What if there was a zombie game with no zombies?

[random_bars]

It would need a lot of thought and planning to make the concept work, but the idea of a game with a sense of constant danger and panic which is induced entirely by the atmosphere, setting and dialogue is one I think sounds really interesting.

 

[Wondermint13]

I think somebody has played Amnesia..

If a company backed the idea for more games like that then perhaps we might see a new age of gaming where scripture and our own imagination plays a bigger part than loud zappy zappy graphics for a change. I'm willing to keep an open mind about it.

 

[Supp]

Hydration food and sleep are terrible ideas and it wouldn't work if there's nothing that can hurt you.

No.

 

[Twilight_guy]

It'd be terrible. A game with no real antagonist is bad. It'd devolve into a survival game (which could be interesting on its own though).

 

[CombiBlood]

I feel sad for the guy above me having to wear a Twilight zone avatar to tell people what he likes. unless I am mistaken.

 

[CharrHearted]

There already is a game like that, it's called the sims.

 

[The Random One]

I'd think: "This could have been a decent, atmospheric game if it was written better."

I like how you think.

 

[Paulie92]

First playthrough might be entertaining if you didn't know in advance, and the atmosphere was perfect. I think it would be too hard to pull off and then only good for one playthrough

 

[Thaliur]

So you are going through a desertad wasteland with bodies and moans but you never see a zombie. There would be scripted elements in which people in the group would stray away and later you would find them dead in the street. You would never see a zombie and there would be no combat but at every turn you would expect one but dont find it. You try to get to safe houses and an aid station at the end. You here distant moans and find mangled bodies. You have to keep hydrated and fed as well as have regular sleep or you could pass out and die. What do you think?

Sounds a little like what Penumbra did with the hunter in the dark, or the gray rock worms (although these are visible a few times).

It could work, if well executed.

 

[Jfswift]

That would be very spooky. Somewhat offtopic but that actually happens in a book I've read where people take shelter in an abandoned city (medieval setting) overnight and one of them suddenly vanishes. It's very quiet too.. and no one knows where their friend is. (I like spooky stuff ^^)

 

[Grey_Focks]

I'd think.
"Wow, this game looks shit. Good job I read the review first."

Agreed. I'm all for an actual zombie-survival horror game, and not the Resident evil kind, but where the objective is maybe building a settlement and going and saving others? I feel like taking zombies out of the equation would just be silly, and as soon as people realize there aren't any actual zombies in the game, all fear would vanish, and it would just be a crappy game where you need to keep yourself fed and hydrated. Now, WITH zombies, on the otherhand, and you have yourself an idea.

 

[voetballeeuw]

I'd think.
"Wow, this game looks shit. Good job I read the review first."

More blunt than I would put it, but I agree. There's no real foe besides hunger and sleep? If I want to survive in a wasteland, I can play Fallout: New Vegas, granted not very horror based but there's a survival element.

 

[blaize2010]

I'd think.
"Wow, this game looks shit. Good job I read the review first."

indeed. theres such a thing as suspense, and it's good, but an entire game built solely on suspense sounds pretty crappy

 

[yankeefan19]

That wouldn't be a zombie game would it? That's like a space marine game in which there are no space marines.

 

[Bailoroc]

It wouldn't work without at least a few zombies here and there to at least keep you on your toes, although having to worry about water and food would make for an interesting gameplay element.

Hey, there's a thought! How about a zombie game where you play as the zombie and you have to hunt humans and living creatures to survive? Has anyone made a game like that?

 

[Brawndo]

This sounds just like episodes 3-5 of "The Walking Dead": lots of soap opera drama, no zombies

 

[Hero in a half shell]

I heard somewhere that this was idea behind "The Happening" by Shyamalan, the movie should be watched as a zombie movie where the zombies have been removed, so when the plants move its where the Zombies should be walking, and people get attacked and die, but the zombies themselves are gone.

And there is a reason that movie sucked. Its an interesting premise, but in reality it would be impossible to implement in a game without some extra core gameplay added in to give suspense, action and conflict, but that would then ruin the original idea.

 

[Sprntr_Zomby]

Where's the fun in this game? If it's not fun no one will want to play it.