. 2016.