As Telltale’s The Walking Dead approaches its ten-year anniversary, developers reveal that the groundbreaking series was supposed to be set in the world of Left 4 Dead. In those ten years, Telltale’s The Walking Dead has wowed audiences with its impactfully emotional story of survival, hope, despair, and family. It was both a record-breaking critical and commercial success, bringing Telltale to the attention of millions.
The Walking Dead and Left 4 Dead have their similarities as they are both set in a zombie apocalypse, where a disease that turns people into zombies is everywhere and the few that remain must do what it takes to survive. The Walking Dead focuses more on how a dying world impacts survivors and the decisions they have to make, with arguably higher risks as a single bite from a zombie could spell the end. On the other hand, Left 4 Dead is a shooter with characters that can keep taking hits, the narrative takes a back seat in favor of cooperative gameplay. While the Telltale game seems like a perfect fit for The Walking Dead franchise, that wasn’t its original purpose.
Despite their opposites, it’s no surprise that Left 4 Dead was originally considered to be the subject of Telltale’s game, instead of The Walking Dead. Direction lead Jake Rodkin stated in an interview with IGN that the game was originally envisioned as being a spin-off of the Left 4 Dead games, who passed on the idea before The Walking Dead‘s Robert Kirkman integrated it with his franchise. Rodkin did acknowledge that what ultimately became Telltale’s game was better suited to The Walking Dead than Left 4 Dead.
Even with all of that in mind, fans may wonder how Left 4 Dead would have worked with a stronger emphasis on narrative. Perhaps Telltale could have created a story similar to The Walking Dead Michonne, giving a glimpse into the lives of Left 4 Dead’s survivor characters before the zombies came and how their mental state has been affected since. Fans may be especially curious about what could have been since Left 4 Dead 2 ends on an uncertain cliffhanger. The survivors, Ellis, Nick, Coach, and Rochelle, are taken away via helicopter after escaping a crumbling bridge in New Orleans. However, after finding the bodies of survivors just like them shot dead along their journey, whether that helicopter was really taking them to safety or to their execution is uncertain. Perhaps a Telltale game could have provided some answers on their fates.
While Robert Kirkman and no doubt leagues of fans are happy that Telltale went with The Walking Dead, fans may still debate what story would have been told if they had stayed with Left 4 Dead. Whether they expanded on the stories already in the Left 4 Dead or created new characters and plots entirely, the competence of the creators behind Telltale’s The Walking Dead might leave fans optimistic that it could have been an interesting tale. While we will never know, the fact that Telltale’s The Walking Dead is still remembered so fondly after ten years may be a sign that Telltale made the right decision.
Source: IGN
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Author: Devin Connelly
