Ok I guess it’s no secret that everyone loves zombies… I’m just wondering how much longer can it go on? It seems every other game has zombies in it… Some look awesome some are average but all are Zombies.
So I wonder… is Zombie games just another type of game that has sprung up and turned into it’s own genre like a RTS or a FPS or is it just a fad that is getting a bit over done at this point?
I must admit even though it seems every other game is a zombie game I still like shooting zombies. So does this mean it’s morphed into it’s own genre as killing zombies can be done as a side scroller, FPS or any other way you can imagine… or is it bound to go the way of killing space aliens as we did in the past before we killed zombies and we will soon be killing giant robot chicken zombies from mars?
I wouldn’t call them a new type of game, as all of them fit into preexisting categories. I just think they’re a dominant class within those categories (e.g. Zombie Survival RPG or Zombie FPS).
I think zombies are a fad that may or not go away soon. I don’t understand why some people think the fad is a bad thing though. New games are still adding innovation to zombie games so it’s not quite over done yet. I think CoD style games are the ones that are getting over done.
sigh There are so many threads on this all the time. People like killing, but people don’t like killing people. Solution? Get dead people, which also adds a scare effect.
My guess is you have never seen zombies in bumper cars before. Well now you can! Our latest iOS game Zombie Bumper Cars was just released last week taking the zombie genre to a whole new level
You see them here, you see them there, in almost 1 in 10 games everything has to be either undead or dead. They’re the sort that destroyed gaming innovation ever since resident evil came out. Game developers find them easy to manipulate and implement, since they’re 1)Brain dead, an excuse for bad AI, 2) A cheap scare, 3) Numerous to allow flexibility for the developers. It’s basically a lazy way out for some(I don’t mean all, some developers do really make great zombie games, it’s just overused) to add on and call it fun.
It seems that entertainment nowadays seemed so…simplified. The emergence of the zombie theme is a prme example that it’s just shooting hordes of undead charging at you in one direction. You wouldnt be surprised if you find zombies a commonday adddon in most games that dont even need them…
Take Deus Ex: Human Revolution, at the end of the game, you’ll face brainwashed hordes of mindless augmented zombies charging at you.(I blame Square Enix for this) when there is no link to why zombies exist in that game…
The Main reason zombies get used so much: Perfect Cannon Fodder.
Since the first games, we like to have Lots and Lots of enemies, right? And from that time on, these enemies are pop culturally themed. Spaceships and aliens were kind of a big thing in the 70’s and early 80’s. Also, they fit perfectly as a Hoard; an armade of spaceships is not that uncommon…
Zombies are being used, because of the recent underground hype. The zombie genre has always been lingering in the depths of Mainstream, never to really hit it big. The of New zombie movies since 2000 sparked it again, and now you have Loads of movie’s, a hit tv-show, and some big games.
For indie developers, using zombies is a dream. A dumb AI, slow moving enemie that you can use Over and Over again. Killing a 1000 gumba’s would be a bit of a drag, even if they’d look different. But a 1000 zombie’s? That’s what we know them as, always coming in Big Big numbers…
Thats true. Zombie game is probably the easiest and most potential game to make becouse you have a crowd that you can target without a risk of acceptance. I just dont see how it is not being made even more than it is. Basically if you think about it, with Cryengine 3 SDK all you need to do is to make 1 zombie model and basically with all models that are shipped with SDK you can already make very good zombie game. Honestly i dont think that zombie games are overmade, i cant see how not more indies are making it since its like…easiest thing to make succesful game.
Janpec has a point, that zombie games are easier to made than others, but there is nowhere such a big gap between great or just sucking game! See Dead Island. They did do all the zombie survival basics and did a great job on that. The game still sucked. I played on a modificated left4dead 2 server, 32 special zombies against 32 survivors with modified rules and you know what, it was so much fun! Compare the game play with Takeshis Castle and it was really a thrill and that’s important for a survival game. Also the ability to save mates is important. I was in the first spear group and we made it to the shelter, where we gave the second wave and third wave fire support. Then we got the chat message, that a group is blocked and cannot break through the special infected. Some of us decided to go back and pick up any survivors they can find. It became a real mess and close combat situation, still more of us survived than were going in, but our retreat had flaws and some of us stayed behind to buy their mates time. I think this is one of the important feelings, zombies are a force that cannot be stopped, just delayed, you have to cover your mates and be willing to take risks for them and the most important feeling → you alone die alone! In most zombie games your character can handle masses of zombies without a sweat, but if we look back at entertaining zombie games, we see things like “low ammunition” and “nearly helpless in close combat”. I think I made my point ^^
And yes, CoD style games are overdone!
