Have zombie games gone down the tubes?

[Neosage]

We've got Left 4 Dead, Resident Evil 5, and probably a sequel to Dead Rising in the works. I mean, Capcom... please?

So no, I don't think they've gone down the tubes. They were never enough of their own genre to even have tubes.

Yeah this guy's right, you need to look for the right zombie games.

 

[MercenaryCanary]

I'm not dissing any new zombie titles, but they just seem different. As though something has changed with the whole zombie franchises nowadays. Maybe I don't know what I'm talking about but It seems as though new titles aren't incorparating what we loved about the old games.

When did they learn to run is what I would like to know.

 

[vid20]

To all you people saying we need more games where you are the zombies, have a look at [a href=http://www.funorb.com/a=199/info.ws?game=zombiedawn] Zombie Dawn[/a]

 

[dead_beat_slacker]

I don't think they're going down the tubes and I think Left 4 dead is a step in the right direction.
I think alot of people have a huge misconception of what a zombie should be. A zombie doesn't have to be dead to be called a zombie. A zombie is a person who appears to be in a lifeless state, apathetic, or totally lacking in independent judgment. It was not till George Romeo came along and made them into reanimated flesh eating corpses. I think that; and this is just my opinion, that alot of people don't realize that and that's why they feel different about the new modern day running zombies. But like I said this is just what I noticed. I'm not saying I'm a zombie expert but I've been a huge fan of the genre for years.

 

[OurGloriousLeader]

If we go back to traditional zombies, then we need true realism as well. More like Condemned than CoD, as well. Start us off in an organic city, randomly, and begin the virus spreading. In the early stages, obviously we will have an advantage over the NPC's because the game title will have 'Zombie' in it so during that time you try and collect weapons, ammo, friends, start up a safe place etc.

As the number of zombies increases exponentially, the game will get harder and harder with a decent learning curve. Perhaps after a certain time, when you are expected to have either a decent base and/or weapons, the army can come in to try and kill everything, Half Life style. I'm not sure, but I think something like that is the only way trad zoms will return. From the dead.

Hm, that actually sounds like a pretty awesome idea! Games always take place after the first outbreak of the zombie virus, not before and during it. But this could actually be creepier in a way. The city starts out as a normal place, but then strange things start happening. You see a TV report about a mysterious incident in another part of the city, then things begin to get out of control, people panic, and then you encounter the first of many zombies, the survivor/zombie ratio dropping all the time. It would be tricky to turn this into a game though, and a lot harder still to turn it into a good game. But it would be awesome if someone tried.

Send cheques made payable to...

 

[Maexxna1]

I think that certain big name zombie series may be going down the tubes but not Zombie games in general. Truly effective zombie games recreate the genre, for example Left 4 Dead. I have never been more terrified than the second I realised the the Arnie Zombie (Tank) could break down safe room doors or the facts that all of the zombies run like lightning. The multiplayer aspect also adds to the terror/glee. So in my opinion, no. Zombie games are slowly getting better.

 

[Ganado_Headshot]

I have to agree with you guys on that point seeing as how developers obviously think zombie games have something left to give.

 

[LordCraigus]

I'd like to see some zombie strategy games, either where you control the zombies or where you're in control of a group of survivors or have to build a civilisation in a zombie-infested world...

 

[Erana]

I want to take a moment to reflect on some truly great zombie games. The first titles in the Resident Evil series seemed great. Scary, full of puzzles, and lots of innovative ideas.

I'm not dissing any new zombie titles, but they just seem different. As though something has changed with the whole zombie franchises nowadays. Maybe I don't know what I'm talking about but It seems as though new titles aren't incorparating what we loved about the old games.

I would love to hear anyones thoughts on this subject, because truly I am looking for other
opinions.

DISCLAIMER: I searched this topic, and similar zombie articles came up but nothing that touched on the issues I wanted to discuss.

OK, there's lots of good games that came out recently, and more on the way.
So the general consensus is, "no." There are so many promising games to choose from!
Neew we say more?
I mean, really, people. Is there Anything left to discuss?

If you're thinking of the survival horror genre, then there has already been another thread about this.

 

[Life-as-we-know-it]

As a vivid fan of such popular titles like Resident Evil and Dead Rising all I can say is that the reason that zombie games have lost there flare is because were not scared of zombies anymore.

 

[Archereus]

I think that we need less kill everything games, and more 'DEAR GOD MY AMMO'S GONE RUUUUN!' games. It's less about survival horror now, and more about killing fucking everything. Which means you might as well just go play Halo or something.

Yeah, i get the feeling zombie games are going to end up like Halo 3 with daytime and aliens swapped with nighttime and zombies...

you almost understood the concept, but things like arm,leg,body,back shots will completely do nothing to do the zombie, so shooting it any where else but the head will do nothing to the zombie, so you shoot it in the head or dont shoot it at all, that will put a whole new complexity to the zombies games and revive the franchise for a little while, then head shots will become the norm in the games and the challenge would not be there then we will need to come up with a new idea.

 

[SquirrelPants]

I think that we need less kill everything games, and more 'DEAR GOD MY AMMO'S GONE RUUUUN!' games. It's less about survival horror now, and more about killing fucking everything. Which means you might as well just go play Halo or something.

Yeah, i get the feeling zombie games are going to end up like Halo 3 with daytime and aliens swapped with nighttime and zombies...

you almost understood the concept, but things like arm,leg,body,back shots will completely do nothing to do the zombie, so shooting it any where else but the head will do some thing to the zombie, so you shoot it in the head or dont shoot it at all, that will put a whole new complexity to the zombies games and revive the franchise for a little while, then head shots will become the norm in the games and the challenge would not be there then we will need to come up with a new idea.

...Wait, what?

 

[Archereus]

I think that we need less kill everything games, and more 'DEAR GOD MY AMMO'S GONE RUUUUN!' games. It's less about survival horror now, and more about killing fucking everything. Which means you might as well just go play Halo or something.

Yeah, i get the feeling zombie games are going to end up like Halo 3 with daytime and aliens swapped with nighttime and zombies...

you almost understood the concept, but things like arm,leg,body,back shots will completely do nothing to do the zombie, so shooting it any where else but the head will do some thing to the zombie, so you shoot it in the head or dont shoot it at all, that will put a whole new complexity to the zombies games and revive the franchise for a little while, then head shots will become the norm in the games and the challenge would not be there then we will need to come up with a new idea.

...Wait, what?

sorry fixed the post

 

[SquirrelPants]

I think that we need less kill everything games, and more 'DEAR GOD MY AMMO'S GONE RUUUUN!' games. It's less about survival horror now, and more about killing fucking everything. Which means you might as well just go play Halo or something.

Yeah, i get the feeling zombie games are going to end up like Halo 3 with daytime and aliens swapped with nighttime and zombies...

you almost understood the concept, but things like arm,leg,body,back shots will completely do nothing to do the zombie, so shooting it any where else but the head will do some thing to the zombie, so you shoot it in the head or dont shoot it at all, that will put a whole new complexity to the zombies games and revive the franchise for a little while, then head shots will become the norm in the games and the challenge would not be there then we will need to come up with a new idea.

...Wait, what?

sorry fixed the post

Ah...
Well, I think that the 'zombie' name is kind of broad. I mean, I would call the people in the movie "28 Days Later" zombies, because they have lost their minds and really only want one thing: Food.
So, if you can have a game with zombies such as the infected in 28 Days and 28 Weeks, you could shoot them anywhere and they would at least flinch. And that's where the horror in survival horror should come from, it's not shooting at walking corpses until they fall over, it's shooting at real human beings who use their hands and teeth. Sounds much more fun than killing people with guns. Think: You with a baseball bat vs. zombie. But in a game, rather than a movie. I think it would be awesome if done right.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

Personally I think thei're just getting good with Left 4 Dead and Dead Rising...

But Resident Evil doesn't really appear to be about Zombies anymore.

 

[anNIALLator]

No, games like Left 4 Dead and Dead Rising show that zombie games are going great. As for RE5, obviously it's not a proper survival horror, but if it's a good game then i'll get it. Buuut.. there could be a few more real zombies in RE5.

 

[Mrsoupcup]

L4D is awsome and if your looking for fun as the zombie in its versus mode you kill as the zombie.

 

[Marv21]

I would say Dead Rising sucked, I got my game wiped 1 million times.
L4D has gotten zombie games right for once
Resident Evil is trying to do zombie games in 3rd person way(give it time).

The perfact zombie game is still in the making.

 

[Ravinak]

maybe if we were to come up with a new creature to kill maybe then we might come on to some thing good for a few years

Vampires, that's what we need. Sorry girls, not the sparkling type, but the original agile, cunning, night stalking Vampires that make you jump at every shadow.

To the OP, its not only the games that have evolved, but the zombies themselves came a long way since the first RE. Originally they use to be slow moving and doped up, but eventually people got bored of that. Then they made them scary again by mulitplying their numbers (Dead Rising). But that still wasn't enough eventually, so they made them faster and now they can run. After we got use to fast zombies, they invented new types once again, this time with different abilities (e.g. L4D special zombies).

My point is, they'll just keep reinventing zombies until they can't think of anything else, because people get bored of them eventually.