Yet again, another social game is available through Facebook. Big surprise! It's not all it's cracked up to be. The Walking Dead Social Game is another disguise for money hungry advertisement pushers. Only, it's not so well hidden (*cough* Dell).



The Walking Dead Social Game

To participate in The Walking Dead Social Game requires virtual energy. This energy is obtained by leveling up, waiting, or providing a credit card number. In order to level up you need energy to complete missions; to complete missions you need energy. A vicious cycle. The simplest solution to this problem would be money. However, I am not one to waste my precious dollars on a flash game and so I waited. And waited some more.

I waited approximately five minutes for one unit of energy. One unit of energy will move your character a short distance, allow for you to pick up one item, or strike a walker. Once you've gained enough energy (waited long enough) you are able to complete missions, gain XP, and level up. Leveling up provides a quantity of energy making it possible to play the game without throwing away your money.

Playing The Walking Dead Social Game requires no skill at all. You need to know how to use a mouse and have an average reaction time to a moving cursor. You start at a camp with many of the characters recognizable from the TV series. Said characters have missions for you including gathering supplies, killing zombies, and finding missing people. The maps of these missions are small and repetitive. Each mission cycles between about five different maps.



Social Gaming Headshot

Killing zombies should be fun. Not in the case of The Walking Dead Social Game. Your character approaches a walker and takes them down with a gun, axe, bat, or other weapon. This is done with one click of your mouse. A cursor moves back and forth over the walkers head and you click when the cursor is aligned with the walkers head. Pure adrenaline! As you progress further into the game you are given the option of playing the mission on normal or expert level. Expert level is a bit more difficult as the cursor moves more quickly but sadly no more exciting.



The one thing that I semi-enjoyed about The Walking Dead Social was the occasional opportunity to take down a Facebook friend-turned walker. This was about the only social experience I could gather from the game. Other social interactions involved inviting friends (I dared not burden mine), sharing supplies, and having a friend guard your camp from walkers.



Here's another video

However boring, pointless, and useless this game is to many I have to remember how gaming has been simplified for a larger audience. Like it or not social and mobile gaming are here to stay. This means Facebook games like The Walking Dead Social will continue to be produced for a clueless audience willing to throw away money. Maybe one day they'll catch on.





Megan Bethke, NoobFeed.

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