Zombie Games: Done or Just Getting Started?

[Drummodino]

Honestly I'm pretty sick of zombie games. That being said, I keep buying the damn things and some of them are bloody good. I'm really looking forward to Season 2 of The Walking Dead (Season 1 was excellent), The Last of Us was one of my favorite games of the year and State of Decay is a lot of fun.

I don't think zombie games are going anywhere for a while yet. Just look at DayZ, it's only in Alpha with the developer explicitly saying that it's not really ready to be played. Yet it is the most popular purchase on Steam during a sale period (and it's not discounted at all).

 

[astrogamic]

In all honesty, I don't think games like Left 4 Dead or Day Z should be compared to the Walking Dead game. Hell, L4D shouldn't even be compared to Day Z. All are trying to do completely different things. L4D is a fast-paced action game, Day Z is about survival, and TWD is character driven. So, what kind of depth are you talking about exactly? I'd argue that in terms of gameplay, TWD is the one that's lacking depth.

I'm with bluepotatosack in that its very hard to compare games like DayZ with other zombie games. Sure they all have zombies but each one is trying to achieve something very different in terms of gameplay. We've seen some really strong zombie themed games these past few years and they are all great in their own right by trying to compare them is the old apples and oranges argument.

When I speak of depth, I mean that added emotional aspect that many survival games lack. It doesn't necessarily make them better, but that was what I meant to refer to. I should've been more specific. And that's not to say that the other mentioned titles aren't deep, they just are in a different way that's more instinctual.

In comparing the games, I did so intentionally to show the diversity of the genre as a means to counteract the opinionated posters who claim there is a high level of redundancy throughout the zombie landscape, though I don't really have a stance on this topic.

 

[Dale Ware]

I'm going to throw it out there, its just a phase... We go thru them all the time, look how many WW2 shooters we had around the same time. It works for most things, eventually they will fall out of fashion again...

 

[Cid Silverwing]

Extremely fucking overdone. Can we go back to shooting Nazis, please?

 

[Fireaxe]

Zombie is just a setting, if there are too many games in that setting though some people won't buy them as they will be bored of it.

But they could well continue to exist, much as new WW2 games exist today -- much less than historically.

 

[waj9876]

I won't be truly done with zombie games until I at the very least play a game where you go through the game as a zombie, slowly gaining your own mind, recruiting loyalty in other zombies as a sort of "pack leader", and can either work with the survivors of the setting, or eat them and give in to your basic zombie instincts.

 

[chozo_hybrid]

The modern military shooter can go away first, that's been so over done it's burning... Every market has its fans, so nothing really should go away just because some people are sick of it, those people could just play something else.

...........


Did you just contradict yourself in the very same post in the VERY SAME SENTENCE on purpose?..


I dont get it, it must have some sort of meaning.

Anyways, zombies are an interesting theme, so more can only be better. That aplies to anything and everything, and if I dont like it, then I ignore it. The end.

Probably why I love COD and other unpopular popular stuff... I dont really mind having "more of the same" when said "Same" is the same awesome game...

I was more or less highlighting how stupid the sentiment was that something should go away just because someone doesn't like it. I was tired, but yes, you got my point

 

[Kaimax]

I won't be truly done with zombie games until I at the very least play a game where you go through the game as a zombie, slowly gaining your own mind, recruiting loyalty in other zombies as a sort of "pack leader", and can either work with the survivors of the setting, or eat them and give in to your basic zombie instincts.

They already made a game similar to that.
Stubbs the Zombie in: Rebel Without a Pulse

 

[Me55enger]

Yes and no.

Different formats move at different speeds and on different scales. The Zombie of the 80's is not the one of today, both in games and film. The phenomenon has mileage and will continue to have one because the simplicity of the adversary makes them extremely versatile as, well, an adversary.

The limitation is twofold and admittedly rather cynical: Profit margins and imagination. The former because within the mainstream of both film and games, the format is being used as a scapegoat for both bad writing, lacklustre gameplay and rather dull setting. And this is because Zombies are popular and publishers are paranoid cowards.

But DayZ is an excellent example of the format done right simply because it explores idea of morality and survival over guns and sticking chainsaws to poles and going shopping. But DayZ is also proof that the culture is not prepared for the evolution. Because DayZ players are wankers. Because they see and play DayZ in the same way the play other games of the same genre.

That'll be 30p please, so I can buy a cup of tea. Big Issue?

 

[Me55enger]

EDIT: This post is proof that the errors humans make are what make humans interesting.

I misclicked.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Overdone, yeah.

My problem with zombie games is that everyone knows they are a zombie game.

In a zombie movie, half the time the heroes spend the first third wondering what's going on. But there's no surprise to zombies anymore for the audience, because they are more or less the same.

Now, if the game started off as a serious military shooter or police simulator, then halfway through lots of angry biting people turned up and it was a surprise, maybe.

 

[Eve Charm]

Eh Zombies aren't going to go away. They fit the bill as an weak unarmed, stupid fodder character to good. It's basically Zombies, Nazis and demons are the "Alright" things to kill in masses and Nazis have guns and Demons might have weapons and aren't braindead.

Most zombie games your character is immune to infection or only if you die not the " one bite one scratch getting infected blood in you" so basically they are about the same as fighting small dogs, but people would have problems killing small dogs ;p. But ya you always need some stupid fodder character to kill in mass numbers and can be taken out easily. Zombies also fit the bill of being "Timeless" and able to be pulled off in "any setting"

 

[Tomeran]

It depends on your definition of "overdone". Has it been done A LOT? Well hell yes. But so has sci-fi, military shooters, platformers, sandbox games, simulators, horror games etc etc etc. Gaming is such a huge and diverse buisness now that one cant simply look at the number of one genre, notice its fairly big and go "oh my, so many titles, it must've been overdone". It would be like trying to count individual rice grains in a basket and claim "yep, overdone".

If the demand is there, it's there. And since many zombie games keep selling like butter, it clearly hasnt overreached its demand. So if the definition you're looking for is: "Has zombie games been overproduced beyond demand?" then the simple answer is no.

Could it be more diverse? Naturally, but I'd like to think diverse zombie titles have been coming out lately that are taking a relativly new take on the whole zombie apocalypse setting.(TWD and dayZ to mention a few.)

Why zombie games are so popular is a different question entirely. I guess it's a mix with the action it usually involves, our chance to slaughter hordes of humans that arent really humans(and thus we dont have to feel bad for it), the sudden rise in interest in apocalyptical themes(global warming and whatnot raising our awareness of our own fragility etc) and the huge potential for different survivor tales that can be crafted from a zombie apocalypse setting.

Is this going away anytime soon? I dont think so, I dont think its even remotely likely. Its not going away until the demand starts to diminish, and as long as games like The walking dead, DayZ, State of Decay, project zomboid and Left4dead keep being released and appeal(and sell) to such a wide audience with their various tastes and priorities, the zombies are here to stay.