This Zombie 'fad' needs to end soon - Gaming Rant

When we say the phrase 'stop flogging a dead horse', most of us will think that it means not to something until it becomes boring, meaningless and just boring. The games industry obviously see this phrase as 'better make another Zombie game'.

As of late, there has been an over saturation of Zombie games and Zombie media. The latest of these being the PS3 exclusive, The Last of Us. Seeing trailers and gameplay, I see nothing spectacular about the game other than it looks like Uncharted: Zombie Edition. Don't get me wrong, Naughty Dog have probably done a great job yet again with graphics and gameplay, but the premise is as old as the some of the Zombies you have to beat to death. I mean, now we probably see more zombie games coming out per year than any other genre, probably because zombies are seemingly able to fit in to any genre with ease. First and Third Person shooters, RTS, DOTA games, you name it there's probably a zombie game dedicated to it.

I know people complain about the lack of innovation that has come into the industry, where the most innovative thing to come into a series is a dog with a flak jacket (have a guess what game that is...), but just because you're a new Intellectual Property, that doesn't meant you NEED to be a zombie game. Obviously there is a lot of good zombie games out there, like Left 4 Dead, Dead Rising, Day Z etc, but that fact is they came out spread out enough for each to stand alone as 'not another zombie game' release. When you look at the release line up and at least 4 of the next 10 games out happen to be about there slow moving sods, you start to grow as tired of them as internet reviewers do of first person shooters.

Another problem I have with these zombie games is the setting. Of course, for these games to really work they need to be set in the 'post-apocalyptic' world. Shambling monstrosities wouldn't look as threatening in an open park on a sunny day, would they? The problem I have is that it's become a device for people who can't be bothered to do research into a historical period. It's like someone in an office once said:
Guy 1: "Hey, let's make a game where you play the role of a normal person during a historically relevant time!"
Guy 2: "That would mean research and effort wouldn't it?"
Guy 1: "Well, of course, yeah. But..."
Guy 2: "POST-APOCALYPSE WORLD!!!"
I know some games need it, but others just make the market seem over saturated, especially when zombies are added.

I would just like to see some new games with different antagonists, the kind that can think and not just stumble at you until you hit them enough. I heard someone recently asking for a come back of Pirates as villains in games, and I think its a good idea. We have a couple of new games coming out with that premise, but maybe not enough. Personally, I would like to see more mundane and realistic things twisted and manipulated into threatening objects of terror. For me, the idea of humans being manipulated to turn against you is far scarier and more threatening than brainless shuffling zombies.

Again, this is only my opinion, but if we carry on abusing the use of zombies in media, it will become even less scary than Vampires and Werewolves have become in recent years...