Zombies, zombies, zombies!!!!

October 31, 2008

Zombies, zombies, zombies!!!!
By
Mike David

GameZone’s Mike David takes a
chilling look at zombie games over the years.

They are often gooey, leaking
various body fluids from all sorts of places, many times they are followed by
other vermin, they are not clean by any means. No, I’m not talking about the
strange people who seem to be at the bus station all the time yet never go
anywhere, I’m talking about zombies. Quite possibly the most underrated yet
often used creature in the monster rogues gallery. Let’s think about this for a
second, the zombie is scary because we are them. No other monster is as
terrifying because, no other monster could be Grandma Edna. Zombies move slow
and unnaturally and because of that, we are disturbed on a level we’re not quite
sure of. They are dangerous in packs because normally they are slow and often
times have missing limbs. Not that this stops them, they scare us because they
are darn near impossible to put down permanently. With so many zombie movies out
there and almost everyone of them discovering that the only way to kill a zombie
is to destroy the brain, then I’d say even the common 11 year old will be ready
should the invasion actually occur. Problem is, who made this rule up? What if
there is a zombie invasion, yet the crucial kill point is the pinkie toe? Then
were all in deep trouble.

Caption: "Anybody got a tic-tac? I just ate Chuck and he wasn’t too fresh."

This is an easy subject for me,
zombies that is. A totally misspent youth watching late night cable in the 80’s
has forged an almost disturbing affection for that which comes back to life and
tries to eat the living. Zombies, have fortunately found a way into arguably one
of the most popular mediums, the video game. So walk (slowly) with me, if you
dare, and we’ll take a look at the history of zombies in videogames, at least
the ones that had a profound effect on me.

The history of zombies in video
games is a fairly full and detailed one. Zombies have been popping up for a
while now and for those gamers over 30, may remember a little game called Ghosts
and Goblins way back in the day, this was the first game I can recall actually
featuring zombies crawling out of the grave and coming after you. In fact many
coin op arcade games featured our rotting friends coming after you, but they
always had that comic feel and weren’t really all that scary. It wasn’t until
the 90’s that games actually tried to scare the snot out of you that the zombie
resurgence became full blown. Here’s my list:

1. Doom (PC, PS1,) 1993
This was the
one that started it for me, former soldiers on a Mars moon turned into the
undead. They would even pick up weapons and shoot at you. The nifty thing was
that there was blood coming out of their eyes, they were former members of your
team and I was totally freaking out that this was a first person shooter and I
could kill zombies. Graphics were pretty grainy back then and I could care less,
this was the coolest thing I had seen at the time.

Caption: "Hard to believe but I thought these
wee cool looking 15 years ago."

2. House of the Dead (Saturn, Wii,
Dreamcast) 1996
Those gamers who wanted to actually get the feel of unloading
six shots of a .44 mag into the head of a zombie didn’t have to look too far.
This game was one of the few light gun games for home consoles that pretty much
worked out really well. I reviewed and played the recent Wii port and while
nothing new has been added in terms of gameplay, it still can be a heck of a
good time to squeeze off seven or eight thousand rounds into the shambling dead.
Yes there are zombies, tons of them in fact and nothing is more satisfying then
placing several shots right between their eyes. Again, this has more of a comic
feel to it and players are never really scared as they are too busy pulling the
trigger and admiring the buckets and buckets of gore that is featured throughout
the series.

3. Blood (PC) 1997
The zombies in
this vicious little game often whisper "brainsssss" as was made famous by the
Living Dead movie series. Zombies look pretty cruddy by today’s standards, but in
1997, I couldn’t get enough of blowing them away with flare guns and sawed off
shotguns, the pitchfork also proved to be a handy device for dispatching the
walking dead. Honestly, the zombies played a minor role in the cast of villains,
but to this fan, I liked it anyway. This game is one of my all time favorites
and I (true fact) actually named my youngest son after the anti-hero of the
game.

4. Resident Evil (PS1, GC) 1996

There isn’t much more I can say about this title that hasn’t been said before,
it was the title that invented the "survival horror" genre and for all intents
and purposes, was a "B" movie that you got to play. The zombies in this game
were more, ahem, fleshed out then in any other zombie-featured game prior and
players had to use the "rules" that were established from several zombie movies.
Things like, blowing their head off or destroying the body through flame (rocket
launcher, but you know what I mean) were crucial. Those players who would only
use the knife sort of missed out on the whole experience, but nonetheless, this
was the game that started making zombies cool again. The remakes and sequels
also kept the current zombie craze going with faster, running zombies, ones that
spit bile at you and others that just would not stay down no matter how many
times you shot them. Hearing one shamble down a hallway I couldn’t see yet still
gives me shivers.

Caption: "Brainsssssss."

5. Onimusha Warlords (PS2, Xbox)
2001
I can’t geek out enough when it comes to zombies from other time periods.
In this one, the zombies are actually samurai warriors and like to try and cut
up our hero Samanosuke, who promptly shows us all what a trained samurai can do
with a sword, a short fuse and several zombies willing to lay down their lives
(undead or not) for their evil leader. The zombies don’t play a big role in this
one, but they are a main stay in the villain department and quite frankly,
zombies wearing samurai garb, cowboy hats or any other sort of period clothing
has always struck me as cool. Look for a movie called Gallowwalker coming out
soon that uses this sort of thing. Anyways, Onimusha isn’t big on scares as much
as it is on story and really cool boss battles, a winner in my book.

6. Eternal Darkness (GC) 2002
If
there was ever a game that should have been a blockbuster and wasn’t, this was
it. Zombies are only part of the hellish nightmares players are subjected to but
they do make things a bit more uncomfortable, so much so that I really feel that
it bears mentioning. The sharp look of the game and disturbing ways the game
messed with your mind only further solidified how awesome an undead adventure it
really was. Oh sure, like other games of the genre, there were other creatures
to contend with, but hey, there were zombies, and they moved in an unnatural
feral way, it was disturbing and fun at the same time.

7. Dead Rising (360, Wii) 2006
Literally taking a page out of a Romero film, Dead Rising stuck you in a large
suburban shopping mall that was completely overrun with zombies. The game was a
zombie lovers dream since you could pick up almost anything and turn it into a
weapon, much like you will want to do when the zombies finally rise up and try
and take over. Regardless, the game was filled with thousands of the flesh
eaters and in a surprise twist (Spoiler here) getting the best 72 hour finish
means becoming infected yourself and attempting to cure yourself of the virus.
Zombies behave pretty much on par with the widely held thought that they are
slow moving, nearly indestructible eating machines who are only dangerous when
in packs. This is never been more true then when you are trying to run through
crowds and crowds of the darn things. But the great thing was that if you needed
to clear a path, you just needed to pick up a bench and start swinging, problem
(temporarily) solved.

Caption: "I’m gonna need a machine gun, and a fresh pair of shorts."

8. Dead Space (360, PS3) 2008

I
don’t want to talk semantics with you, but if it’s reanimated flesh, then it’s a
zombie. I don’t care what you say, those are zombies roaming that spaceship and,
heavens to mergatroid, I about crapped myself. Dead Space is a bonafide "pee your
pants" style game. Making good use of the reanimated flesh of a 1000 person
crew, our man Isaac the engineer, not the super soldier, is gonna need some
super underwear if he’s gonna make out of this futuristic zombie filled splatter
fest with his head still attached and his shorts still clean. Dead Space is my
personal recommendation this Halloween for those of you wanting to play
something that will make you jump or at least make you squeamish at the sight of
what an alien army of zombies can do when properly motivated.

9. Left 4 Dead (PC, 360) 2008
I
know, I know, the game isn’t out yet, so how does it make the list. Well because
I said so, that’s why… but really, Left 4 Dead will be a co-op style survival
horror game that uses what the two "Resident Evil Outbreak " titles couldn’t
quite accomplish. Here’s hoping that the end result is as every bit awesome as
we think it will be. Imagine an online game where the zombies are constantly
coming after you and you must rely on the other total strangers (or friends) for
survival. I have big hopes for L4D because if successful, then we will see all
sorts of other scenarios with zombies coming after you, and you can never have
too many zombie games.

So there you have it, and in closing
I will tell you, that several years ago, I actually made up a Zombie survival
plan for my household. I have bottled water, canned foods, a way to seal off the
upstairs so no one can come through the downstairs or the front door, lots of
ammunition, an itchy trigger finger to go along with my dead aim, a generator
and everyone of my zombie video games nearby for quick referral to should the
need arise. You may want to think about making the same sort of plan for your
family as well. The last thing I want to hear is "Brainsssss."

Be sure to check
out our first Halloween Feature:

Horror through the Years: A Look at Some Pivotal Titles in the Horror Genre
– From Texas Chainsaw Massacre to Dead Space, the Horror Genre has seen some
change for the better over the decades.

And our second Halloween Feature:
Still Alive After
All These Horrific Years – We take a look at survival/horror’s two most
enduring franchises.