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| Does This Image Hit You On An Emotional Level? Good It Should. |
Some of you may, or may not know, the significance of zombies in our culture. I could go on and on about how amazing zombie lore has been amongst my fellow nerds, but alas, they're shuffling their way towards the limelight. Movies like "Dawn of the Dead (remake)" and "28 Days Later," helped usher zombies into the 21st century with their new running abilities. Still, you cannot help but thank George A. Romero for introducing, and reinforcing, zombies into American Culture. Heck, they're almost at the point of surpassing vampires in popularity. Again, I say almost, because the extraordinary TV series "The Walking Dead" is still building up steam.
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| Um...Mike Alstott? |
I can't tell you what it is that attracts me to zombies. Maybe it's the hypothetical scenario of unleashng fury on a lifeless being without being morally judged. I know it sounds morbid, but I think human beings are inherently violent, and we need to channel our fury through other distracting measures. But this isn't an article to deconstruct the psychological attraction humans have towards zombies. No, this is an article about Zombified video games. Specifically, I'm talking about Dead Island.
This first person melee zombie survival horror game turned heads in the gaming community, and the mainstream media, with its poignant reveal trailer showing a family's demise at a tropical paradise resort in reverse time. Yes, that entire description describes Dead Island in a nutshell. If you haven't seen the trailer yet, or just need to watch it again like I do....here you go:
God that was refreshing!!! In Dead Island players will take control one of several survivors on an island getaway, fighting off waves of zombie hordes; all with the help of three other friends. Yes, it's online drop-in, drop-out co-op. From what we've seen so far in gameplay videos, the game looks solid. The visuals are crisp, and the combat looks tight, responsive, and creative. Many in the gaming community are drooling for this game to come out, which is just around the corner on September 6th. However, we need to get our daily zombie fix, and fortunately for you, if zombie-games were a rubber tube, heroin-filled needle, well then call me Tubbs, your friendly neighborhood drug dealer. These are some of the best zombie games out there that you can get your hands on and chew on for the next two months.
1. Left 4 Dead (1&2)
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| Yes...You do get to kill them all |
If there were ever a game that could possibly match the feel and atmosphere of Dead Isalnd, it's this game. You play as one of four survivors trying to make your way across a zombie ravaged city in this first person shooter. Left 4 Dead surprised gamers with its tight gunplay mechanics, as well as its strategic cooperative nature. You cannot go guns blazing all alone without your teammates, because you WILL die. Whether it's a Smoker, Boomer, or a Witch, this game demands teamwork, and damned if you don't play it with other people.
Dead Island looks to hit some of the similar beats that made Left 4 Dead so successful, but the big difference between the two is the realistic approach Dead Island seems to be approaching. You won't be able to take out 50 zombies with a single pipe-bomb. No, Dead Island makes you work for the kills, as each zombie you take-on could be the end of you.
Left 4 Dead is an experience best played with friends either split-screen, or online. You'll have to coordinate, attack, defend, and protect at any time ... and damnit, there are a buttload of zombies for you to kill.
2. Dead Rising (1&2)
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| I Would probably go with the Fire Axe to take these guys out |
This is what Dawn of the Dead would look like if it had a video game tie-in. Dead Rising pits players against a literal horde of zombies in a shopping mall/Vegas Strip. Dead Rising was praised for its creative ways to dispatch zombies. Baseball Bat to the temple? Check. Razord Bladed Boxing Gloves? Double check. This game was fun for one reason, going to town on zombies with melee weapons. You see where I'm getting at? Dead Island looks to have a strong focus on melee weapons, and Dead Rising is just the warm up game.
3. Resident Evil Series (Particularly 2)
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| I asked if anyone had a quarter!?!?! |
What can I say about this series that I haven't said before? This has easily been one of my favorite video game franchises of all time. The story, although hammy at times, is pure perfection that plays out like a male soap opera. Just look at the first game: A former Ari Force recruit, Chris Redfield, investigates a string of grizzly murders at a nearby forest, only to find his tactical response team has been sent into a murderous ambush at the hands of his Team leader. Seriously, guys thrive on this.
What makes Resident Evil so great isn't its story, it's the scares and moody atmosphere that comes with it. Although Alone in the Dark is credited as being the first survival horror game, Resident Evil perfected it. Who ever knew that a rabid, monstrous, bloodthirsty dog jumping through a window would be so terrifying? The sound design was also something to applaud. Resident Evil featured a gritty atmosphere that was only enhanced with the painful moans of the zombies, and the blood soaked shuffling of their feet. I challenge you to play Resident Evil 2 in the dark, and try to imagine yourself back in 1998 playing it for the first time. This game was way ahead of its time, and is still fun to this day. But again, the game perfected the survival horror genre. Essentially, it's a "one versus many" situation, where you're given a limited amount of resources to survive. Dead Island looks to play off what Resident Evil perfected, with scattered weapons and health.
4. Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare
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| They're just begging for a quick dead-eye trio headshot |
It may be a spin-off to a Western Action game, but Undead Nightmare was still fun to play. It again introduced the fast running zombies, which could only be dispatched by shooting them in the head. Target a specific limb, and you can see the effect it'll have on a zombie goon scurrying towards you. The initial Red Dead Redemption game touted a fun, although clunky cover system, but if you try and use that in Undead Nightmare, you'll be overrun.
What made this game work was the panic you would get seeing dozens of zombies running at you, and you can do nothing else but run and gun, and hope for the best. I hope Dead Island can infuse this sense of panic, because that's what makes zombie games so much fun to play.
5. Zombies Ate My Neighbors
You're not a gamer unless you've at least played this game for 5 minutes. Zombies ate my neighbors was a comical, yet strangely violent shooting game during the early Nintendo era. You play as one of two kids who have to take out the trash, and by trash, I mean the undead. The game was colorful, but pretty violent for its time. I guess the only thing Dead Island can take from this game is to give us the unexpected. Don't give us the predictable "save the defenseless family" scenario. Instead, give me a "we need to try and save this poor helpless family" situation, only to find out that you were too late, and you must kill off their undead remains that are trying to eat your calf muscle. Yes, I want an emotionally resonating game, and from the looks of the reveal trialer, we're about to get it.
Honorable Mention: Stubbs the Zombie, Rebel Without a Pulse.
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| Hey evildoer!!! Need a hand?!?! |
This quirky zombie game was similar to "Zombies Ate My Neighbors" in that it presented a comical main character, Stubbs the Zombie, who would commit questionable acts of violence. It was bloody, fun, and only reinforced gamers gratitude for great zombie fiction.
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| Like I said...Beautiful |
So there you have it my fellow Dead Island enthusiasts. Sit your butt down and play these games to get your fill of all the digital gore you can muster out of a zombified brain. I really hope developer Techland can pull this dead rabbit out of a hat and give us one of the most visceral Zombie games ever created. The game has gotten an extreme amount of hype because of its beautifully rendered announcement trailer. Even though there was no actual gameplay shown, it just left us all with something we've never seen before; a zombie game that rings on an emotional level. Of all the zombie games mentioned above, none have really taken themselves too seriously. To quote a very good Christopher Nolan film, I think it's about time we get the zombie game we need, but don't deserve. Here's some actual Dead Island gameplay video to get your palette nice and wet. Enjoy!
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