Why are zombies so popular in media, especially video games?
>>342646248
because of the mystery and suspense surrounding them
Becasue they are a excuse to mass murder humans in brutal ways without actually killing humans.
>>342646248
zombies became popularized around ancient times where aztecs and mayans were still alive.. there's evidence that the mayans used an ancient stone mask that turns them into zombies which dissolve into sunlight.. this theory was popular with scholars and spread to the general public as a result
>>342646248
Are they really tho?
Everytime a new zombie game releases almost everybody forgets about it immediately because zombies have been done to ....death.
>>342646530
this
>>342646248
society's suppressed fear of retarded people.
I got called a monster for saying I was scared of people with down's syndrome.
>>342646248
>Why are zombies so popular in media, especially video games?
Hasn't that bubble burst, though? I don't see much media coming out focusing on zombies anymore.
>>342646248
-easy to context the murder of dozen of people without shocking anyone
-excuse the poor AI
-no need to give them voices except some groans
-zombie mode of cod
>>342646530
t. Patrick Klepek
>>342646542
The worst part is someone'll fall for this despite it not even answering the question.
Having zombies vidya is a pretty sweet deal because it provides an easy fantasy setting, a pass around the "violence against humans in video games is bad!" bullshit, and you can mow them down in hordes which gives shooters/action games a more rewarding feeling than a couple soldiers or a slightly bigger monster.
Because zombies are fun.
>>342646776
The zombie bubble is still fine.
Infected ran its course trying to be "zombies 2.0"
that movie The Last Of Us came out only 2 years ago and supposedly changed videogames forever (I don't know how, it was just a movie)
>>342646890
You fell for it.
>>342646248
they're perfect enemy for a videogame, mindless cannon fodder you can kill lots of them and feel good about how awesome you are but dont have to feel bad because they arent really people anymore.
>>342646776
the walking dead is one of the most popular shows on tv zombies aren't going anywhere.
>>342647725
>the walking dead is one of the most popular shows on tv zombies aren't going anywhere.
Right, but I don't see near as many other TV shows tackling the subject matter, and certainly far fewer movies. Of course there will still be media about it.
Because they are allowed to have shit AI unlike humans or most other monsters
Post cool vidya zombie designs.
Hey, Jimmy Gibbs!
I grew up loving George Romero's dead trilogy. The first Resident Evil movie/28 Days Later and the Dawn of the Dead remake/Shaun of the Dead came out when I was 10 and 12 respectively. Left 4 Dead came out 4 years later, and it was fantastic. It was some time after L4D that I grew sick of zombies in general. Over-saturation killed a childhood interest of mine.
It's a good question; as an exhausted fan, I can't really tell you.
>>342646248
That's actually a really good question. I have some ideas but even I admit they don't answer why zombies are so overdone right now;
>no need for complex AI behaviour
>no need for complex backstories (zombie apocalypse is just a generally accepted and shrugged off scenario now)
>excuse to have empty game world devoid of friendly NPCs or any working systems or services
So basically a lazy crutch.
>>342648736
I was around the same age as you playing/watching those, they were fantastic. Majority of zombie games are shit or plain cash grabs now which is sad, Walking Dead was good for a few seasons but they just dragged it out way to long imo.
Only zombie game I play now is Killing Floor 2 occasionally, if you can call that a zombie game. Tried Resident Evil 6 recently when they were in humble bundle and dropped it after 2 hours.
>>342646248
Better question: Why all zombie games MUST have those fucking "special type" zombies that you've seen in every other game?
>>342650520
Examples besides left 4 dead?
>>342648736
Red Dead Redemptions Undead Nightmare was the last straw for me, got bored with zombies after that.
>>342650520
So that there can be some semblance of enemy variety
>>342650621
Dying Light has basically the same special zombie types as L4D
>>342646248
People you can murder any way you want without feeling guilty.
>>342650520
to give some form of variety
>>342650520
Imagine if L4D didn't have Special Infected
It would be pretty fucking boring
>>342646816
>WINNAR
>>342650991
/thread
>>342650621
State of Decay
How to Survive
Dead State or whatever that twinstick shooter for PS3 was
There's few. I'm fairly sure there's more but I don't remember at the moment.
>>342650763
>>342651047
>Variety
>"Oh hey, I bet there's the fat guy that explodes, the fast hard hitting one, the very tanky one, the one with AoE, the one that kills instantly"
Killing Floor > Left 4 Dead
>>342651315
Kinda devs fault for just copying cookie cutter L4D special zombie types. Rarely see new concepts of zombies anymore.
Easy to kill individually but dangerous in hordes meaning you can't really be out skilled.
Mindless cannon fodder with no real vision or mission means you don't get edgelords going "dey were right"
They'refun to might against
>>342651449
Yeah Killing Floor is great. Gets really intense on Suicidal/HoE. I find myself letting out a sigh of relief after some of the waves
Everyone fantasizes about scenarios where there is a breakdown in modern society
>>342651797
Not everyone is a dipshit with time to waste.
>>342646542
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure actually happened? Who woulda thunk
>>342651797
Wont have to fantasise anymore soon, WW3 and the NWO is nearly upon us. Hope you have a underground shelter/bunker somewhere with lots of vidya and supplies.
>>342646248
>>342646248
They only got popular in the recent decade.
There was a ton of zombie movies released and also the rise of Zombie enthusiasts that started building their own bug out shelters.
It got more popular as access to the internet became widespread.
Only problem now is that we have too fucking many shitty survival zombie games.
I really don't know why people on Steam love to buy every Early Access survival game that comes out.
>>342651449
Other way around.
Don't get me wrong, I love both games but the KF perk system forces you to use like three guns out of the 15 available for each class.
>>342651567
What about a zombie that screeches if you don't kill it fast enough, alerting the other zombies? Maybe it can emit some sort of gas from its mouth that's dangerous and makes you loose health. I don't know if it's been done before but I wouldn't be surprised, I haven't played a lot of zombie games.
>>342652153
That's the witch from L4D and the Siren from Killing Floor.
>>342652014
muh fox news fear-mongering
>>342652137
I find myself using a variety of guns while playing kf, and to me killing the zombies feels more satisfying because it doesn't feel like tearing through cotton candy like in L4D
>>342652153
>What about a zombie that screeches if you don't kill it fast enough, alerting the other zombies?
Theres a child zombie that does this in Dying Light, I guess that was unique to the game
>>342652014
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B17t2HhTjZgFYWRtRHNLSDBOWk0/edit
>>342652137
Then instead of there being an optimal loadout for each different perk, there would be a single optimal loadout.
>>342652217
>The Witch
no
http://left4dead.wikia.com/wiki/Screamer
>>342646248
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XVY0SSn4DM
>>342652324
Thanks, looks like an interesting read.
>>342652153
There is a Night of the living dead or Dawn of the living dead oor somthing, I don't remember the name, there are random zombies that scream and alert other zombies.
>>342646248
Resident Evil 2 is responsible. It gave every kid in America nightmares of those groaning, shambling corpses
Because humans in general like the thrill of an unending fight against an unstoppable force.
>>342653328
Couldn't say it better myself.
>>342646248
You can kill people without being a "murderer"
>>342653231
I used to have nightmares and a fear of zombies when I was a kid, my dad was a Bro, he showed me behind the scenes footage of some zombie movie with some actor getting zombie makeup on and I wasn't scared anymore because I knew it was fake.
I miss my dad...
>>342646248
Zombies are profitable for media companies because remove the need to think about plausible enemy motivations and AI. "They are zombies" can be used to plug any hole in the story or gameplay.
>>342646248
No political controversy.
Since the 2008 normalfaggot Twitterbook invasion of games/Internet/everything, it's getting more and more difficult to make games about anything that's not safe capeshit tier without Polygon throwing a pissfit.
Polygon: We Reduce Diversity
>>342652217
the siren doesn't attract other zeds, she just destroys explosives and hurts you.
>>342653328
Humans in general get turned on by the idea of showing their superiority by fighting against "hordes of dirty savages".
>>342646530
Literally what I was going to say.
>>342646248
>Why are zombies so popular in media, especially video games?
It's really simple actually, it provides a human-like target to kill, often as violently as you want without the guilt or stigma of actually enjoying killing the fuck out of it.
They're usually very easy to kill en masse, perfect for the sort of casual gamer who doesn't derive any real thrill from performance execution but instead from the result. Seeing a kill counter or a congratulatory pop up patting them on the back for slaughtering ten million helpless npcs is as good as it gets for them.
Remember that most gamers are either children or manchildren to some extent and the power trip that comes from massacring hordes of enemies, regardless of the intensity and skill required, makes them feel empowered enough to briefly forget their cripplingly low self esteem.
Hence why it's such a dudebro genre full of workaholics whose only real outlet is drinking.
>>342654226
You could get the same appeal from trampling an ant hill then.
Now I'm gonna buy left 4 dead, thanks thread.
>>342646530
>>342650991
>>342653545
>>342654184
If that's all there is to it, then why aren't games filled with nothing but humanoid robot enemies more common? Checkmate, pseudointellectuals.
>>342652014
That's downright inaccurate unless you count every conflict, armed or not, that the US has been in as war.
>>342646248
Its everything that we fear. The thing we fear most isn't the unknown. Its the person next to you, your neighbor across the street. the guy on the bus. We're all so comfortable in our lives that the fact that your best friend could just murder you one day is that fear made real. The coolest stories are ones about people's humanity and we become monsters ourselves when shit hits the fan.
>>342648736
I like zombies and I'm still down for movies or games that are good that portray them. Just ignore the bad shit and you'll be good.
>>342652014
The USA hasn't declared war since 1942, and hasn't been at war since 1945.
>>342655230
Robots dont bleed or turn into red mushy bits.
>>342655230
Zombies have an excuse to be weak and act dumb.
Humanoid robot enemies need a specialized excuse or else it's stupid and immersion breaking.
