Zombie Research Society
The Zombie Research Society was recently contacted by GamesRadar+ to offer our opinion on seven of the most popular zombie video games. Specifically, we were asked to evaluate a number of factors including the biological cause of the plague itself, physical representation of the undead, and how accurately each game depicted survival during the apocalypse.
Obviously there was no one more qualified than our resident survival expert and Advisory Board member Cameron Carlson. So, we arranged an interview with author Alex Avard to discuss everything from video game mechanics to narrative design. There was also a heavy emphasis on world-building techniques and the mythos of each particular game as well.
In the new GamesRadar+ article, Alex describes how his fascination with video games and the undead eventuallty led him to discover the Zombie Research Society. We’d also like to thank him for reaching out to us and promoting our efforts to educate, entertain, and inform the public about the inevitable zombie apocalypse. After all, what you don’t know can eat you!
How do you study something that, technically speaking, doesn’t really exist? While zombies have been a staple of pop culture for decades, their origin stems from Haitian folklore dating back to the 17th century. Yes, there’s certain pathologies and diseases in the natural world that bear a few similarities with the walking dead that we all know and love, but the common zombie otherwise has no determinable basis in scientific fact or reality.
Still, that doesn’t stop some of us (i.e. me) from lying awake at night, wondering how best we might surviving the inevitable rise of the living dead, and an official Zombie Research Society was formed in 2006 with a mission to study “the historic, cultural, and scientific study of the living dead.” With the release of Days Gone nearly here, the ZRS’ very own Cameron Carlson spoke to us about some of his favourite depictions of zombies in video games so far, while offering his unique insight on how best to survive some of these interactive dystopias.
For those of you who don’t remember, Cameron Carlson teamed up with Major Nelson of Xbox Live and helped zombie-proof Microsoft Studios to celebrate the upcoming release of Dead Rising 4. His expertise in disaster preparedness, and vast experience with a variety of weapons and survival gear, provided an entertaining take on some of the funny, ridiculous, and very unusual Weapon Combos featured in that hugely popular video game franchise.
But how does your favorite game series stack up against the competition? Cameron breaks down seven of the most popular zombie video games including Resident Evil, The Last of Us, and State of Decay. Swing by GamesRadar+ to read the article and find out, because we don’t want to spoil the surprise! Just remember that Cameron is an epidemiologist, survival expert, and natural born leader. So maybe a certain game developed by Undead Labs and published by Microsoft Studios managed to push all the right buttons and come in first place (hint, hint.)
Obviously you’ll have your own opinion, and we’re sure that GamesRadar+ would love to hear about it. So check out the original article by Alex Avard and comment below. Let us all know which video game series accurately depicts the inevitable zombie apocalypse best and why!