The series, like the comic, starts with a pandemic that turns the dead into zombie-like "walkers" that decimates civilization, and takes place along the United States eastern seaboard.
During the final season, some years later, Clementine and AJ join other teenagers holding out at their boarding school to protect it from bandits and walkers.
The game's events run concurrently to the comic, starting at the onset of a zombie apocalypse, where dead humans have become undead "walkers" that feed on the living which quickly overwhelmed most of the population.
The game series initially starts in Georgia, with the whole of the first season and the events of 400 Days content taking place within the state.
Failure to do so in time can lead to the character's death or other undesirable ending, and the game will restart just prior to these scenes.
They join with other survivors in Macon, Georgia to protect themselves from the undead, taking shelter in a defensible motel.
A 3-D virtual pinball adaptation of the first season, developed jointly by Telltale Games and Zen Studios, was released on August 27, 2014, as downloadable content for most of Zen Studios' family of pinball games and also as a standalone paid mobile app.
She meets up with another group that are attempting to flee a man named Carver, who runs the human survivor camp at a strip mall, as alluded to in 400 Days.
Clementine learns Carver seeks to capture Rebecca believing her to be carrying his child while she insists it is her husband Alvin's.
They come into another group, discovering that Kenny, one of the survivors that Clementine traveled with from the first season and who had lost his wife and son to walkers, has managed to survive.
In an interview with IGN, Kirkman stated that the third season would bring the video game closer to the comic book's time frame.
[30] Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment published retail versions of Season 3 as part of a deal with Telltale for Batman that was released in August 2016.
With this direction, Telltale decided to make this the final season for The Walking Dead series so that they can create a satisfactory conclusion to Clementine's story arc.
[40] For this purpose, Telltale brought back Gary Whitta, the writer for the first season and "400 Days" content, to help close out Clementine's story.
[42] Despite the title The Final Season, Telltale did not rule out future The Walking Dead games; Creative Director Kent Mudle said that The Final Season title represented the end of Clementine's journey from Telltale's view, but could revisit the franchise through other characters.
[44] However, due to the sudden near-closure of Telltale Games on September 21, 2018, only two of the four episodes were released and production on the latter two were cancelled, effectively leaving the season half-finished.
Skybound Entertainment later stepped in to develop the rest of the season, re-hiring some ex-Telltale staff in the process, as Kirkman had felt it necessary to properly complete Clementine's story.
[45] Each of the previous episodes in the series was remastered to use the new rendering system that was introduced in The Final Season, and adds over ten hours of developers and voice actor commentary.
[46][47] In addition to the Definitive Series edition, Skybound has also published all four seasons (including the 400 Days content) for the Nintendo Switch by January 21, 2020, and republished all four seasons, 400 Days and Michonne on personal computer digital storefronts in January 2020, after they had been pulled from sale from Telltale Games' closure.
Season One is based around Lee Everett (voiced by Dave Fennoy), a Georgia college professor who had been charged with murder, and was in the midst of being sent to prison at the start of the walker outbreak.
Lee escapes and encounters young Clementine (voiced by Melissa Hutchison), hiding in her treehouse after her babysitter had turned and her parents not yet back from vacation.
Other major characters include Kenny, a fisherman who has suffered numerous losses of family and loved ones and has become emotionally unstable, Luke, a former entrepreneur who carries himself logically than emotionally, Jane, a young lone-wolf woman that teaches Clementine the values of self-preservation that a person's life comes first than anybody else, Carver, a principle antagonist of Season Two that seeks out the group of survivors that Clementine has joined believing one carries his child, and A.J., the newborn infant that Carver seeks who Clementine takes care of after his mother succumbs to the elements.
The fate of several characters are determinant based on the actions that the player has taken in previous episodes, or otherwise unresolved within the narrative of the games.
IGN's Greg Miller gave the game a 9 out of 10, saying "It's a disturbing, depressing and entertaining entry in a journey that's been nothing short of excellent so far.
"[69] MTV also gave it a positive review, saying "Telltale has created a series of wrenching, emotional decisions in the middle of a collection of not-too-hard puzzles in a visually-impressive adaptation of the Robert Kirkman comic series (with some nods to the TV show).
The Walking Dead: Season Two overall received generally positive reviews from critics earning praise for its atmosphere, tension, and Clementine's newly appointed role as the protagonist, but earned criticism for its lack of hub areas and certain aspects of its storytelling.
"[121] The Walking Dead: Michonne received mixed reviews from critics earning praise for its action sequences, atmosphere, and the character development of Michonne, but earned criticism for its story, side characters, short episode lengths, and graphical glitches.
The Walking Dead: The Final Season received generally positive reviews earning praise for its characterization, visuals, and upgraded gameplay mechanics, and is considered by both critics and fans to be an improvement over its predecessor and a return to form for the series.