Last year, a funny thing happened on the way to the zombie apocalypse - someone slipped a bit of emotion in with the undead slaying. Season 1 of Telltale's take on the Walking Dead (reviewed here) was met with critical acclaim and overshadowed the release of that other Walking Dead Game, but success is a funny thing and runs out quickly. Enter The Walking Dead: 400 Days. Meant as a bridge between season one and the upcoming second season, Telltale has crafted a unique standalone tale that hits all the right marks and plays to its strengths well. Be aware though, this one should only be for diehards of the series, as not much has been changed at all.

"...you won't get as connected with any of the characters..."

While season 1 focused on a single group of survivors and their life after the zombie apocalypse, 400 Days tells five unique and separate stories that at first glance don't have much to do with each other at all. Each story takes about twenty minutes to complete, and you won't get as connected with any of the characters as you're going to want to - but that's part of the point and in essence, part of the beauty. You're getting a taste of each character, a snippet of their life and Telltale hopes that's going to be enough to bring you back for a whole second season. Major props to the writers for being able to introduce five new stories and keeping them not only interesting but also likeable at the same time.

If you played any of the previous Walking Dead, you'll know the drill here - a point and click style adventure that asks you to make some pretty daring choices. There aren't many simple good/bad choices here, and good portions of them are going to task your morality and decision making skills. Telltale has done a great job making these decisions, which more often than not don't have a single appealing choice enjoyable. It may be cheating but I often found myself pausing the game to take some time and think about my decisions and how they would effect the story, something I didn't do until a few episodes into season one.

"... it fails to fix some of the major issues..."

That being said, 400 Days doesn't offer much that the original didn't, and while that may be great for the majority of people who really dug the first season, it fails to fix some of the major issues that didn't get it. Telltale made its mark as a PC developer and that's been evident since the studio decided to go multi-platform. The point and click style works predictably well with a mouse and keyboard, but trying to use a controller is another story altogether. Sure, it's not unplayable but it often feels clunky and unresponsive.

For the most part, The Walking Dead: 400 Days looks just like it should, right out of the first season. There are a number of small improvements, like animations feeling just a bit smoother or voice acting feeling just a bit more lifelike but there's some rough and often forced writing in here as well. It may not be cringe-worthy, but it's so on the nose and predictable.

It's simple, if you liked the point and click style of Telltale's first season of The Walking Dead, you'll more than likely enjoy 400 Days. It features the same gut-wrenching decision-making that made the series so irresistible in the first place. Telltale hasn't fixed the few issues from the original and the game still feels strange with a controller as opposed to a mouse and keyboard but that shouldn't stop you from checking it out regardless of your platform.