Dear Game Industry,
With the recent barrage of mediocre zombie games the last few years I feel you're severely limiting what you can come up with. Sadly, many new "projects" are doomed to the same fate because those in the video game industry... simply don't know what they are doing.
For example, if a zombie related game comes out I ask the following question
"How do you survive the zombie apocalypse in your game?"
I usually get the answer :
"Shoot zombies with guns."
Seriously? Is that it? We can't do better than this in this day and age?
I think people who create these type of games forget about "What makes zombies scary" and if you think that zombies are scary because they're gory undead half-rotting cannibals... then I'm sorry, you're wrong.
Zombies are all about subversion.
Zombies are like a form of really aggressive cancer and just as cancer subverts healthy cells and corrupts their normal function, so too do zombies subvert healthy humans. It might be with a bite or a scratch or maybe it's by dint of death itself, so that when one's demise comes it never truly comes. This is the subversion of sickness, of disease. Zombies are scary in the way that Ebola or HIV are scary. Zombies are the black plague of monsters - get too close, drop your guard, and they will do more than just kill you. They will infect you.
And you become one of them.
This subversion is what makes the zombie unique and game developers simply aren't taking advantage of it.
Stop thinking of zombies like monsters and start thinking of them like a corrupted force of nature. The zombie menace is like an earthquake, a flood, a plague of locusts. It is an unthinking, unintelligent violation of nature. The zombie apocalypse cannot be stopped with a pair of Desert Eagles in the same way that you cannot use a fire axe to stop a tsunami or a Molotov cocktail to countermand a nuclear winter.
As you may note, this rarely, if ever, shows up in zombie-themed video games. For the most part, zombies in games are scary only as a constant physical threat. They stomp, shuffle or run at you. Then you shoot them. Light them on fire. Blow them up. Or decapitate them with a machete. Or some other ridiculous way the developer thinks is "funny".
We rarely are we confronted with the fear of becoming them.
We're always "immune". Always... "special".
Enough!
Second question. "What is the true threat in a zombie apocalypse?"
If you said zombies.... wrong!
When zombies walk the earth, humanity's most basic needs are threatened. It's harder suddenly to find and procure food, shelter, ammo, allies. Soon society crumbles at its foundation and the bare necessities of survival are thrown into contention.
Then emerges is the true threat in a zombie apocalypse: other humans.
Do we see this in games? Not so much. Mostly, it's wave after wave of stumbling dead. Where's the human sniper who's territory I went in without knowing and wants to kill me? Where's the drunken survivor who accidentally leaves the back door unlocked and lets the zombie menace into the farmhouse where we've been holed up for the last three weeks? Where's the out-of-control military commander who won't let me and my family through to the "safe zone" because he's out of test kits and the zombies are coming after me?
Here's how to create a really good zombie game :
Firstly, there must be a scarcity in terms of tools, ammunition, food and other apocalypse-essential supplies. This will add to the feeling of isolation that such survival games need to instill in the player, coupled with a lack of information on what’s happening on a big scale. Since the zombie apocalypse is bigger than merely a small national or international crisis and it doesn’t stop until every single one of us has joined the ranks of the walking dead. The less we know, the better.
Secondly, the zombies must be portrayed accurately to achieve the right dread an apocalyptic survival game needs. To achieve that terror, one must first understand why zombies are frightening. The key to this fear stems from two factors: the zombies likeness to human beings, and their endless, mindless push forward in the hunt for brains, flesh or whatever they crave. The first factor is crucial, as it reminds us that these creatures are only human husks, the result of what happens when you remove the human conscience (and add an insatiable hunger). There’s still a shard of humanity left. Except, they are moving carcasses, with possible things to collect, if you dare. Perhaps have knives stuck into them, or matches in their pockets... or they look almost normal without a scratch on them... then they bite you and infect you.
To achieve the second factor, the zombies must have a sufficient unstopping, invisible drive to them and they will bang away at something unless they are deterred otherwise until they are unable to. That the noise, unless stopped will attract more until you can't go to sleep as your character feeling of danger is always present.
Thirdly, an apocalyptic game must feel expansive and free. Ideally, every object should be usable by the players in their quest for survival. The players must be free to approach the situations they experience how they see fit and possibly fail, rather than have glowing arrows pointing to the correct manner of doing so. Also, linearity is useful when creating narrative-based game the grander plot becomes more open world. Hints at what caused the apocalypse may be left around but the player shouldn’t be involved in the grander plot of things. This is terror in suburbia, not a power fantasy where teenage boy saves the world. The small stories are what’s important, whether it’s rescuing your neighbor from the hordes or witnessing someone close to you be infected. This is what matters.
I'd really like the ability to play with others in a constructive manner, if I wished to do so. Left 4 Dead is possibly the most successful zombie-themed game released in years was not even a true zombie game in my mind. The L4D experience was excellent however since this team-based shooter relied on effective communication and cooperation if the players were to survive the stages. Any stragglers who run off on their own will quickly be killed off by the undead and the team will have one less gun in that next firefight. I liked that.
We want this. Only in a huge sandbox world to enjoy.
As sad as the state of affairs is... hope remains as there are some games are in the horizon.... like Dead State, Class 3 and 4 and Dead Lingers who feet that their games are not about the zombies rather it is about a world in crisis, it’s about survival, it’s about the ugly truth of human behavior. Screenshots have looked interesting to state the least.
I know some people will state Day Z. I don't like Day Z. Simply because it's far too much what I called "PVP with a side order of zombies".
What say you? How do you feel about this?
*Kindly note some portions of this rant comes from outside, very accurately done sources.
With the recent barrage of mediocre zombie games the last few years I feel you're severely limiting what you can come up with. Sadly, many new "projects" are doomed to the same fate because those in the video game industry... simply don't know what they are doing.
For example, if a zombie related game comes out I ask the following question
"How do you survive the zombie apocalypse in your game?"
I usually get the answer :
"Shoot zombies with guns."
Seriously? Is that it? We can't do better than this in this day and age?
I think people who create these type of games forget about "What makes zombies scary" and if you think that zombies are scary because they're gory undead half-rotting cannibals... then I'm sorry, you're wrong.
Zombies are all about subversion.
Zombies are like a form of really aggressive cancer and just as cancer subverts healthy cells and corrupts their normal function, so too do zombies subvert healthy humans. It might be with a bite or a scratch or maybe it's by dint of death itself, so that when one's demise comes it never truly comes. This is the subversion of sickness, of disease. Zombies are scary in the way that Ebola or HIV are scary. Zombies are the black plague of monsters - get too close, drop your guard, and they will do more than just kill you. They will infect you.
And you become one of them.
This subversion is what makes the zombie unique and game developers simply aren't taking advantage of it.
Stop thinking of zombies like monsters and start thinking of them like a corrupted force of nature. The zombie menace is like an earthquake, a flood, a plague of locusts. It is an unthinking, unintelligent violation of nature. The zombie apocalypse cannot be stopped with a pair of Desert Eagles in the same way that you cannot use a fire axe to stop a tsunami or a Molotov cocktail to countermand a nuclear winter.
As you may note, this rarely, if ever, shows up in zombie-themed video games. For the most part, zombies in games are scary only as a constant physical threat. They stomp, shuffle or run at you. Then you shoot them. Light them on fire. Blow them up. Or decapitate them with a machete. Or some other ridiculous way the developer thinks is "funny".
We rarely are we confronted with the fear of becoming them.
We're always "immune". Always... "special".
Enough!
Second question. "What is the true threat in a zombie apocalypse?"
If you said zombies.... wrong!
When zombies walk the earth, humanity's most basic needs are threatened. It's harder suddenly to find and procure food, shelter, ammo, allies. Soon society crumbles at its foundation and the bare necessities of survival are thrown into contention.
Then emerges is the true threat in a zombie apocalypse: other humans.
Do we see this in games? Not so much. Mostly, it's wave after wave of stumbling dead. Where's the human sniper who's territory I went in without knowing and wants to kill me? Where's the drunken survivor who accidentally leaves the back door unlocked and lets the zombie menace into the farmhouse where we've been holed up for the last three weeks? Where's the out-of-control military commander who won't let me and my family through to the "safe zone" because he's out of test kits and the zombies are coming after me?
Here's how to create a really good zombie game :
Firstly, there must be a scarcity in terms of tools, ammunition, food and other apocalypse-essential supplies. This will add to the feeling of isolation that such survival games need to instill in the player, coupled with a lack of information on what’s happening on a big scale. Since the zombie apocalypse is bigger than merely a small national or international crisis and it doesn’t stop until every single one of us has joined the ranks of the walking dead. The less we know, the better.
Secondly, the zombies must be portrayed accurately to achieve the right dread an apocalyptic survival game needs. To achieve that terror, one must first understand why zombies are frightening. The key to this fear stems from two factors: the zombies likeness to human beings, and their endless, mindless push forward in the hunt for brains, flesh or whatever they crave. The first factor is crucial, as it reminds us that these creatures are only human husks, the result of what happens when you remove the human conscience (and add an insatiable hunger). There’s still a shard of humanity left. Except, they are moving carcasses, with possible things to collect, if you dare. Perhaps have knives stuck into them, or matches in their pockets... or they look almost normal without a scratch on them... then they bite you and infect you.
To achieve the second factor, the zombies must have a sufficient unstopping, invisible drive to them and they will bang away at something unless they are deterred otherwise until they are unable to. That the noise, unless stopped will attract more until you can't go to sleep as your character feeling of danger is always present.
Thirdly, an apocalyptic game must feel expansive and free. Ideally, every object should be usable by the players in their quest for survival. The players must be free to approach the situations they experience how they see fit and possibly fail, rather than have glowing arrows pointing to the correct manner of doing so. Also, linearity is useful when creating narrative-based game the grander plot becomes more open world. Hints at what caused the apocalypse may be left around but the player shouldn’t be involved in the grander plot of things. This is terror in suburbia, not a power fantasy where teenage boy saves the world. The small stories are what’s important, whether it’s rescuing your neighbor from the hordes or witnessing someone close to you be infected. This is what matters.
I'd really like the ability to play with others in a constructive manner, if I wished to do so. Left 4 Dead is possibly the most successful zombie-themed game released in years was not even a true zombie game in my mind. The L4D experience was excellent however since this team-based shooter relied on effective communication and cooperation if the players were to survive the stages. Any stragglers who run off on their own will quickly be killed off by the undead and the team will have one less gun in that next firefight. I liked that.
We want this. Only in a huge sandbox world to enjoy.
As sad as the state of affairs is... hope remains as there are some games are in the horizon.... like Dead State, Class 3 and 4 and Dead Lingers who feet that their games are not about the zombies rather it is about a world in crisis, it’s about survival, it’s about the ugly truth of human behavior. Screenshots have looked interesting to state the least.
I know some people will state Day Z. I don't like Day Z. Simply because it's far too much what I called "PVP with a side order of zombies".
What say you? How do you feel about this?
*Kindly note some portions of this rant comes from outside, very accurately done sources.
