Poll: Fast Zombies or Slow Zombies?

[hailene]

Slow zombies are a major bust. Even a novice can shoot a slow moving zombie from 5 feet away in the head. Or use a crow bar to smash their head in while easily avoiding their slow hands. Unless people seriously screw up (like running into a corner or falling into a pit of them), there's no real way to get eaten.

Now fast zombies will tear you apart. Guns are hard to use since they're coming so fast. Melee is a deathtrap. Lose-lose situation. Sneaking around a horde that can, at the slightest noise, spring into action and tear you apart before you can take your gun out and shoot yourself in the head to end the pain. THAT is suspense.

Even scarier are the L4D ones that can climb anything and bowl through walls.

Oh, the thing about zombies being so fast or strong...I'm not sure if this is just internet lore and patently false, but apparently we humans don't use our full strength and if we do, it's not for long. Pain is a good way to prevent us from over-straining ourselves. We use this strength in the direst of situations (like a 120 pound lifting a car to save her child). Zombies don't have these restrictions. They're willing to literally run themselves to pieces to catch their prey:tearing ligaments and muscles all along the way.

 

[TheNumber1Zero]

Slow Zombies can actually give you a different level of terror in some ways.
When you are being slowly surrounded you end up getting a combination of fear and suspense, making a truly unique fear rather than just getting chased after and killed, because then it's over in an instant.

Fast zombies are only able to keep you scared if you can run, and I mean really run.
When you can outrun (Or at least stay ahead of) fast zombies, you get the fear of being chased, being hunted. If you can't run fast enough however, they catch you too quickly.

It all depends on your preferred taste, wathcing them get slowly closer with no hope of escaping (due to the fact they have probaly surrounded you), Or the Adreneline fueled rush of fear from being chased by Marathon running zombies.

 

[rackham234]

I have no opinion because while fast zombies terrify me, I don't much like being terrified. And slow zombies are non-threatening, but very boring. So I am indecisive. Bite me.

 

[Joshimodo]

I think the lumbering horde idea is more psychologically frightening, but as for an actual threat, faster zombies are obviously more dangerous. Personally, I'd like to see more films/games/what have you with a mix between the two.

28 Days Later had some of the most frightening zombie scenes to date, purely because they were fast, agile, and NOT rotting corpses. However, they don't represent the greater, more daunting horde of slow, unstoppable fields of undead.

If combined in a reasonable scenario (perhaps slow, lumbering during the day, active and fast at night, or vice-versa), I think it would make for a more "real" zombie/infected story.

Or perhaps, when fed, the zombies move slower and more akin to the classic shufflers, but when beginning to starve, they up the ante and get their running shoes on.

 

[Delicious Anathema]

Slow.

The beauty and irony of the zombies was that even being slow moving and completely obtuse, they could still be such a real and dangerous meneace when in large numbers to intelligent people with weaponry who are prone to panic or underestimate the power of a horde.

The same applies to the xenomorphs in the Alien series. They are highly dangerous and lethal, yet possess no long range weapons.

It's all a metaphor for the Vietnam irony.

 

[Windexglow]

Poll surprised me - I didn't think so many people still had the patience for the slow walkers

I'd also have to say Slow zombies. I prefer dread over anxiety.

 

[Sick boy]

If I were in a zombie apocalypse - slow zombies for obvious reasons
In a video game IE L4D - Fast zombies becuase they're more fun to play with.
If Zombies were real - I personally believe that they'd all be fast because they still have the same capabilities as the human body but the difference is the lack of pain giving them the ability to run and run and run, so they could out run most humans.

 

[Danish_4116]

Technically MOST of the fast zombies aren't zombies (See link for definition of 'Zombie': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcAOtMClHCo) they are USUALLY infected humans who feel the urge to bring you bodily harm such as the infected in 28 Days later and Left 4 Dead. /nerd


So I vote, slow shambling zombies.

 

[Jsnoopy]

I like fast zombies, at least in the movies, as they seem to be more logical if a zombie virus did break out. It seems stupid to be afraid of the slow zombies as all you would need to do is have a weapon and food or transportation and get somewhere isolated for a while like a farm.

That being said, I found Dead Rising to be a MUCH more fun game than L4D. Nothing like running through the whole game in a teddy bear mask while smashing zombies faces in with a sledgehammer.

 

[traceur_]

Fast zombies make more sense, like the Hunter. If zombies ever did exist in some form, they wouldn't be dead, it'd be a virus or something that's drastically changed human behaviour like the Blacklight virus.

By nature, zombies are aggressive and relentless so this virus would have enabled them to ignore pain and run tirelessly.

Besides, slow = boring.

 

[Xrysthos]

Slow zombies are the way to go. I haven't got any stamina worth speaking of, so zombies that can't run would be beneficial. They're easier to shoot from a distance too. *polishes hunting rifle*

 

[bodyklok]

I'd rather deal with a few fast zombies than a horde of slow zombies, but a horde of fast zombies is just fucking impossible.

At lest with fast zombies you can trip them into spikes and shit like that. But even so.

 

[General_Potatoes]

fast zombies are a good challenge but slow zombies means you have a better chance of hitting them

 

[hippykiller]

slow at first than work your way up to fast, and don't forget zombie killin' rule #1: SAVE THE LAST BULLET FOR YE SELF.

 

[Frog_Girl]

Slow zombies "night of the living dead" style. It took those guys like half the night to get even close to the house and even longer before they bothered with the front door. However the coolest zombies by far were the ones out of 28 days later, not only were they stupid fast but they would also vomit blood on your ass and then you were totally screwed. They didn't even have to bite you.

 

[cthulhu257]

Fast zombies, so long as they can be killed with shots to the chest. Otherwise you're just screwed.

 

[bcponpcp27]

Honestly, with slow zombies, it'll end up like the 2nd and 3rd resident evil movies. The zombies aren't nearly as great of a threat as the other dangers out there...except in real life, a zombie outbreak wouldn't be accompiened by nemesis.

 

[anthony87]

Slow zombies are......slow(DUHHHHH)but i dare anybody to not crap themselves if you see about 50 of them walking towards you.

Besides the very first zombie movie i ever saw was the original Night of the Living Dead so the slow zombies are kinda hardwired into my brain as the default ones