The Walking Dead: Michonne - Episode 1: In Too Deep

Fans of Michonne from the comics or TV series may rejoice in the insights the episode provides on her, yet in comparison to the previous season of Walking Dead, it falls short. I hope that the next two installments will reframe the story's events more positively and ultimately reveal a much larger, richer, and more interesting arc.

In Too Deep does well at introducing Michonne as a mentally unstable, seemingly cold-hearted character, but fails to deliver a wholly compelling opening episode.

As the first episode of a new series, In Too Deep is a very strong start. The gameplay formula isn't any different from past The Walking Dead games, sure, but Michonne is a great character and the story has the potential to be very good. Unfortunately, the first episode has no real story payoff, due to how the whole series is structured, so it will be Episode 2 and 3 that will make The Walking Dead Michonne great, or just another adventure game based on a popular franchise.

Michonne is the big draw here, and Samira Wiley's performance alone makes this episode worth playing. We just have to hope the later episodes give her more to do that we haven't already seen before.

While this first episode is a bit rocky and uneven, it ends strong, raising the stakes and setting the stage for the other two episodes. The Walking Dead: Michonne still has time to hit its stride, make something out of its supporting cast, and creating a journey worthy of its fascinating protagonist.

The Walking Dead: Michonne - In Too Deep is a strong opening chapter, but the overall experience doesn't stray too much from past seasons. Future episodes will prove whether Michonne has an explosive payoff or is simply an average mini-series for passing the time.

At this point I'm starting to tire from the Telltale formula, especially when it doesn't provide a cast of memorable characters from the get-go, but Michonne herself was enough to power me through the episode and keep me interested. In Too Deep hasn't topped either season of The Walking Dead so far, but if you can still stomach a few empty "remember" prompts, you'll enjoy the story they're trying to tell.

Despite the burdens of a slow opening and short length, The Walking Dead: Michonne Episode 1 - In Too Deep expands on Telltale's established methods in clever ways, and delivers a promising start to the franchise's first miniseries.

True to its title, The Walking Dead: Michonne - Episode 1 is all about one character, somewhat to the detriment of the story and other characters. Michonne is so well done, though, from her impressive survival skills to the hollow look in her eyes, that she easily carries the entire episode.

I simply can't recommend a purchase right now. Lacking substance and heart, I feel as if Telltale is going through the motions while cashing in on previous successes and Michonne's popularity. Add old mechanics that few praise, and one has to wonder if the studio is reacting to input from fans. The series could take off in the next two episodes, but for right now, would-be buyers should keep their wallets sheathed.

This first chapter doesn't offer anything new or really interesting in terms of narrative or gameplay. It's basically Telltale on autopilot. Not bad, but not that good either.

The most flat Telltale Games' game that we have seen on its narrative side, yet interesting due its main character, Michonne.

With an amazing main character, The Walking Dead: Michonne has promise but also a bland story.

“In Too Deep” gets The Walking Dead: Michonne off to a rocky start, with the introduction of uninteresting characters, a drab story, and a flat ending. Yet the exploration of Michonne’s past and her emotional demons is fascinating, and offers much potential for the future.

Humans are worse than zombies. Humans are worse than zombies. Humans are worse than zombies. Humans are worse than zombies. More of the same in every aspect. [05/2016, p.65]

Bloodier, more linear, but actually exactly the same game as the last time. If you still haven´t got enough of harsh human stories from zombie apocalypses, you will enjoy The Walking Dead: Michonne, because it offers a proven Telltale quality. Otherwise there is no reason buying this one-hour game.

Michonne is a great character, but her story - not so much. In Too Deep lasts for about two hours and more often than not we're just a spectator. This short series certainly could've started much better.

Besides a graphics engine that is not aging too gracefully, and gameplay even more limited than in the past, this first episode of the new The Walking Dead miniseries isn’t as good as other Telltale’s productions. The storytelling is always great: the problem here is the story itself, pretty ordinary and based around events we saw too many times in The Walking Dead universe.

This short series ought to be all about its mesmerizing heroine and her struggle to harness her regrets. Instead, it seems to be shaping up as a short-form version of a story we’ve already seen plenty of times over.

In Too Deep isn’t bad, nor does it fully suggest that The Walking Dead: Michonne will be a letdown. But if this helping was any indication, it would appear that splitting this side game up into an episodic adventure was a bad idea.

Where Telltale’s Walking Dead stories prior have typically hinged on the sanctity of humanity in those facing unspeakable trauma, Michonne’s humanity already hangs by a thread, and In Too Deep does comparatively little to rebuild or cut away at that thread. In light of having a kind of protagonist we’ve seen far too little of in gaming, Walking Dead: Michonne can and should go to narrative places we haven’t seen before.

Events of the game take place sometime between 23-rd and 24-th comic volume, which violates basic premise of the series “Anyone can die” – we know that both Michonne and Pete will make it out unharmed. The second problem is Michonne herself – if you play in line with her established character, most of the time you’ll have to stare at people without saying a word. [Issue#207, p.75]

If humanity ever builds a time machine, once we've finished debating the ethics of killing Hitler and so on, we should use it to go back in time and make the first season of The Walking Dead all about Michonne, before the zombie thing got boring. Right now this miniseries will have to pull some serious surprises out of its hat in the next episode to make it worth buying the whole lot.

A well-written character in desperate need of a plot more compelling than this laboured retread of the captured-by-authoritarian-jerks Walking Dead staple.