As someone who has spent a lot of time with these games over the years (original, remastered & recent remake), I always wondered why they would even bother making this into a TV series. And after watching the first episode, unfortunately it turned out exactly as expected.

The story (so far!) plays out like a Wikipedia synopsis of the first few hours of the game; without the interactivity of the game, it's just a boring, predictable zombie flick. Everything in it is just 'fine'. They've cut out a lot of the original content (which is fair enough, as this would feel like filler once dramatised I think) such as the first couple of missions, but aside from that, scene by scene it mirrors the game. Even the introduction is pretty much EXACTLY the same as the game, minus any of the impact, grit or emotion that anyone who has played the game will have experienced.

Personally I don't really understand the casting; Joel is a pretty generic character anyway (Dylan McDermott would at least have looked like him) but the girl who plays Ellie misses the mark entirely, and the girl that plays Tess is similarly dull and unimaginative.

Overall, the whole thing just seems a bit meh! I was hoping they might have at least expanded on some plot points with all the lore (not to mention the DLC backstory) and appreciate it's only the first episode. But if it carries on just mirroring everything that happens in the game, then the whole thing just seems like a huge waste of money!