What Comes After Survival? – Telltale’s 400 Days

Welcome back ladies and gents, to part two of our Season 1 breakdown of The Walking Dead. This time we are giving a breakdown of the extra bonus chapter 400 Days. This is a paid add-on for the original game costing a mere $5, it still feels like a little bit more than what we would be expecting when we buy the “complete” version of the game previously. In gaming, I’ve learned one important fact, anything extra is never free.

400 Days starts with a decision right from the get go, and that decision is asking you whose story you want to follow. Vince’s story starts on day 2 of the zombie outbreak, Wyatt’s story is around day 41, Russell’s story starts around the 184 day mark, Bonnie’s insane corn field story is on day 220, Shel’s story is coming in on days 236 AND 259, and once all of those stories have been completed, you unlock the epilogue. The epilogue of course coming in on, you guessed it, day 400. This of course ties all of our characters (who are still alive) into one an others stories.

Like the other stories, this one has a lot of decisions to be made but there is really only one decision in each story that matters. The answer you give will decide who will be joining you, and how they will act once they are all re-united at the gas station in the end. Some will die, some will live, and some will come back in later pieces of the puzzle as zombies when you are responsible for their death.

I really enjoyed the great explanation of the zombie outbreak by giving us a breakdown at different points in the first year. It gives us reasoning behind why the people in Season 2 did what they did, and what was it that originally brought them together. I am also a fan of the multiple stories melding together to become one cohesive story, so that worked perfectly in the games favour.

This game add on is a must play for all owners of the Season 1 game, and I would definitely advise playing through the first season before you play the add-on, as they actually do add pieces to the puzzle based on the previous choices you had already made. This whole series is one long laundry list of do’s and don’t’s of the zombie apocalypse, giving you a real God complex. Knowing you control the fate of several people and the several people they will interact with along their journey.

Conclusion? 400 Days is well worth the small cost added to it. It is essentially an add-on but feels like a separate mini game, all on its own.

Game Style – Story based zombie survival mixed with an amazing graphic style that puts you into a role of control.

Target Audience – Fans of zombie games or culture, and especially those who love The Walking Dead show or comics.