30 December 2012

[2012] Top 10 Zombie Games

As gamers, we have an unhealthy obsession of the undead, specifically Zombies.



Zombies, Walkers, Roamers, whatever you want to call them, the idea of a person dying and reanimating, then blowing their brains out with the double-barreled shotgun is nothing but mouth-watering gaming goodness. And as gamers, we do have a wide selection of where we can get our fix. I have comprised a list of where we can get this fix.

I will also say that these are in no particular order.

1. Call of Duty Zombies


Since the release of Call of Duty: World at War [WaW], we have been shown how awesome the combination of a Nazi and Zombie really is. In the original release, WaW provided the side game of Zombies which involved various survival maps which pinned you and your teammates against increasingly hard waves of Zombies. From there, Call of Duty from Treyarch continued to include the Call of Duty Zombies side game. In the most recent release, Call of Duty Black Ops 2, showed us a episodic style to the Zombies game where you visited various stops via bus while uncovering the events behind the Zombie apocalypse.

Call of Duty Zombies is certainly a popular game and very fun to play with friends only.

Platforms: PC, PS3, XBOX 360
Must have: Call of Duty World at War, Call of Duty Black Ops, Call of Duty Black Ops 2

http://callofduty.wikia.com/wiki/Zombies_(mode)


2. DayZ


DayZ has quickly become a popular mod game with a dedicated fanbase. Adding on to the ARMA II engine/game, DayZ brings a open-map survival game. Not only are you fighting for survival from Zombies, but also from other players. As supplies are scarce in the world, you find competition with other players for medical and ammunition supplies to defend yourself in the world.

The game mod is still in Alpha development and still has some bugs, so some forgiveness is expected when playing the game. The physics and the zombies are not exactly perfect themselves, but the game play is still challenging.

Platforms: PC Only.
Must have: ArmA II: Combined Operations game installed

http://dayzmod.com/

3. The War Z


Update:
In the comments we were pointed to all the problems and controversies surrounding this game. From this, this game is pulled from this list. Please check out the Reddit.com post for more information here.

War Z can be compared with Day Z however, this game is developed as stand-alone. No other game is required to play.

War Z is the first MMO Zombie survival game and not subscription based. Pay once, play always. The game is open-world and puts you against other players. While you can organise and run as clans, however it only takes a bullet to shot you down and lose your supplies and have to start again.

The Zombies and environment are relatively detailed and contains various features that make the game more immersive. This game is still in development but so far proves to be a very captive game.

Platform: PC Only

http://thewarz.com/




4. ZombiU


ZombiU is the first game to use two screens to put you against Zombie and survival combat. While shooting zombies on your TV, your health and radar is displayed on the controller display. In other occasions, you will be picking the lock of a door, on the controller display while a horde of Zombies continue to approach you on your TV. This degree of pressure makes the game more challenging and tests how well you can work under pressure.

Platform: Nintendo Wii U Only

http://zombiu.ubi.com/zombi/en-US/home/index.aspx


5. Resident Evil franchise


Since its first release on PlayStation in 1996, Resident Evil franchise has been serving some serious level of Zombie/mutation killing. From Zombie infested mansions to the devastation of Racoon City, there have been 23 releases of the Resident Evil game. This the first step in your Zombie video game education.

Platform: PlayStation 1/2/3, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo 64, XBOX 360, PC and other platforms

http://www.residentevil.com/


6. Left 4 Dead series


Left 4 Dead series, developed by Valve, is a FPS game encouraging multiplayer co-op. From the beginning you take the place of one of four team members who then embark on a journey through towns infested with Zombies and mutants. The game is not much Solo and you can only get the most when Online with others.

Platforms: XBOX 360, PC, Mac, Linux (Left 4 Dead 2 Only)

http://www.l4d.com/blog/

7. The Walking Dead series


Coming of the comic book, The Walking Dead is a point-to-point story game that follows the main character, Lee Everett, a convicted killer, to finding is family but along the way finds a little girl and together try and find their family.

The game is intelligent in its story telling and often crosses the path of characters from the comic book series, which is exciting for those who have read the comics.

Platforms: PC, Mac, PlayStation 3, XBOX 360, Apple iOS

http://www.telltalegames.com/walkingdead


8. Dead Island


Trapped on a island resort you wake to find the island is now infested with Zombies and it is now a fight for survival. The game puts emphasis on melee weapons above guns, while allowing you to modify weapons to increase their impact on enemies.

Zombies in Dead Island range from your standard dude wanting to bite you, to acid-spewing dude or big dude with bone knives. Being partly online, it will allow other gamers to jump in on your game unexpected and "help" you out. However, you can disable your game from going online.

Platforms: PC, XBOX 360, PlayStation 3, OnLive

http://deadisland.deepsilver.com/

9. Dead Rising series


Dead Rising first debuted on the XBOX 360 in 2006 and was notable for the ability to use most object in the game as weapons along with guns, bats, 2x4 planks of wood and more. The first game you played as Frank who is a free-lance photographer sent into a town isolated by the US Military which turns out to be infested with Zombies. Along with killing Zombies and general survival, you score more point and achievements by capturing photos of Zombies in unusual unique positions.

After the initial release, there were DLCs and later a sequel which follows the story of a motocross champion who fights an infestation in Nevada.

Platforms: XBOX 360, PlayStation 3 and PC

http://www.dead-rising.com/

10. Plants vs. Zombies


Not ashamed to put this in the list. For casual gamers, Plants Vs. Zombies has been a long running classic which has you strategically placing plants, fruits, nuts and other obsticals to prevent zombies reaching your house. Simply, challenging and addictive.

Platforms: PC, Mac, PlayStation 3, XBOX, Mobile and other.

http://www.popcap.com/games/plants-vs-zombies/online

What's your favourite Zombie game? Leave a comment below.

23 December 2012

Steam for Linux is now here

It has been long anticipated and now there is a public beta. Steam has release a client for the Linux operating system, specifically supporting Ubuntu 12.04 and later.

Installing the client is as easy as it is on any other OS and works much the same. On the first run, I was forced to download an update for the client. Pretty much expected that.

Anyway I record some video of the interface and it running under Ubuntu. Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

 

The Walking Dead in Black and White

Next year the creators of The Walking Dead televisions series will be re-releasing the series in black and white. Does seem like much but after watching the Pilot episode done in black and white, I can say increases the affect of the horror in the show.

I thought I would share some screenshots from the black and white pilot.

Enjoy!



Coming Soon: Elder Scrolls Online

Building on the already popular Elder Scrolls game series, the new Online game will bring the popular open world game to a MMO format.

As you will see in the video below, the creaters have built the world to encourgae exploration and social interaction along with the standard quests you have come to love. The games supports various gameply styles from running solo to large groups.

The creates have also built the game off a "Megaserver" concept. Meaning that everyone is on one big server, rather than spliting up regions and server sets. This helps locating and joining friends for raids much easier.

We expect to see Elder Scrolls Online to be released early 2013

Check out the video below and let us know what you think in the comments below.