Poll: Oh no, the apocalypse...

[lifesucksadapt]

I have a bone to pick with all game designers everywhere, specifically ones that have been overusing this genre so much. Are they all so uncreative and devoid of original thought that for a game all that comes to mind is "end o' world", I just recently saw the ad for Fallen Earth and I have to say that it looks very generic and bland and similar to the last 10 games that have had something to do with post-apocalypse. Maybe all this scare about the end of the world happening in 2012 has got game designers nervous and upset, im not sure but I hope they get there asses in gear by 2012 because I dont think i'll want to play left 4 dead 17 the empire strikes back AFTER the end of the world, if im still alive and I still have electricity.

 

[GL2814E]

Blame Cold War era fear of what the world would be like after a nuclear apocalypse. Most films that came out from then pretty much defined what game developers would perceive of as how a post-apocalypse would look like.

Maybe YOU should be the one to reinvent the world's idea of what the world would look like after an apocalypse.

 

[Radeonx]

If you don't like the idea, then don't pay attention to the games. It isn't that tough to find non apocalypse games, and move on with your life. I understand how it can get repetitive, but honestly, it isn't that hard to ignore things like this.

 

[manythings]

End of the world means they get to re-write the rules and make shit up, current world gets dated very fast. If the world has ended no-one can see if details match up and if the world does end no internet to troll about how wrong their apocalyptic visions turned out.

 

[DannibalG36]

The apocalypse will always be a popular genre for video game design, simply because an end-of-the-world event creates a "blank slate" for any crazy story or mechanics that game developers want to implement.

 

[Vrex360]

It's hard to really judge what an apocalypse would look like considering we haven't had one yet, so a post apocalypse should by all means be entirely up to the imagination of the designer.
Thing is, in games like Fallout we know that the world was ended by a Nuclear war, hence everything is ruins. However perhaps there were also alien invasions or infestations of zombies... there could be any number of ways the world can end.

It's a popular theme in games because it allows the player to be in this world that they can freely roam around and destroy in a warzone and not have to worry about extra property damage. Besides the downfall of society is just kind of appealing, we all want to imagine what it's like to be in a warzone, fighting off predatory animals and fighting over resources.... however we know that there are actual places like this in the world so perhaps it's more interesting when all this war is happening in a residentual city that we al recognise.

 

[PopeJewish]

I have a bone to pick with all game designers everywhere, specifically ones that have been overusing this genre so much. Are they all so uncreative and devoid of original thought that for a game all that comes to mind is "end o' world", I just recently saw the ad for Fallen Earth and I have to say that it looks very generic and bland and similar to the last 10 games that have had something to do with post-apocalypse. Maybe all this scare about the end of the world happening in 2012 has got game designers nervous and upset, im not sure but I hope they get there asses in gear by 2012 because I dont think i'll want to play left 4 dead 17 the empire strikes back AFTER the end of the world, if im still alive and I still have electricity.

you don't honestly think the world is going to end in 2012, do you? All that crap is completely made up to sell useless schlock to paranoid idiots. The Mayan calender doesn't even end in 2012, it's simply the end of a major calender cycle (which happens like once every 400 years). Sorry, I'm a history nerd and this sorta crap just pisses me off.

But yea, seriously, enough of the apocalypse stuff. Get back to cool game settings like Cyberpunk (and none of this steam punk crap, I mean real cyber punk!)

 

[Icehearted]

The apocalypse will always be a popular genre for video game design, simply because an end-of-the-world event creates a "blank slate" for any crazy story or mechanics that game developers want to implement.

As a writer, I can affirm that this is absolutely true. Not only is the theme an intriguing one, but it permits a lot of rule shifting in aspects of lifestyle, civilization, culture, even environmental situations. The only other thing that can work even better than this are alternate worlds, such as a planet that would be practically earth, but isn't. An alternate reality is another favored mechanic for this purpose, though I've never really cared for that scenario myself.

@Vrex360
I used to wonder about that myself, then I saw what happened during the two powerful hurricanes that hit southern America a few years ago, and I think that about sums it up. The people were desperate, lawless, and dying. Police became criminals, little children were left to fend for themselves alongside curbs, some still curled against a dead parent or grandparent's body for comfort, and the government largely ignored the issue. I honestly think that's what an apocalypse would be like; a lot of people turned into animals in their final days of floundering for dear life against insurmountable odds.

 

[sethisjimmy]

Post-apocalypse is an incredibly fascinating scenario to me, to the point where I will absorb any media related to it, be it books, movies, or video games. I just like to see different people's "take" on what the apocalypse would be like after the fact. For me, I just can't have too much of a good thing.

 

[Tsunimo]

Post apocolyptic games can be fun, the thing is that they all do the same thing... how about instead of a soon after shit-hit-the-fan game why cant we have it take place many many years after when nature has regained its dominince over the world.instead of zombies and mutants lets have super-intelligent others that evolved from monkeys and are slowly uncovering our technology or something...

 

[Vampire cat]

There really arn't that many GOOD apocalypse games. Personally I love the few that are, my top two being Fallen Earth and Fallout 3. Because they do it WELL.

There are plenty of alternatives, it's not like the enitre game industry is dedicating all their resources to make as many apocalypse games as possible!

Personally tho, I would like to see an apocalypse game without all the creatures, just the remnants of human kind fighting eachother for survival. Thats how I imagine it would be.

 

[More Fun To Compute]

There are just too many games. Too many WW2 shooting games. Too many present day warfare games. Too many post apoc shooting games. Too many science fiction shooting games. Too many ultraviolent horror games. Too many [insert any fictional premise where a man may use a gun a lot] games.

If they want to carry on over saturating a genre then post apoc is as good as any and at least there is some scope for getting it more right than other games.

 

[GrinningManiac]

It's not that apocalypses are boring (DAMN they could be so awesome)

It's just that developers are boring with what they do with the premise. They all seem to think that in the event of a nuclear/biblical/natural/scientific/other apocalypse, all the colour in the world will go away, and only short-haired men in trenchcoats with a mild case of tourettes will be left, and half of them will wear WW2-era gasmasks, because they're apparantly cool (despite the fact that prolonged use of such a model of gasmask was deadly)

 

[HunterMonkeyy]

instead of there being so many different genre games split off all have different and unique parts to it.
post apocalyptic games are 9/10 times the same, in most case's yea they are relatively different,
but instead of trying to get a huge variation of genres with a huge variety of features,
just once i'd like to see a game pull off putting so many good ideas and features from other games and trying out not just one style of game play, who knows could lead to something everyone likes, or hates.