Popularity of Zombies in Modern Video Games
An Avid Gamer Explains the Popularity Behind Zombie Game Antagonists
Zombies. Call out this word in the middle of a room full of gamers and suddenly an epic argument will break out. What's the best weapon to kill a zombie? A crowbar? A chainsaw? A 9mm Glock? What's the best plan when the "inevitable" zombie outbreak occurs? Should survivors find a means of retreat, or should they stock up in a Mall and wait it out?
Few video game enemies can rival the popularity of the zombie. But why is the zombie such a popular enemy in games? Read on to find out.
The Perfect Enemy
Aside from programming a full game engine, creating all the art assets, finding a publisher, marketing the game, etc, one of the most challenging aspects of game design is AI, or Artificial Intelligence.
How does an enemy know how to distract you with suppressive fire while another enemy team flanks your position? Well, to make a long, complicated story short, some programmers did it. But that statement vastly understates the immense complexity involved with programming artificial intelligence.
Computers are stupid. To make them intelligent requires time, resources, and talent, all of which is limited to developers. Isn't there an easier way to challenge gamers?
Welcome to, the zombie. AI isn't a significant problem when the main antagonists of a video game are brain dead shambling corpses. After deciding on the zombie as an enemy, the biggest AI concern is simply how dumb to make the zombies.
The Perfect Story
As aforementioned, video games require immense resources to create. On top of escalating expectations on graphics, gameplay, game modes, multiplayer, online components, DLC, and so on, game designers additionally must worry about a video game's story.
Most video game designers aren't novel writers, otherwise they'd be writing novels, not making games. Their expertise focuses mostly on the design aspects of a game. They artfully craft challenges for a player to conquer, or craft game worlds a player is free to explore. It seems unfair, with all the other aspects that go into game design, that designers should be expected to craft stellar storylines with clever characters spouting witty dialogue.
Thankfully, the zombie digs through six feet of dirt and mud to save the day once more! When "zombie apocolypse" is written as the sysnposis for a game's storyline, everything naturally falls into place. Main characters will fight for survival, turn on one another, and possibly even turn into zombies.
The zombie story also sets up an interesting opportunity for an investigation. Where did all these zombies come from? As Capcom has taught us with popular zombie franchises Resident Evil and Dead Rising, the source is most likely either an evil corporation, or cows.
The Perfect Game
Even though most gamers recognize the zombie is a cliche, cliches are rarely a concern when describing "the perfect game."
More wholly unique titles such as Shadow of the Colossus would indeed be welcome in an industry bloated with sequels and stale genres. However, most gamers realize the difficulty and risk associated with such an original creation.
Perhaps, then, the term "the perfect game" should be synonymous with "the perfect experience." This experience may not be entirely original. Many, many zombie games have come and gone over the years, but only the best will be remembered.
Conclusion
Even though the zombie is as cliche as the exploding barrel in video games, as long as new and innovative experiences such as Dead Rising and Left 4 Dead emerge from it, gamers will embrace the zombie with happy trigger fingers.
Zombies continue to inspire new forms of gameplay
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