Ares Interactive has added Hershel Greene to its mobile game The Walking Dead: Aftermath as part of a fresh update for the season-one crew. The latest release also includes a battle pass, timed for September.
The game has a long history, and some players have been with it since the beginning. They have watched it grow and change, and now they wait to see what comes next.
The Setting
The Walking Dead: Aftermath is a mobile game from Ares Interactive, and it is built around the story of Rick Grimes waking from a coma to find the world changed. Cities abandoned. Families torn apart. The living forced to become something new just to survive. The game is set in the world of AMC’s The Walking Dead universe, and it begins its journey on the outskirts of Atlanta, where a fragile camp struggles to endure against the constant threat of the walkers.
Players step into the familiar world of the original series, beginning their adventure in a game shaped by beloved characters and stories. What begins as a fight for survival soon becomes a test of leadership and who a player is willing to become.
The September Battle Pass
Hershel Greene, the father of Maggie and Beth, is the newest addition to Aftermath. He comes from an earlier part of the series and is tied to the September Battle Pass, meaning players must climb through its tiered rewards system to unlock him.
As a farmer, Hershel increases your farm’s food production, and that background was recently referenced in a “what if” episode of The Walking Dead: Dead City, underscoring how the developers are keeping track of the wider Walking Dead universe.
This month, Negan arrived in the game, following a Daryl giveaway and a T-Dog bonus launch reward. The classic characters are now showing up one after another, and that points to the developers keeping their season-one spotlight for some time.
What Has Already Arrived
Since it first began, The Walking Dead: Aftermath has been slowly assembling its cast. It has brought back several fan-favorite characters from the show’s early days, and the latest update keeps up that pattern.
The group has kept October’s plans under wraps, beyond a hint toward Maggie. With Season 1-2 dominating the attention so far, it will likely proceed at a slow pace through the show’s most recognizable characters, leaving out exceptions like Negan, who appeared later, to match promotions for current shows like Dead City.
The game now features a safeguard for purchases as part of the latest update, with a permanent option added to Settings that lets you disable gem-purchase confirmation prompts. Players can keep confirmations enabled for the extra protection, while those aiming for quicker purchases can opt to turn them off.
The Season-One Focus
So far, The Walking Dead: Aftermath has centered its story mostly on the show’s first two seasons. The game has brought back the earliest characters more often than any others, and the developers have been selective about which ones they return to the screen first.
The game has not returned every character from the show’s long history. Some, including Negan, have shown up later than others, partly due to promotions for currently airing shows like Dead City. This suggests the developers are planning to keep the season-one focus for a while.
The September Battle Pass represents the latest example of this strategy, even though Negan’s arrival this month stems from a bigger push toward the classic cast.
The Cost of Progression
The game includes a microtransaction system, and it has made no attempt to hide that fact.
There is plenty to enjoy about The Walking Dead: Aftermath, so long as you can handle the pressure of the microtransactions. Those transactions crop up at the very moment the game starts playing at its best, and they seriously hurt how far you can get in the game. For some players, that alone is enough to make them stop playing entirely.
The update’s safeguard marks a move in the right direction for players who do not wish to confirm every purchase. Disabling the gem-purchase confirmation prompts is a permanent setting, so players who want to skip the requests can do so without having to keep toggling a switch.
The Wider Universe
The realm of The Walking Dead extends beyond the show’s own episodes. The source points to a variety of other TV series and video games that take place within the same setting.
- The Walking Dead
- Fear the Walking Dead
- The Walking Dead: World Beyond
- Tales of the Walking Dead
- The Walking Dead: Dead City
- The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon
- The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live
- More Tales from the Walking Dead Universe
This list of games is made up of The Walking Dead The Game, The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct, OVERKILL’S The Walking Dead, The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners, and The Walking Dead: Destinies.
Most of the major Walking Dead properties are covered by that list, from the original show through the newer spinoffs. The game itself is part of that same universe, and it draws on characters from across all of them.
The Classic Cast Arrivals
A number of characters from The Walking Dead’s early days have been brought back into The Walking Dead: Aftermath. The game has not announced its next move, but the pattern so far suggests the team is keeping the focus on the show’s classic cast.
Here is how the classic characters have arrived so far:
- Negan — arrived earlier this month, with a Daryl giveaway preceding it
- T-Dog — part of the bonus launch reward for Negan’s arrival
- Hershel Greene — now part of the September Battle Pass
Not every character from the show’s first two seasons appears here, yet a great deal of ground has been covered. The developers have been selective about which ones they bring back first, and the battle pass system means players have to work for their rewards.
The Bottom Line
Another season-one cast member is returning, and The Walking Dead: Aftermath is still rolling out updates to bring them back. The mobile game continues to deliver on its promise of handing out classic Walking Dead characters as rewards, with a setting to turn off gem-purchase confirmations included.
While the microtransactions continue to trouble the game, the developers have now provided players with a means to avoid the prompts entirely, which counts as a step toward solving the issue.
The game is packed with new content, and the September Battle Pass serves as the latest instance of it, featuring Hershel Greene, a familiar face from the show’s early days.
No announcement has been made regarding what comes next, but the track record points to the team likely keeping the spotlight on the classic characters for now.
Source material: “The Walking Dead: Aftermath Officially Brings Back Multiple Fan-Favorite Characters,” Screen Rant.
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