"Russell's Story" is the third chronological story of The Walking Dead: 400 Days. The story takes place 184 days into the apocalypse. It follows Russell's journey with a dangerous man named Nate.
Plot Synopsis[]
When he is walking down a road, a truck is seen coming towards him. Russell has the option to either jump into the grass area off the road or stand his ground. Hiding will place him right next to Carley/Doug's rotting corpse. Either way, Nate will see Russell and ask him to join him.
After getting in the truck and some dialogue, Nate offers Russell a drink, which the player can refuse or accept. Later, Russell refuses to answer the man's questions about a woman in his former group, after which Nate allows a female walker to nearly bite him until Russell gives a rating of the attractiveness she might've had before becoming a zombie. Amused by Russell's frantic answer, Nate pulls out his pistol to shoot the walker, but realizes he forgot to reload the gun. He speeds off in the truck to get away from the walker and tells Russell to load his gun.
Their next stop is the truck stop where Nate suggests they grab supplies, right before Russell can reply he gets interrupted by bullets shooting the car. Russell gets out of the truck and ducks down to a gas pump as Nate yells that he'll "cover him" and make a run back for the truck. As Russell's running to the pickup, he'll notice that Nate isn't shooting. Nate tells Russell to peak his head over the bed of the truck to see where the sniper is shooting from. After discovering the location of the sniper, Nate will suggest moving to the red car across the station. Russell will now have the choice to go first or cover Nate. After Russell and Nate get to the second car Russell will have to run to the semi with Nate covering him. As he is running, Russell trips and falls, but then Nate comes to the rescue picking up Russell and saving his life.
When you get to the back you may see a walker that is the guard (Bennett) that was bitten from Vince's story and Russell has the choice to kill it or walk away. Walking away will allow the walker to show up in Bonnie's story when she rolls down the hill.
When inside the café Russell will have the choice to sneak up on the shooter or run up on him. Either way he finds out that the shooter is just an old man trying to protect his injured wife. The man thought that Nate was the man who hurt his wife and that he brought his friend to finish the job and take all of his food. Nate then brings up that he should just kill them and take their food for shooting at them for "no reason". Russell then has the choice to stay with Nate or walk away. Either way Nate will shoot the couple, thus revealing where the bloodstain from Shel's story in the café originated from.
In-Game Decision(s)[]
- For the complete in-game stats, see Telltale Series Statistics.
Did you leave Nate or stay with him?
- Left Nate - 75%
- Stayed with Nate - 25%
Credits[]
- Russell
- Nate
- Walt
- Jean
- Bennett (Zombified, Determinant)
- Danny (Zombified, Determinant)
- Justin (Zombified, Determinant)
- Carley (Corpse, Determinant)
- Doug (Corpse, Determinant)
Deaths[]
Impacts[]
This list shows the narrative consequences effected by choices from previous episodes of Season One.
- Depending on the player's choice in Season One of saving Doug or Carley, the saved one will appear as a rotten corpse full of maggots in the road in this story.
Trivia[]
- First appearance of Russell.
- Only appearance of Jean. (Alive)
- Only appearance of Walt. (Alive, Determinant)
- Last appearance of Nate. (Chronologically)
- Last appearance of Justin. (Zombified, Determinant)
- Last appearance of Danny. (Zombified, Determinant)
- Last appearance of Carley. (Corpse, Determinant)
- Last appearance of Doug. (Corpse, Determinant)
- Last appearance of Bennett. (Zombified, Determinant)
- If the dates found written on the tapes in Crawford during "Around Every Corner" are to be believed, Russell's Story takes place on Monday, January 19th 2004.
- Russell's story begins with him walking along the same road from "Long Road Ahead".
- Russell can find either Carley or Doug's corpses if he chooses to hide.
- Depending on the player's choice in Season One of saving Doug or Carley, the saved one will appear as a rotten corpse full of maggots in the road.
- Of all the five stories of "400 Days", Russell is the only playable character alone when introduced.
- If you refuse Nate's offer, he will drive off and a group of zombies will appear, among them the zombified Danny or Justin depending on whose foot you shot off, only if you played Russell's story after Vince's. If you don't, a miscellaneous walker will take their place.
- The song that plays from the radio in Nate's truck when stopping next to the female walker is called "Walk Among the Cobras" by Dan Sartain.
- The lyrics of the piece have a lot of significance to Russell's encounter with Nate. The most common interpretation of the song's meaning is that it refers to facing the harsh realities of adulthood, learning to live with them and then surviving on your own in life. "The cobras" are a metaphor for the aspects of life which can bring disappointment and pain, such as: love, making a living and death. Nate introduces many of "the cobras" to Russell, alongside his belief in now being able to do and take what you want to avoid them.
- The story's final choice forces Russell to either stand up to Nate and "walk among the cobras" alone like the song, or agree to Nate's violent lifestyle and avoid "walking among the cobras" by becoming the very reason for other's pain himself.
- The lyrics of the piece have a lot of significance to Russell's encounter with Nate. The most common interpretation of the song's meaning is that it refers to facing the harsh realities of adulthood, learning to live with them and then surviving on your own in life. "The cobras" are a metaphor for the aspects of life which can bring disappointment and pain, such as: love, making a living and death. Nate introduces many of "the cobras" to Russell, alongside his belief in now being able to do and take what you want to avoid them.
- If you shot out one of the headlights on Nate's truck in Wyatt's story, it will be out when you meet Nate.
- During the episode, Nate asks Russell to look over the counter at Walt. This is optional for the player but the game will carry on as normal if you choose not to.
- If you choose to cover Nate first, you can fire off a total of 11 shots before he reaches the car.
- Russell's story is the one with the most non-canon deaths, with a total of 7.
- This is also the only story of "400 Days" with non-canon deaths regarding a non-playable character.
- Russell's Story is one of two chapters of the Telltale Series to contain more than one achievement/trophy. The other is "Wyatt's Story".
Goofs/Errors[]
- In "Long Road Ahead", after when either Carley or Doug get shot by Lilly, both face different directions. Curiously, both Doug and Carley's corpses have noticeably been moved, now both facing in the direction where the RV came from. Also, the walker parted in two by Kenny and an abandoned car in the background, are no longer present.
Glitches[]
- If the player looks up for too long while checking to see where Walt is shooting from, Russell will duck back down at Nate's command, but then Russell will be shot and killed by Walt, resulting in a game over. The game saves just before he's killed, meaning the player is stuck and has to rewind back to the beginning of Russell's story.
- When Russell looks up to see where the shooter is, sometimes the screen will still turn red even if Russell ducks behind Nate's pickup truck, resulting in Russell being shot and killed, resulting in a game over. This rarely happens and will most likely not happen again in a second attempt.
Transcript[]
- Main article: Russell's Story/Transcript
Achievements/Trophies[]
- For all obtainable achievements and trophies, see Achievements.
Episodes of The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series
| |
---|---|
Season One | "A New Day" • "Starved For Help" • "Long Road Ahead" • "Around Every Corner" • "No Time Left" |
"400 Days" | "Vince's Story" • "Wyatt's Story" • "Russell's Story" • "Bonnie's Story" • "Shel's Story" • "Epilogue" |
Season Two | "All That Remains" • "A House Divided" • "In Harm's Way" • "Amid The Ruins" • "No Going Back" |
Michonne Series | "In Too Deep" • "Give No Shelter" • "What We Deserve" |
A New Frontier | "Ties That Bind - Part 1" • "Ties That Bind - Part 2" • "Above The Law" • "Thicker Than Water" • "From The Gallows" |
The Final Season | "Done Running" • "Suffer The Children" • "Broken Toys" • "Take Us Back" |