After a highly popular TV series or film is released based on a book or comic series, game developers often go for the tie-in to the big, popular version of a story. Not so with Telltale and The Walking Dead. Although an original story, it is based on Robert Kirkman's comics and not AMC's TV series. It's a great move and they have created a game that feels and moves, in a way, just like a comic. With a story and characters worthy of great literature, this is easily the best game of 2012, in my opinion.
Story - 10, driven by Lee and Clementine, it's a story that The Last of Us would later use to great acclaim. However, this used it first, and much better. The story choices and the way they affect later proceedings is probably the best way I've seen morality used in games.
Gameplay - 8, simple point-and-click, and that's all it needs to be. Could use some more variety every now and then.
Visuals - 8, great use of cel-shaded graphics.
Music - 8, suits it well, but not particularly memorable.
Controls - 10, very simple, very easy. Perfect fit for the game.
Originality - 8, an original story despite being a tie-in to the franchise.
Characters - 10, Lee and Clementine are two of the best characters in gaming. A great cast of supporting characters as well.
Fun - 10, terrific fun. Most fun had all year.
Overall - 9.0