Tired of zombies?

[TissueBox]

Been a few. Have zombies gone a little stale for you yet or is it still a sturdy fix of drama, gore, survival action and social commentary?

Personally, I felt zombie'd out around Shaun of the Dead. 'Tis also why The Last of Us just barely skirted past the margins into genuinely great narrative territory for this 'ol tissue box, especially after the quite decent TWD Telltale games -- strongly written story, but just not the most interesting IP. Which, WELL, applies to most good modern zombie media for moi nowadays, patooie!!

On that note, what's your favorite piece of zombie-related fiction/media? Dawn of the Dead ('78) still sits at the throne in mine eyes. 🙃

 

[Peru]

I'm tired of zombies in games. I don't play games with zombies these days.

In movies, it's up and down. I wouldn't mind some more classic Romero-style zombies.

 

[bushmonkey]

Zombies as a concept are fine. There's a lot of stories you can tell with that premise but everyone is telling the same story and using zombies in exactly the same way these days and that's the issue.

 

[Cheesy]

Nah, always fun fodder to shoot at.

 

[julia crawford]

in movies yes, in games i'm ok with it

 

[Soj]

I was tired of zombies 20 years ago.

 

[Adventureracing]

I'll say the same thing I say in all similar threads. As long as it's good I'll be there, I don't tend to get burnt out on things like this as long as the quality is there.

 

[Khanimus]

Yes. Mechanically, narratively, and thematically.

Not only is it a boring enemy type, zombie fiction just constantly repeats the same conservative prepper shit over and over again until you find some human faction that's like a bunch of pseudo-fascists or cultists and the story goes "WHAT IF MAN WAS THE REAL MONSTER?!?!"

 

[MrCibb]

Nope, the opposite right now. I think the Resi 2 remake was the best modern example of zombies being done really well, so if anything I'm less tired of them than I was after playing that. I want more of that.

 

[TissueBox]

I'll defer, I am more burned out from heavy, dramatic zombie stories in particular, not necessarily good craftsmanship with zombies in the foreground.

Train to Busan was what had lil' 'ol me realizing that despite actually being a very good thriller, the story being relatively normal zombie fare made it significantly less impactful -- even though it executed it very, very well. So if a work is story driven and zombie-oriented, Tissuebox's zombie fatigue will probably show up to poop om the party, even IF it's good. >_<

Stuff like Resident Evil, on the other hand, gets a pass, as it has exemplified AAA survival action/horror at its finest in recent years and includes an assortment of enemy types and crazy plot devices to spice it schmice it, all of which can remain enjoyable with or without the zombie plot. ^^'

 

[VAD]

I don't really care as long as the story is compelling. Zombies are just window dressing for the actual drama.

 

[McNum]

Yes, been so for years.

I'm tired of zombies. I'm even more tired of zombies that are called something else, but functionally are still zombies. And if the story is about how humanity are the real monsters, it can kindly go away and come up with some original material.

If you're going to have undead hordes, why not skeletons? Especially ones that make xylophone sounds when they fall over.

 

[Fleck0]

George Romero's Land of the Dead in 2005 was when zombies jumped the shark. In the early 2010s I was out, games, comics, movies and TV were over saturated with the living dead.

Mummies have always been the thinking person's Zombie.

 

[Necromanti]

I'm more surprised at the lack of creativity when it comes to the subject. Time to throw out the old tropes and invent some new ones.

 

[Paroni]

It's OK enemy type in video games and appropriate in fantastical fiction with necromancy, but media centered entirely around them is quite tiresome.

 

[Raven1221]

I think it is used as metaphor. And it is important. So no, I am not tired of this.

 

[Trick_GSF]

nah, zombos are cool

 

[AvianAviator]

Can't get tired of media you don't consume.

(Though I loved State of Decay 2 and am eagerly awaiting 3.)

 

[toy_brain]

No, not tired at all.
They serve a useful purpose in games in that they provide a human-like enemy to target, but have a pre-made excuse for very simple AI, and sidestep any moral issues in killing them (again), because they are 'already dead'. They also aren't tied to a single region, religion, gender, or ethnic group, so as long as you include enough variations in your zombie assets, which *should* sidestep any accusations of xenophobia or bigotry.

I have over 100 hours in Zombie Army 4, and have a number of Zombicide board games, with Zombicide: Undead or Alive on its way.
Not tired of popping zombie heads at all.

 

[Sacrilicious]

Nope, not really.

I was sick of it like 10 years ago, when it seemed like every game was jumping on the zombie bandwagon.

But right now I'm indifferent, I haven't paid attention to zombie games but I wouldn't be opposed to playing a good one.

 

[Saladin]

I'm not only tired but got bored for years now. Do something else, its getting absurd.

In both games and movies, zombies were overused like if there isn't anything else they can put

 

[EYEL1NER]

I would have been maybe 10-15 years ago but I don't feel like there is as much zombie media coming out as there used to be. I mean, it's there but I don't feel like everything is zombies every which way I look.

 

[THErest]

I wouldn't say I'm tired to the point of rejecting something good--like RE2 remake, for instance.

But yeah, it's gotten old. Also tired of the purists who say "that's not real zombies though" when I bring up how played out the genre is.

 

[NekoFever]

There was a phase about 10-12 years ago when "x with zombies!!!1" was getting annoyingly overdone, but I feel like things have reverted back to a normal and bearable levels now and would happily watch a decent new zombie movie.

 

[Rei Toei]

Little bit but still think as a mechanic there's interesting things to do with the good ol' undead. Days Gone, warts and all, was on the right path for example with an open world and fast zombies. And though I'm skeptical of The Day Before, I totally see The Division style gameplay (and co-op) work with zombie content.

In movies and series, nothing really interesting has come out for a quite a while it seems, save the indie scene doing something interesting now and then. Thinking Fido, The Battery, etc. Oh, The Girl With All The Gifts was kinda neat.

 

[Tavernade]

I feel like there was a time where I was interested in stuff because it had zombies, and now stuff with zombies needs to give me a different reason for being interested.

 

[More_Badass]

There hasn't been zombie media to be tired of in a long time. Hollywood zombie media is pretty dead. But the international scene is thriving. Korea is the current king with stuff like Train To Busan, Kingdom, All of Us Are Dead, Dark Hole, Happiness, etc. Movies and shows like that show how the genre can feel fresh and engaging

 

[Blade24070]

There are only so many times you can tell us the same old "humans are the real monsters" story before it all blends together.

 

[Dervius]

I find zombie stories very comfortable, familiar territory. Generally you know the rules, and there is an incredibly broad spectrum of good and bad media associated with it depending on your tastes.

As far as best zombie media goes the World War Z book is one of the best examples I can think of. It's just excellent, takes itself very seriously, has some creative takes on zombie situations beyond some of your typical fare across the world and is delivered in a riveting way.

For games, State of Decay 2 remains one of my favourites because it combines elements of community management as well as survival and action. Your selection of community members and their personalities can conflict in new ways, or benefit your enclave. Alongside permadeath and some incredibly robust modifiers you can make it almost any kind of zombie experience you want.

I fully understand how people can find it tiresome, but the familiarity is part of the appeal for me.

EDIT:

The Battery

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This has made me think of some of the better indie films in the space, like Here Alone or The Third Wave which take very well trodden material and make something genuinely compelling out of it, even if isn;t necessarily new.

 

[Zombine]

I love Zombies, I just hate how Kirkman's zombies replaced Romero. The Walking Dead oversaturated zombie fiction by trying to speed run through any and all available potential storylines that someone else could have explored either in their own universe or an existing one. I still love TWD (comic), but I do believe that Kirkman and AMC ultimately gave us too much. It feels like they have a zombie monopoly and I sort of hate it.

 

[WyLD iNk]

Never. Give me gore and interesting decomp. I can live forever on that stuff.

 

[Crossing Eden]

I genuinely believe that RE8 would've been a better game if the enemies were zombies instead of werewolves so no

 

[Modest_Modsoul]

No.

Not yet.

 

[elyetis]

I'm happy to see that I'm not the only one who isn't tired of zombies but more specifically of the fact they keep using it as an excuse to actually make a story about how human are the real monster in that setting.

I'm not saying they need make every human some kind of saint, but there is a line between selfish and evil. The most recent show about zombies I watched was All of Us Are Dead, and while I still liked it god damn it would have been much better without that trope.

 

[jobrro]

Never been really interested in things because of zombies but I suppose I was interested in them inspite of them due to hype/acclaim (Walking Dead Telltale which lead to TV series for me, TLOU).

Now I would likely avoid starting a
new IP that was related to zombies.

 

[Nateo]

Nope havent had a good zombie movie in a while. And Zombie horror shops are basically non existant.

 

[Rassilon]

I like zombie types as fodder in addition to other enemies.

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

No. I don't watch a ton of zombie stuff. But, they are like right behind Nazis on my list of shit I will never get tired of killing in video games.

 

[Sidebuster]

kind of. They're an easy monster for media, but they get old quickly as a main because there is not much else going on. You can only add so many unique variants to make them a little more interesting. But ultimately they're boring.

 

[Ernest]

Zombie stories never have satisfying endings - either everyone dies, or there's a cure - there's really no other way to end one.
And they have no idea how to end something like Walking Dead.
The only zombie movie with a somewhat satisfying ending is Shaun of the Dead.

 

[Ryuelli]

Not at all.

I wish Red Dead had an Undead Nightmare 2.

 

[Deleted member 9241]

Best and greatest generic bad guy of all time next to nazis.

 

[kirby_fox]

As someone with an irrational fear of the zombie uprising, I have been tired for years.

 

[Annubis]

Not until I get my zombie movie a la District 9.

 

[Sunster]

Not at all.

I wish Red Dead had an Undead Nightmare 2.

Click to shrink...

Rockstar stopped caring about Red Dead years ago. They'd rather continue to develop the decade old GTA 5

 

[Deleted member 25606]

No. I don't watch a ton of zombie stuff. But, they are like right behind Nazis on my list of shit I will never get tired of killing in video games.

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I second this.

 

[Ryuelli]

Rockstar stopped caring about Red Dead years ago.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, but I didn't.

 

[Sunster]

Yeah, but I didn't.

Click to shrink...

same. i started the game like a year ago and put off trying RD Online until after i got 100% completion and all achievements in single player. That was a bug mistake because when i finally got into Online it was already dead.

 

[eXistor]

Kind of. A well-executed zombie movie (or show) is great, but generally speaking they're played out and people don't really do anything new with them.

 

[Snarfington]

I'm not tired of zombies, but I am tired of the "contagion outbreak zombie apocalypse" thing. I want more weird occult zombie shit or some other weird reason for it to be happening. I quite like how Call of Duty has done its zombies stuff over the years by making it occult or otherwise weird even while still doing the "wow how did it escape from a lab" thing. I just kinda sigh and yawn at "virus outbreak creates zombie world" shit nowadays.