In a new Gamasutra feature, college professor Chris Totten takes a look at how zombies arose in popular culture, how they're used in games, and how they could be put to better effect than cannon fodder.
Just like games, movies, TV, and books have made great use of zombies for years; but when you peel back the layers, you will realize that in different works, zombies represent different things.
Can games use them as more than brainless cannon fodder? Often, zombie survivors lose sanity over the course of a work, writes Totten:
"In a real zombie apocalypse as well as effective zombie stories, the combination of losing loved ones, being overwhelmed, feeling trapped, and rushing to escape can take a toll on survivors. Over time, the mental health of those 'lucky' enough to survive can seriously deteriorate."
"The idea of zombie encounters causing individuals' sanity to deteriorate is a common thread throughout both ancient and modern zombie media. In the Book of Revelations it is said, 'But after the three and a half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them.'"
That mechanic has been successfully applied in at least one game, and there's room to explore it further, Totten argues.
"Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem is one game that has players manage sanity and emotional responses to enemies as a resource. When enemies spot a player, the game's Sanity Meter slowly empties. When players finish the same enemies off, they can regain some of the lost Sanity points. In this game, sanity is a resource."
In the full feature, Totten explores four more ideas on how zombies could work better in games, as well as sharing more examples from games and other media as jumping-off points for new ideas. It's live now on Gamasutra.
No, I don't think we can move on. Zombies are too perfect for video games. But I also think it's one of those, "Hey, us gamers loved zombies way before they were 'cool' and we're gonna love em way after the fad is over."
And "too perfect" is a double edged sword, because it's so easy to replicate zombie behavior, any new game dev can do it, almost by accident... That ease of entry, plus the new mob love for fantastic creatures creates an oversaturated market for a while. But at the same time as a bunch of crap you get amazing stuff like Left 4 Dead and Walking Dead (The game!)
Zombies are scary, fantastic, gory, simple, hilarious, etc... they represent almost all the qualities that people play games for.
Some of us can get tired of it and should move on, but as a whole... I believe if video games exist, zombie video games will be right there.
Sanity Points were also a mechanic that were used in the Shadow Hearts series, counting down every turn of battle (although the main character could expend them to transform into a monster) leading to a berserk (uncontrollable, doing random things) state until you used items to restore their sanity. I'd like to see the idea explored more, just not with zombies.
I could go on a bit, but I'm willing to bet the full article is written better than my measly comment here.
And "too perfect" is a double edged sword, because it's so easy to replicate zombie behavior, any new game dev can do it, almost by accident... That ease of entry, plus the new mob love for fantastic creatures creates an oversaturated market for a while. But at the same time as a bunch of crap you get amazing stuff like Left 4 Dead and Walking Dead (The game!)
Zombies are scary, fantastic, gory, simple, hilarious, etc... they represent almost all the qualities that people play games for.
Some of us can get tired of it and should move on, but as a whole... I believe if video games exist, zombie video games will be right there.