How Many Zombies Does It Take to Ruin Your Fun?

John Funk

U.N. Owen Was Him?
Dec 20, 2005
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How Many Zombies Does It Take to Ruin Your Fun?



More zombies aren't always better, according to Dead Rising 2's co-producer - and he knows just how many zombies it takes to spoil the broth.

Between you and me, gamers love to kill themselves some zombies. With some gamers, there's nothing like they like more than a carnage-filled orgy of zombie mayhem - and the more zombies the better, right?

Not necessarily. Speaking with Gamasutra [http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/29538/Qamp_A_Dead_Rising_2_And_Growing_Pains_For_Old_Corporate_Japan.php], the co-producer of Dead Rising 2 - the sequel to a game that was all about throwing thousands of zombies at you - said that sometimes, you just had too many zombies.

"Last year at Captivate we did a demo," said Capcom's Shin Ohara. "We had a strip - It was probably like 10 meters wide and 200 meters long. We filled it with about 7,000 zombies. After about 3,000, you can't really tell the difference because it fills up the screen anyway. Over 3,000, it ruins the experience. It's not a game anymore."

Ohara said that their technology certainly was capable of displaying 7,000 zombies all at once, but that it always ended up being too much for the player to enjoy.

"We didn't want to fill a room out of zombies where you had to wiggle your way out."

I don't know, Mr. Ohara. Think about how many kills we'd get with 7,000 zombies and the bike-mounted double-chainsaw-on-a-stick [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/91294-Dead-Rising-2-Trailer-Features-Chainsaw-on-a-Stick]! Can't you let us turn it on in the options?

(Gamasutra [http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/29538/Qamp_A_Dead_Rising_2_And_Growing_Pains_For_Old_Corporate_Japan.php])

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SomeBritishDude

New member
Nov 1, 2007
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He's right. Too many zombies ruins things. Be nice if the rest of the game industry understood this too and left them alone for awhile.

They'll be plenty of them when the apocalypse comes. Stop making so many games about them.
 

Arkhangelsk

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Mar 1, 2009
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If there are many zombies, throw in better weapons. I'd enjoy blasting one million zombies with a nuke.
 

hazabaza1

Want Skyrim. Want. Do want.
Nov 26, 2008
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I can see where he's getting at. Breaking free of a zombie's grasp just to be grabbed by another zombie is no fun.
Though I'd like to see a slider when you start a new game
"Zombie? What's that?---A few zombies--Wow, that's a few zombies---Too...many...zombies!---Ah, fuck."
 

Eric the Orange

Gone Gonzo
Apr 29, 2008
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I can see the options now,

*Lots of zombies
*A ton of zombies
*An ocean of zombies
*To many zombies to count
 

Mr Companion

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Jul 27, 2009
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I still hope there is at least one point in the game where you are faced with 7000 zombies, just for a laugh.
 

LawlessSquirrel

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Jun 9, 2010
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I can agree with him there. That underground section of Dead Rising is an example of too crowded, in my humble opinion, although the rest was fine. Good to know that they're putting more thought into it than 'more is better!'
 

Not-here-anymore

In brightest day...
Nov 18, 2009
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Eric the Orange said:
I can see the options now,

*Lots of zombies
*A ton of zombies
*An ocean of zombies
*To many zombies to count
*A metric crapton of zombies
*Probably the zombie apocalypse
*Oh fuck! They're eating my brains! How are there so many of them!

And, of course, the greatest number of zombies the console can support:
*I am Chicago Ted!
 

rokkolpo

New member
Aug 29, 2009
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The age old question....now i can finally rest in pea....SHIT ZOMBIES, OVER 9000 ZOMBIES!!!
 

Proteus214

Game Developer
Jul 31, 2009
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The way I see it, the number of zombies should correspond to the kind of weapons that you use to take them out. For example:

baseball bat- 3 max
handgun- 5 max
shotgun- 6 max
gatlin gun- 20 max
explosives- 20 max
lawn mower- BRING IT THE FUCK ON!
 

crudus

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Oct 20, 2008
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It isn't so much the amount of zombies that is the problem. It is the weapon choice. I don't want to take on 7000 zombies with a golf club (I barely want to take on 7 at that point). I would be more than willing to fight 7000 zombies if I had a BFG 9000.
 

acer840

(Insert Awesome Title)
Mar 24, 2008
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Select Your Difficulty:

Zombie Fighter [3000 Zombies]
Zombie Killer [5000 Zombies]
Zombie Apocalypse Survivor [7000 Zombies]

Unlockable
Suicide By Zombie [10,000 Zombies] (and you only get a baseball bat)
 

Nimzar

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Nov 30, 2009
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How many?

If I'm Tom: enough to chew through the doors of the mall

If I'm Bob (from the office down the hall): there can never be to many.
 

Erja_Perttu

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May 6, 2009
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See I came across this problem with House of the Dead 4, sure it was fun, but the zombies were too many too quickly, and it ended up ruining it. Now, House of the Dead 1 was where it was out. Bad voice acting, bad graphics, bad music, awesome fun!

On the flipside though, I think that a ton of zombies coming at you whilst you're behind a rail gun or a mini gun is a great idea. Bring on the 7000! ... if I have enough ammo...