So lets return to that old chestnut the zombie game. Now I've been critical of this zombie fascination and it's enduring popularity doesn't look, in any way, to diminish. Thus I see no reason to stop now.
It seems anything with zombies in it will guarantee immediate sales and instant interest from the pundits - which I find quite ironic since one of the keystones of zombies is seeing how people retain their identity and intelligence even when faced against a mindless, unrelenting horde.
So it makes me wonder if any game developers have the gall to try and do something different with their product. You know, proclaiming a gem has zombies will automatically generate sales so how about doing something different? How about grabbing one's attention and then saying something of your own?
So with that in mind, along with my continued interest with challenging that bond between game and gamer, here's a little synopsis I came up with:
This game centers around a protagonist named ....Barry. Barry is the survivor of a zombie apocalypse and couldn't be happier. He's seen countless zombie films and knows pretty much everything that needs to know. Thus every day involves him running for his life, blowing away zombies with shotguns and living out his fantasies.
However, as the game progresses things take a dark tone: There are audio logs to pick up but they all seem to address Barry directly - some even suggest he get a real job and stop watching zombie movies. In between attacks, Barry is haunted by images of a particular room and familiar faces. There are radio support transmissions coming from, presumably, the outside world but Barry doesn't heed to them. And eventually the zombies get surprisingly aggressive through actually picking up guns and using them.
And then in the last act, the rug is pulled from underneath the player: the entire scenario is fabricated. The zombie apocalypse isn't happening - it's just exists in Barry's head. Thus, all Barry has been doing (not to mention YOU the player) has been running in the real world and gunning down innocent civilians based on the paranoid delusions/fantasies that have been existing in his head.
So in a nutshell, this game is based on a mentally damaged guy living out a zombie fantasy - when in reality he's just gunning down genuine, real-life, no-bullshit, people for no better reason.
Heavy stuff but I want to see a game like that made - not just to challenge the gamer's perceptions and to give them something to think about once they put down the controller but to give the zombie fascination the slap in the face it needs.
Happy Halloween
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