14 DAY TRIAL // Robert Kirkman, the creator of the Walking Dead franchise, says that he is hopeful about the upcoming first-person shooter adaptation created by Activision, despite the fact that he has doubts that the genre is well suited for the zombie powered series.
Speaking to GameInformer, the comic book creator says, “I know there is a quote out there where I said, ‘It would be dumb to do a first person Walking Dead game because there are so many that it wouldn’t be something that would be competitive in the marketplace, and you’d always be compared to Left 4 Dead so why bother.’ I don’t think AMC read that quote.”
The coming first-person shooter will be built around the Dixon brothers, which gives the development team the freedom to create a new storyline and new mechanics.
Kirkman adds, “These two characters don’t exist in the comic, so the ability to play as those characters and learn more about those characters, who are very popular in the show, could actually push this game over the top and make it a worthwhile experience. That’s what I’m hoping on.”
The fact that publisher Activision licensed the right for their Walking Dead shooter from television channel AMC rather than from Kirkman also means that the title can only use those areas and characters that have been shown in the TV series.
The comic book creator says that he knows details about the game created by Terminal Reality, but he has no actual control over it.
The situation is different for The Walking Dead adventure game, which is created by Telltale Games.
Because it is based directly on the comic, Kirkman is able to make sure that it respects the core story elements of his own universe.
The Walking Dead shooter has the subtitle Survival Instinct and it will be launched on the PC, the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 in 2013.