If you're still with me here, I'd like to thank you for continuing to read my post. I don't want to turn people off to my posting, but by writing about the world, games, or pretty much anything, certain topics need to be addressed even if they're uncomfortable. On that note, I'd like to bring to your attention the sheer mass of zombie everything that has been popular for the past fifty years or so. Zombie movies, games, tabletops, the "what weapon would you use in the event of a zombie apocalypse" quizzes on your Facebook feeds, etc. I always make a joke about learning how to use my bow "in the event of a zombie apocalypse" because they are quieter than guns and I can make my own ammo. But! why is it exactly that we love retelling such a modern myth, especially in video games and what does that say about our culture and society in general? Why are games such an efficient medium to convey the how of such an event?
The psychological issues alone are worth discussing. After getting through it, having to live in it, and in Ellie's case not knowing any different are something to think about. How would you behave?
To put it simply, it's a release of tension and "play acting" of our society in the event that something like this does happen. We might have vastly different fears such as terrorism, our growing lack of privacy as the whole Snowden issue is currently playing out, or the issue of the income gap making the rich richer and the poor poorer. Whatever the reasons in real life, giving a dehumanized (and thus, killable thing) to push all our anger and fear at, our society can release tension and then begin to rationalize what all this means for our future. As I will come back to when I post later on about robots & androids, there's this uncanny valley that we all subconsciously categorizes humanlike beings into which you can find here. This includes dolls, puppets, furries (if you have to ask...), androids (I would suggest watching Bladerunner or reading Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and Isaac Asimov's laws of robotics to get an idea of the separation issues between humans and androids), and dead people aka zombies. It's a good indicator in video games in general if a game is "good" graphics wise in some cases if this valley can be suspended somewhat or why something that might be a little too realistic might be a bad thing.
While this identification can be a good thing sometimes like the case of a transformer or Astro Boy, it generally leaves a sense of unease, especially in the case of constant interaction and the issues that arise. Think about what Data from Star Trek The Next Generation had to deal with and how he changed through the seasons to become more human to bridge this gap in the valley.
In the case of zombies, and specifically video games zombies, their humanness has been doubly distanced to the point that they become walking shooting targets of which many of us had a great time rekilling in classic arcade games like the House of the Dead series, and Resident Evil/Biohazard series, and a multitude of others. In many cases, they are the basic unit of a game, being noob fodder for players in tutorial levels and whatnot. I'm currently playing the last of us and the rendering and mechanics for the Clickers in the game is a nice deviation from the traditional zombie.
How the zombie is infected or killed and reraised is sometimes of consequence, but for all intensive purposes mechanics wise, you're meant to exterminate them or put them to rest. By coming back to a problem we'd thought we'd dealt with already, the comparison of having to "fix" one's past mistakes or "ghosts" lends me to ask the question of how comfortable people are with responsibility on a micro and macro level. Most of us know that dealing with an issue at the advent of an issue rather than running away is usually best, but sometimes we aren't prepared to take on these monsters and have to regroup. But, knowing that such things are lurking out there, we can never feel quite safe until we can clear a room and search every nook and cranny, especially if we're trying to flee from beings like Slenderman (or problems that we know we can't get away from and have no ability to halt or stop from coming to get you.)
Oh hell no...
When you think about it then, each tweak on the classic undead monster trying to nom your brains out could be a particular issue that we as a society might be going through at that time. This of course includes not just zombies but aliens as well, which though similar has some different undertones. Facing a zombies specifically means that at one point this thing was a rational human being that for the most part had the same issues as we the players do. They probably don't want to eat you if they knew what they were doing and retained their humanity, which is why the runners in The Last of Us and some "smarter" zombies are that much more pitiable to kill, because they are trying to resist but unable to, and that we would be in the same position if not for some random reason or skill that has prevented us being being killed/eaten yet.
This lack of agency and control is a fear all of us have when dealing with these situations. Putting it all in the context of an apocalypse only amplifies such fears further. That there might be millions of these things across the globe if not billions? That's a frightening thought indeed. The next time you're playing a survival horror game (think resiliency in spite of _____ ) ponder exactly why and how you're suppose to deal with your situation. Can there be a cure? Is it something that must be exterminated in order for humanity to start anew? And how do these particular issues reflect what is going on right now in the world.
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