Zombies are latest enemy trend in video games
Titles such as “Left 4 Dead,” “Left 4 Dead 2,” “Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare,” the “Resident Evil” franchise, and “Call of Duty: World At War,” all show that games involving zombies do succeed.
I may not be the first to say that I believe in the zombie apocalypse, but I do think they are out there, mainly because of reading “The Zombie Survival Guide” by Max Brooks, which does detail a chapter of actual zombie attacks that have been recorded over the course of history, dating back to the era before Christ.
Being an avid fan of video games and picking up “Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare” for my PS3 recently, I dove right into the game.
Patrick Shaw’s article “A History of Zombies in Video Games” on gamepro.com details the history of zombies in video games, dating back to “Super Mario Bros. 3” and says that zombies are some of the most common and generic enemies in video games, even though “zombie themed” games didn’t come to the forefront until 1996 with the release of “Resident Evil.”
Zombies may be generic enemies in Shaw’s opinion, but to me, they’re a dime a dozen, because placing zombies in a game is usually reserved for a special occasion, unless the game itself is zombie themed.
Playing games which include zombies never gets old because of the many ways players can kill them.
Players can just go for the one and done headshot, shooting the legs, burst firing zombies until they die or placing them on fire with things like torches or holy water, which is what I like about killing zombies in video games.
The only drawback I’ve seen in zombie video games is when the developers try to make zombies into their own creation. For instance, I cannot stand developers who make different types of zombies like ones who are deadly fast, larger or have special powers of some sort. I can understand the reason behind it because of not wanting to reuse the same type of enemy over and over again or being creative to stand out from the rest, but still, stick to the basics of what zombies are.
Overall, placing zombies in video games is a good idea to me, but it also can be a hit or miss because developers want to make zombies into their own creations instead of accurately portraying them.
Jose Gonzalez can be reached at 581-2812 or
