At this year’s Comic-Con there was no shortage of attendees dressed up as zombies, a large portion of which drew their inspiration from Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead. As zombie comic books go, The Walking Dead is the quintessential story of survival and has just recently entered public awareness with the television adaptation. TellTale Games has drawn from that same source material to create a video game that is just as much based on emotion as it is on the zombie genre.

Game Rant received a brief preview of the Walking Dead game, including a look at some of its concept art in order to better understand just what type of experience TellTale is going for. Read on for your first details on The Walking Dead.

Fans of the comic book series will be happy to know that TellTale’s game is based solely on the world of Robert Kirkman’s series and not on the TV show. TellTale wanted to draw on the emotional impact the comic books have on the reader — the feeling that the zombies aren’t the greatest immediate threat — to create one of their trademark gameplay experiences.

Yes, there will be zombies, and plenty of opportunities to dispatch them, but the story of main character Lee, a convict who was on his way to prison before unforseen circumstances put him on a different path, is also layered in human encounters — much like the comic book.

Now, with only thoughts of survival left, Lee is forced to try and make it in the world of The Walking Dead by any means necessary. Along the way Lee will encounter a wide variety of characters, some of whom fans will recognize from the comic book, and will also be forced to make some tough decisions. In true TellTale fashion, The Walking Dead will not be about high octane zombie killing (we get plenty of that year to year), but will force the player to struggle with the little things. As TellTale put it, the zombies in The Walking Dead are like the weather — yeah they can kill you, but they aren’t the most immediate threat.

Unfortunately, TellTale wasn’t able to showcase any of The Walking Dead’s gameplay, but they did have some concept art on hand to give a good sense of what they are going for. Essentially, The Walking Dead is meant to mimic the style of a hand drawn comic, imperfections and all. For example, the edges around objects like cars and buildings aren’t perfect, but they only appear as such when examined in great detail. The general idea of a motel or a suburban home is beautifully translated in the art, but they feel closer to panels ripped from a comic book rather than pre-rendered environments.

Character designs also make great use of that hand-drawn aesthetic with younger characters carrying a more polished look and adults being a little rougher around the edges. Zombies, on the other hand, are promised to be extremely rough, with jagged edges and stray corners making up their design. Unfortunately, TellTale didn’t have any zombie concept art on hand, but they did reveal that New York Comic-Con might deliver some new images.

Check out the concept art, courtesy of IGN below:

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As a TellTale game, The Walking Dead looks and sounds like a property that was tailor made for the developer. By focusing on emotional decisions rather than just killing zombies, TellTale is able to craft an experience that mimics the feeling of the comic book. Though the TV show represents much of the public’s first encounter with the property, TellTale’s The Walking Dead is the quintessential adaptation of the atmosphere created by the series.

By working closely with Robert Kirkman — getting his approval on everything from character names to storyline decisions — TellTale is keeping faithful to the comic book, but making the bold choice of creating their own tale. It’s not a retelling of the storyline, but a chance to delve into that universe once again.

What do you think of The Walking Dead’s concept art? Are there any fans of the comic book that want to chime in on TellTale’s adaptation of the series?

The Walking Dead currently has no release date, but is being developed for all major platforms including the iPad.