On Why Zombies is Addictive

[perfectlemonade]

On Why Zombies is Addictive

You clicked on this thread. You’re reading it. For that, I thank you tremendously. It really means a lot to me that you take the time out of your day to click on my little thread and actually read it (up to this point, at least).

Okay, the heartfelt, teary-eyed thank you’s are out of the way. We can all take a deep breath now. But no, seriously, what I want to share with you today is a very special thread of mine.

Ever since about this time last year, when I really started getting hooked on Zombies, I’ve always been awed by the sheer addictiveness of it. The analogy of Zombies being a drug seems to be thrown around quite a bit, but it is oh so true. Once you’re set up, seeing the zombies sprint at you aimlessly but destined to never, ever catch up then blasting them away with a Pack a Punched 74u, you just can’t stop. You want to, you need to pee, you need to eat, you need to sleep, but there are zombies to be slain. And you just can’t stop doing it.

You just can’t.

Why? Well, I’ve decided that there are five ‘basic’ aspects of Zombies that sets it apart from all the others: kiting, the depth of the characters, unpredictability, the storyline, and some miscellaneous stuff. This is what it comes down to, in my mind. These five things. So, let’s start off with the first difference maker: kiting.

Kiting

Ah, kiting. An abuse of zombie mechanics that conjures up both highly negative and highly positive responses, depending on the player. Most feel that it is as necessary to the game as a gun or Juggernog. Others—mainly the players that have played Zombies twice and consider it too easy—feel that kiting is hopelessly boring. In a way, I think we can all agree with this crowd. Kiting can get redundant in a curiously short amount of time, yes, that isn’t up for discussion anymore. But the power one feels in his/her hands whilst kiting is remarkable, to say the least. To take advantage of the zombies’ very way in which they exist and use it to your advantage is just… exhilarating. Some call it unfair, perhaps even glitching. And perhaps it is. But it is necessary, and it is downright FUN and completely engrossing. All other things become secondary when kiting. I was late for the first day of school this year because I was too busy kiting in the Biodome. My parents find the hypnotic traits of kiting and, to a certain degree, I myself, to be rather worrisome. I regret this, but at the same time, I look at it with fondness. I suppose this comes with addiction though.

With kiting also comes an outstanding family of different, exotic varieties. You have your, your figure 8’s, your full map loops, your simple circles and simple squares and simple polygons, your crescent cutbacks, your blatant overuse of consonance (that last one isn’t real). The possibilities are endless. If there’s even the smallest space for one to run around in, it can be used a kiting area. It may be difficult, and you may want to quit at times, but it certainly can be done. If you think you can kite in a certain location, you can kite in that certain location with practice and effort. And that’s why it’s so awesome. Anyone can do it, but you’ve got to work at it. You’ve got to think outside of the box sometimes. Feeling adventurous? Go on a quest through Ascension to figure out a way to kite in the sickle room. When you beast at it, put it on Youtube! Show it off to the world! Like this!

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But alas, even when risking your butt to figure out new kiting spots, it can get boring rather quickly. I don’t have much to say when it comes to this front, except that I have found, on very long and tiring games on both co-op and solo that it helps tremendously with the overwhelming boredom of endless kiting if one were to switch kiting locations with the other player for just a round or two. This will certainly make you play differently, and will make your game much more enjoyable. Who cares if it’s difficult to kite in a tight spot? It’s a lot more fun that way!

Now, there is a small controversy that has been brewing ever since popular Youtube personality TheSyndicateProject took up Zombies. For those of you that don’t believe in Youtube or live under rocks, TheSyndicateProject, or just Syndicate, coined the act of kiting zombies ‘rape training’ when doing so was in its infancy, when people thought that the one and only strategy was holing up in a corner and waiting for the zombies to slowly trickle in. The term rape training strikes up a fury of emotions in just about all of our zombie slaying hearts. I, for one, find the term to be not entirely that offensive, but at the same time I tend to not use it for sometimes words are the sharpest of swords. I mean, why use the term ‘rape’ when you know that it could offend someone? It’s not a good way to live your life. So that’s that. Rape training, kiting, conga lines, what have you, it is all the same: complete zombie destruction and abuse. DELICIOUS!

The Depth of the Characters

Before I say anything, let’s take a quick look at the four main hero’s backgrounds, as well as some other playable characters:

Nikolai Belinski

Nikolai. What a dude. A former Bolshevik politician that worked his way up the governmental ladder by marrying politically then killing his wives, Nikolai has always been one of the funniest of the group. After one of his political schemes was foiled, he found himself on the front lines against the Nazis, where he was captured and sent to one Edward Richtofen for further experimentation. Between his capture and the Shi No Numa, our friend Nikolai developed a severe addiction to vodka. Seriously, like half of this guy’s lines revolve around getting more vodka. He really hates fellow playable character Takeo Masaki, and Richtofen has an unnatural fondness of him. He likes Tank well enough.

Takeo Masaki

Japanese warrior. Lives and dies for honor. Mostly the quiet one of the group, but sneaks in a sly joke every now and again, though most of these are nauseatingly bad puns. He was taken prisoner by Richtofen and further tested on by him. Early on, Takeo was a complete mess. All he knew was Japanese proverbs, unnecessarily loud quotes that do not at all fit his character, and honor. His memory was caput. However, after spanning across decades fighting the undead, he’s beginning to remember what Richtofen did to him whilst he was conducting his experiments. And he really, really hates him for it, as well as Group 935, the league of sick and twisted doctors that Richtofen worked for. He’s always talking about getting revenge on them, especially waiting on the Pack a Punch. Well, that and honor. Except he talks about honor all the time. To the point where I sometimes mute the voice volume mid round because it’s just too much. Bleh.

Edward Richtofen

Ze doctor. Consumer of spleens, and now overlord of all things zombie. A sociopathic doctor that hears the voices of long forgotten souls after touching this pyramid on the moon in 1939, good ol’ Ed worked under one Ludvig Maxis at Group 935 developing all sorts of cool and very dangerous stuff, like teleporters, control of the undead, and the Wunderwaffe DG-2! He’s always been the most flamboyant of the gang, cracking extremely offensive jokes at the most inappropriate of times. He’s possibly gay, he really hates this little girl named Sam that’s always screwing him over, he wants to rule the world, and he really hates Americans, especially Tank. I mean, come on, what’s not to love? He’s the funniest video game character I’ve ever seen. But some, unfortunately, disagree. Richtofen is one of the characters that you either love or hate, sort of like caviar. Some love his gay, over the top, cannibalistic comments. Others hate him. Never have I once run into a player that is impartial to his quotes. This is the mark of a truly excellent character, and Edward Richtofen is a truly excellent character.

Tank Dempsey

An American Marine captured by 935 and sent to, you guessed it, Edward Richtofen to be tested on. The crazed doctor wiped his mind blank. Now all he knows is how to be a stereotypical American soldier fighting off endless waves of zombies. His quotes fit this stereotype quite well. Though I have noticed that he has evolved quite a bit since his first appearance, at heart he’s still that Marine stuck with a drunk Russian, a crazy doctor, and a quiet Japanese guy. All he wants is to lay back with a beer and a beautiful woman by his side. Nevertheless, he’s always been the feistiest of the group and really does not like Richtofen.

Okay, so that’s about it when it comes to the four main characters. On a few maps—Verruckt, FIVE, and Call of the Dead—there are some other playable characters, but none that has truly left a mark on all of us, except for maybe Danny Trejo on Call of the Dead. I love Danny Trejo.

So, I’m sure you’re wondering: “Perfect, why did you just give me this unnecessary biography of our heroes?” Well, I’m about to tell you why. Zombies has evolved since its Nacht der Untoten days of mute zombie slaying. It has become more than killing zombies. It has become a story, an epic. And as we know, every epic must have its hero(es)

Well, Zombies has four of them. Maybe 3 ½, if you take into account Takeo (sorry, couldn’t resist). Four heroes, often your only friend on high solo runs. The quotes can get so redundant so quickly that you mutter them in your sleep. But at the same time, you never grow tired of them. The almost creepily realism of these heroes can be your only sense of companionship and human interaction as the hours pass and night turns to morning. You start to develop emotions toward them. Feelings.

Maybe I’m crazy. No—I definitely am crazy—but when I go down and Nikolai cries for help, I feel a sudden pang of empathy toward him. I honestly want to help him, and I feel that good old Nikolai deserves better. He himself could kill zombies for an infinite amount of time, but I couldn’t. And I guess that kind of bugs me. I want to be worthy of playing as these characters.

Anyhow Zombies stopped being about zombies long ago. It’s about the characters now, and their struggles against endless threats not just to their lives, but to everything around them. It’s a story. It’s movie material. And there is something about this that makes me want more. So much more. When a new map hits the shelves, trying out the new wonder weapon isn’t my priority. Neither is chugging down the shiny new perk. No, for me, it’s laughing my ass off at the new quotes and watching in awe as these collections of pentagons morph into something else so, so much more complex: people. And as a storyteller myself, I look at Treyarch with an overpowering jealousy when I witness these characters grow and evolve with every map, with every time I play.

And that just makes me do it even more.

Unpredictability

Okay, so remember when I said that kiting can get boring ridiculously fast? Well, I lied. Sort of. For all you solo players out there, this doesn’t really apply much to you until we start talking about the later maps. Sorry. But we gotta talk co op here first.

It’s complete chaos. That’s what co op is, especially when your teammates aren’t exactly… reliable. It’s a clusterfudge of epic proportions. Bodies flying through the cold sky left and right, Gersches and Monkeys being thrown with complete abandon, inconvenient traps turned on by your random teammate turned on and cornering you and making you really, really want to rage and cross map revive parties and going down and the game ending and just wishing, wishing that you would’ve gone left instead of right, right instead of life and little kids yelling at you about how much you suck at Zombies and just laughing and just living in the moment and eagerly anticipating to try it all again and God, it’s just fun. It’s just awesome.

I used to think that Zombies was horrifying. I mean, they were so real! So fast! Aaaaahh! I think I was in 7th grade when I first played. At my best friend's house. We played Nacht for hours upon hours, and I think that the highest we got was round ten, tops. I was always going down, he was always going down, zombies appeared from thin air, ray guns appeared in wooden crates that supply you with cool guns. By the time the night was done, I knew Nacht from top to bottom. And I was addicted.

Why?

Because I didn’t know what to expect. Every game, it was something new. Something fresh and full of life (okay, death. It’s a euphemism!). New secrets to unlock. New guns to try. New reasons to scream at the top of my lungs in complete and total horror upon being swarmed by a dozen zombies. Neither Scott nor I wanted to stop.

The teamwork involved in Zombies is one of the biggest things that sets it apart from all others, in my opinion. If someone doesn’t—or is unable to—pull their weight, everyone will fail eventually. It doesn’t matter if you’re TheRelaxingEnd, if you don’t have dependable teammates, you’re gonna be in for a rough ride. And that’s why I love it. Maybe it’s because I’m such a generous, loving person (lol), but I love risking the game to revive someone, even the players who yell at me over the Internet and telling me how I fail at life because them going down was somehow my fault. It’s why I play, and I think it’s why a lot of people play. At the end of the day, it’s worth it. If I really happened to come across a base on the moon overrun with all kinds of zombies and demented machines with three of my friends—and this is just hypothetically thinking, all this stuff hasn’t actually happened to me. Yet—I would most definitely risk it all to save one of said friends. Because that’s just how the game is supposed to be played. And like I’ve already said, Zombies isn’t an arcade game or anything. You have an infinite number of attempts to get to your desired round. There’s no pressure, no rush or anything. So the next time you find yourself in the middle of a clusterfudge, why not risk reviving your downed teammate? What is there to lose? It’s fun. Good luck doing that in online multiplayer…

Live free or die trying. 50 Cent, yo!

Ignore that.

Okay, so now onto solo. We all know that solo is easier and much, much more predictable. Ever since the quadruple digit runs on Shi No Numa, hardcore solo players have taken a lot of heat. Well, have no fear! Because I’m about to change that!

It started with Der Reise. Treyarch knew that people were taking advantage of the system with these insane high rounds. They wanted something to spice things up a bit. So what did they do? Why, put hellhounds with zombies, of course! The randomly spawning dogs at Der Reise are both a refreshing twist and an absolute pain in the neck. No doubt it makes things more interesting in solo and co op, but in co op I feel you can deal with them a bit easier. The spawning is wider for the dogs in co op, so you get fewer dogs. Thankfully, the dogs are easy to kill, which is a Godsend. If they increased in health, getting past 40 on either co op or solo would be very, very difficult.

Anyways, I digress. Dogs are harder on solo because it seems to me that they spawn all around you. Instead of just spawning either in front of you or behind you like normal zombies do, they spawn from all directions. This is the reason high round Der Reise runs are so difficult, in my opinion, because you have to constantly be watching your six, or else you will surely be trapped by a dog.

Things sort of died down, and high rounds entered a short Renaissance with Kino (but not really FIVE. It is what it is.) before really exploding with Ascension. While Ascension is a joke of a map, the monkeys can be extremely difficult to deal with, which is why I feel that they are one of the most unpredictable—and thus infuriating—aspects of Zombies in its entirety. Face it, the worst way in the history of history to lose a revive on solo is by a monkey stealing it. It makes me so freaking mad I could punch a kitten. Okay, not really, I don’t punch adorable felines, but you get my point. Ascension monkeys=stupid. Co op, you can deal with them. But they are a royal pain solo.

Things took a turn for the worst in Call of the Dead. The unpredictability factor increased exponentially with the arrival of George Romero to the stage, pun intended. Call of the Dead itself is a map designed for co op. Solo is absolutely HORRIBLE. The Scavenger becomes worthless at round 50. Your only friends in the world is Sarah Michelle Gellar, some really crumby weather, countless zombies, and a really moody director with a stage light hammer thing that for some odd reason, gets pissed when he gets shot at. Weird, I know. Anyways, in co op, you can whisk ol’ Georgy away with an upgraded VR11 pretty easily, as someone should always have that anyways. However, it doesn’t really work like that. Most people will tell you that the VR11 isn’t worth a weapon slot, so you’re stuck with him. With a chuckling, giant, zombified old man that will kill you on just three hits with Juggernog. One stray bullet and you’re screwed. What George does when he gets hit is yelling. RAAAAAAH!!!! The screen gets blurry, the noise becomes buzzy, and you can’t move. You can’t turn left, you can’t turn right, you can’t sprint, you can’t walk, and you can’t dodge. The last is the most important, really. I absolutely hate it when I miss on a 74u shot and hit George, the all the zombies catch up to me as I try to recover from being stunned by his hammer attack thing. I am ultimately downed, and I rage and I throw my controller and it is not a pretty scene. It’s frustrating.

But at the same time, I kind of like George and his unpredictability. It keeps me sharp. Quick on my feet, er, fingers. Call of the Dead is overall an enjoyable, insanely difficult map on solo, with just the right balance of awesomeness and bullshiz. George, whether you admit it or not, makes Call of the Dead a lot more replayable because you just love seeing him suffer as you empty out your ammo into him. I know that’s why I’ve put up with that map…

Now, onto Shangri La. It’s definitely easier and, of course, more predictable on solo than it is co op on this map. No denying that. But there is one thing I’d like to say. There’s this complete bullshix spawn point in the mud pit for the lava man that makes me fear that pit with a burning passion. I hate going through there before the lava man has arrived. It freaks me out. Too many times have I gone down because he trapped me. SO STUPID. But besides that, Shangri La is pretty simple on solo. Not much complexity. You know what you’re getting on Shangri La, and that’s why I like it.

And lastly, we have Moon. The map that raised the bar, in my mind. Now, I know that there have been some decently high runs on Moon so far, and I’m sure that there will be more. But that’s not to say that solo Moon can turn from a cakewalk to a clusterfudge that can rival cross map revives on Shangri La in a very short amount of time. Let’s say you go down. Well, that’s no Jug for you. Now let’s say that the lady comes over the intercom and informs you that Excavator Epsilon, I believe, will come and screw you and the Biodome completely if you don’t stop it in two minutes. You can’t just abandon all hope and let your game end like that. But you can’t just leave the Bidome without any protection! You’ll be dead!

There’s no good outcome on Moon for a situation such as this on Moon. You’re dead. Solo on Moon is as easy as Ascension for 99.9% of the time. But that .1%, it becomes the hardest map in the game. It’s where champions are made.

Black Ops went out with a bang (literally!) with Moon and its unpredictability. They built their maps on unreliability. And that’s why I’m still playing today.

Storyline

YES! I’ve been waiting to write this since I first conceived the idea for this thread. I freaking love the storyline! I mean, who doesn’t? Everyone enjoys seeing the events unfold before their very eyes, as new secrets are unlocked with every passing day? The storyline in of itself is extremely complicated and as brain-melting as Einstein’s theory of relativity. There’s time travel. There’s double crosses, friends becoming enemies and enemies becoming friends. There’s an assortment of bad guys, countless antagonists, and an infinite number of things that could go wrong to end the story once and for all that, somehow, someway, just doesn’t happen. In the land of Treyarch’s Zombies, there are an uncountable number of ways to fail, and only one way to succeed. And even then, you don't really succeed. You just die slower.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. To properly explain why the Storyline makes Zombies, well… Zombies, we have to get a little background on just what our heroes have to deal with. And if I get anything wrong, my deepest apologies from my perfectlemonade heart. I know the main gist of it, but I'm not that familiar with it, so most of this is coming straight off Tac n Shooter's Epic Timeline

So, there’s this element, right? It’s called Element 115, and it has some… unique properties, to say the least. All of Zombies is based around 115. Without 115, there would be no zombies. There would be people. What creates zombies is not a virus or demonic possession or anything, it’s Element 115. Furthermore, 115 has teleporting abilities and powers the ultimate zombie slaying weapon: the Wunderwaffe DG-2.

When humans figured out how insanely badass 115 could be, they went nuts over it. Enter Group 935. A multinational organization headed by German scientist Ludvig Maxis, 935 quickly began unlocking the power on 115. In 1939, Edward Richtofen—Maxis’ right hand man—teleported from the earth to the moon, where he stumbled upon this pyramid thing called the MPD or the 'Vril Pyramid' that turns out to be the ultimate source of power in all of history. Richtofen touches this pyramid, and as a result becomes a crazed schizophrenic, a constant voice in his head slowly driving him to insanity. Then he is teleported to Shangri La, where he discovers the Vril-Ya. The Vril-Ya are this race that builds him a shrine and shows him the power of Vril energy, a secondary energy that is extremely prominent with the development of the storyline of Zombies. While all this is going on, Maxis agrees to side 935 with the Nazi Party, making them enemies of the United States, who is also starting to get in on 115 craze. A now insane Richtofen heads the building of a base on the moon—Griffin Station—to study the Vril pyramid. 935 begins testing on human subjects, particularly Nikolai Belinski and Takeo Masaki. When Richtofen’s assistants discover what the pyramid runs on, souls, Richtofen decides it’s time to act. While all of this is going on, the US sends in a team of 4 Marines to extract Peter McKay—an American spy—from Wittenau Sanitarium, but they are met with thousands of bloodthirsty zombies. Eventually, the Marines are overrun, and the leader of the group, Tank Dempsey, is captured by 935 and sent to Richtofen. The state of all three subjects quickly takes a turn for the worse as they are experimented on.

Running out of funding, Maxis ceases production of the Wunderwaffe DG-2, a weapon of unimaginable potential powered by 115. An enraged Richtofen puts his plan in motion, trapping Maxis and his daughter, Samantha, in the teleporter and whisking them off to exotic places. Turns out that Maxis got sent to Shangri La, and Samantha wound up at Griffin Station. Samantha somehow falls into the Vril Pyramid and becomes the evil, controlling little girl we all love today. Maxis gets teleported to the moon and tries to talk some sense into Samantha, then tells her to kill everyone. Some crazy stuff goes down, and BAM, we're set up for our beloved moon map.

Richtofen and his three test subjects are now on the run. Hated by Sam, zombies and other inconveniences start popping up everywhere, starting at Der Reise. The gang flees to a remote swamp in Japan: Shi No Numa.

Well, turns out there are zombies there too. As well as this badass new weapon that would change Zombies forever: the Wunderwaffe DG-2. They soon get overrun, where they return to (teleport?) to Der Reise. Our heroes then fall back to the teleporter, where Richtofen shoots it, overloading it with 115 and sending them 20 years into the future to Kino der Toten. Richtofen again overloads the teleporter, this time traveling to an abandoned Russian cosmodrome: Ascension. This is where his plan for revenge begins taking shape. Richtofen steals the Gersch device from the Ascension Group, basically the Russian equivalent of 935. They then travel forward in time to a large vault in the present day at an old Siberian shipwreck: Call of the Dead. With the help of some actors filming a movie at the shipwreck, Richtofen comes to possess a Vril-powered golden rod, part of the key to unlocking the Vril pyramid. The gang teleports again, this time to Shangri La. He snatches up Focusing Stone from the Vril-Ya’s shrine for him and presto, Richtofen now owns the Vril Generator.

Everything is now in place for the final showdown with Sam and Maxis. The gang teleports to the Moon from Area 51 in Nevada. There, he unlocks the Vril pyramid. After Richtofen takes Sam’s place in the pyramid, the crew frees an imprisoned Maxis. Maxis, in turn, blows up the Earth. And that’s the end. That’s the end of Black Ops Zombies. Leave us on a hook, why don't ya?!

^KABOOOOOOOOOOM!

Okay. **Takes deep breath** I’m done. That’s what Zombies is. A brain-melting tale of deception, paradoxes, and endless zombie killing. It’s epic. At times, it’s sad. At others, it’s hilarious. But, above all else, it is original. To incorporate a tale such as this into a video game would be a mindbogglingly daunting task. But the writers at Treyarch have done it. By George (heh), they pulled it off. And not only that, but they did an outstanding job with it. In terms of pure storyline, plot elements, overall quality of the epic that is Zombies, nothing can compete. Treyarch has put the storyline giants such as Valve and Bethesda to shame. Fallout or Portal will never even come close to the complexity of Zombies. Never.

But it’s not exactly the storyline that keeps me addicted. Well, it is. I want to know more. It’s like a good book. I want to keep reading, to keep playing. To look back at other maps to make sure I didn’t miss anything important. But it’s not really that. What always strikes me whenever I figure out more of the story is the way in which the story is told. It’s not like a movie, where the plot is laid out before you. You have to figure it out yourself. You are just as much the storyteller as you are the reader. I love how the tale of our heroes is told indirectly: through radios, ominous quotes, clues hidden about the map. It’s a mystery that you yourself must unravel. And God, do I love a good mystery. Especially ones that involve zombies. Just saying.

And yes, before you even say anything, I know that there are loads of other games like this out there. I mean, just go play Skyrim. You have to figure things out on your own. But Zombies is different. The nearly infinite amount of possibilities that Treyarch has crammed into this very finite space never ceases to fascinate me. Like I’ve said, for me and for many others, it’s not about killing Zombies anymore. It’s about what happens next. **laughs** It’s just so crazy how this has gone from a shy little bonus—an experiment—to one of the greatest games (and stories) of our generation.

The storyline has never grown old on me, and the twists and turns that happen with each chapter are always unexpected, a blindside to the brain as it melts it further into goo, completely overwhelmed by the complexity. I mean, at the end of Shangri La, I’m pretty sure no one expected Richtofen to take the place of a little girl in an alien pyramid while Maxis blows up the Earth. Seriously. The storyline will never be matched, in my opinion, and that’s that.

Miscellaneous

Name the last movie you saw or book you read or game you played where you were fighting zombies and basically the only way to survive was to drink a chemically-engineered soda that gave you superpowers. Go on, try. No, wait, don’t. I’ll save you the trouble.

There is none.

There is nothing else quite like Zombies out there. You can’t drink a soda to give you superhuman abilities in Halo. You can’t hop on some lander thing and fly from one end of the map to the other in Mass Effect. You can’t obliterate zombies with a super-compressed burst of air in Gears of War. You just… can’t. Because it’s special to Zombies.

So, we have our sodas, right? The sodas that you drink and give you perks? Yeah, well, that’s not all. Shoot, that’s not the least of it. The perks are cool, to say the least. I mean, the rewards themselves aren’t that extraordinary: extra health, faster reload time, explosive immunity, etc. But it’s the way in which they are presented that makes them so memorable. Each soda has a sort of ‘personality’ of its own. Some are regarded with almost religious approval, while others just love to be hated on (don’t worry, Deadshot, I know General Dempsey loves you). I know the flavors of each soda, except for Deadshot because no one cares about Deadshot except General Dempsey, and I know what soda each character has taken a liking to. Except Deadshot. I don’t care about Deadshot. I’m sure it tastes like a gym sock soaked in rubbing alcohol, though.

Okay, I sort of got off track there. Sorry. But when you get me talking about Deadshot, there is no stopping me until I’ve inflicted the maximum amount of emotional pain upon its soul. I’m sorry, I just feel like Treyarch was pressured into putting a new perk in Call of the Dead and didn’t want to give us Mule Kick yet, so they came up with something at the last second. I mean, seriously. ANYWAYS, yeah, Zombies is really just an all around original game. But it doesn’t stop at just perks. As already stated in great detail, the characters are overflowing with both charisma and corruption, humor and hate. But there is more. Treyarch took one of the greatest movie directors of all time in George Romero and MADE HIM INTO A GIANT LIGHTNING ZOMBIE. I often wonder how long it took for Treyarch to come up with the idea for George Romero. A long time, I’ll tell you that much. But it doesn’t stop there. Freaking zombie monkeys fall out of the sky and steal your perks. Weird guys take your guns. Astronaut people appear from thin air and give you really, really hard bearhugs. I could go on and on, to be honest. Most of this stuff has already been said.

But there’s one thing I haven’t really touched on.

Weapons. The crowning glory of Zombies—and all first person shooters, really—are the weapons. For most people, a weapon makes or breaks you. While this is not necessarily true in Zombies, it is definitely a large factor. The player that has the Wunder Weapon will usually have the most kills as well as the least amount of downs even if they are mediocre in skill. It undoubtedly makes the game easier. Most Wunder Weapons will act as an ‘oh shiz!’ as well as a potent killing force. And if you’re unlucky and fail to get the Wunder Weapon, you can always pack a punch a crossbow or your trust M1911 to give you that ‘oh shiz!’ that you normally get in a Wunder Weapon.

But the usefulness of weapons in Zombies isn’t exactly what makes them so awesome. Instead, it’s the sheer originality of them that really makes them memorable. They are downright creative and extremely fun to use. Take the 31-79 jgb215, also known as the ‘Babymaker’ to some people. The Babymaker is a rifle-sized weapon, powered by Vril energy, that turns normal zombies into minizombies that you can punt and kill for a short amount of time. Just read that over. A gun that lets you KICK ZOMBIES IN THE FACE. Insanely fun to use, and a laugh for everyone on the team as you hear the mini zombies being punted across the map. This is just the start. There are guns that completely obliterate zombies into nothing and another that swells up the zombies until they pop like a balloon. While I would always choose to have all of my perks over the Babymaker, I certainly wouldn’t complain if I got the 31-79 from the box.

And then, there are drops. These are random powerups given to you by killed zombies. These range from the carpenter, a powerup that boards up windows, to max ammos that, unsurprisingly, give you max ammo. If there were no max ammos, Zombies would be next to impossible. I'd be getting back my Thundergun every round past 40. It would be tough. Drops certainly add an addiction factor to the long runs. I often find myself praying to the Zombie gods to please, just give me one max ammo. I swear that I'll be a better person if you give me a max ammo. I swear.

Thank you oh mighty Zombie lord!

And that’s about it. That’s what makes Zombies… Zombies in my opinion. I’ve messaged a few other members asking them their take on what makes Zombies so addictive. If you’ve got anything else, tell me below and I might update it to make a new section.

Oh, and a big thanks to Tactical Insertion and ostonedshootero as well as Ehjookayted for their epic guides. They really helped me out. I couldn’t have made this without them. Okay, I’m out. PEACE.

Other Opinions

Piepwns- You see, zombies is like no other game. There are so many outcomes, cool features that come with upgraded guns and perks, easter eggs, achievements, challenges to make up and enjoy, and much more. It's like an role playing game where you start over every time. There are so many things that can happen, so many different strategies, it's hard to get bored with even one map, but when you hear of another one coming out, you just have to know about it. You search the internet for clues, and then when it comes out, you play the crap out of it.

Vodstok- well ok it's like this: we as human beings hate zombies because when we see zombies we see them as us without the humaneness, intelligence, complexion, bitchin' tans and everything else that makes the default human beings human. we see them and we think "Really, is that all i am. Just a mindless roaming bag of meat, skin, and bones." this builds up a hatred for zombies inside of us giving us a strong urge to blow their brains out...

Now to the point as to why it's so fun/addictive.

What Treyarch managed to do is enabled us to carry out our rage and anguish towards zombies in a virtual world where we can slay the undead from the safety of our home, so with so much hatred built up towards zombies, who wouldn't want to get on a console of your choice and blow their legs off every single day...

xFaTaLx RaMpAgE- Well there is the co-op part where there is a ton of unpredictability, with Reving and other things. There are perks, special types of zombies, many maps, wonder weapons, different strategies, and the way rounds work. Then there is the intangible factor. Every zombies player loves zombies for more than just the the above reasons. There is just something about Treyarch zombies that nothing else can touch. Killing zombies is just... different.

[Chopper]

Very nice post mate. I don't totally agree with everything but I still love the way you have laid it all out

[brains]

[Psych0kill3r]

One of the greatest posts I've seen on this forum in a LOOOOOOONNG Time! SHUT UP AND TAKE MY BRAINS! :D

[xFaTaLx RaMpAgE]

Epic Post Bro. 'Nuff said.

While I would always choose to have all of my perks over the Babymaker, I certainly wouldn’t complain if I got the 31-79 from the box.

You know you can have all the perks and the fractalizer at the same time right? That makes for 2X the fun, even though I have never upgraded my baby gun before. ;)

[Ehjookayted]

This is better than the Master Zombies Guide. +1337 from me, Andrew.

I'll give you brains when the timer expires. So good. :D

[perfectlemonade]

This is better than the Master Zombies Guide. +1337 from me, Andrew.

I'll give you brains when the timer expires. So good.

Holy fudging shiz. I... I... wow. Thank you. That just made my day. :)

[lucky11202]

THIS WAS AN AWESOME READ! And yes I had to type that all in caps because it was that good.

[ZombieOfTheDead]

Well, I don't agree with kiting making it fun. First of all, back in the WaW days, people rarely kited, and we still had a crap ton of fun, many saying those days were the best. It's just the killing of the zombies that makes it fun to me. In fact, that was what made the first map so addicting, when it had basically none of the other ones. Just killing nazi zombies, and somehow having fun with it. It's difficult to describe. Everything else I agree with completely.

[DJDerp]

AMAZING Post, also have you seen your post count?

[perfectlemonade]

AMAZING Post, also have you seen your post count?

What are you talking about? :lol:

[piepwns]

Thanks, I was looking for this post.I never thought you would go this in depth with it. I rarely have this much time to do these kinds of posts and, though I hate to repeat myself, they never get any reads, reputation, replies, nothing. Thanks for helping me out man. Awesome post, thanks for giving me credit. [brains] soon to come, I just gave some a little while ago.

[piepwns]

one more thing, don't mean to be a prick, but I know my Nikolai. He became obsessed with vodka after he quit/got fired from the army and lost all his wives. Sorry to be like that, but the bio says so.

[killallzombies]

i think another thing is the "rush" kiting in tight spots gives you

knowing you're only one crawler hit away from downing,and survive

that's one adictive thing

[perfectlemonade]

one more thing, don't mean to be a prick, but I know my Nikolai. He became obsessed with vodka after he quit/got fired from the army and lost all his wives. Sorry to be like that, but the bio says so.

But... the radio. It said that Richtofen gave him a vodka-based serum, and he developed the addiction soon after.

**checks official character description

You're right. That's my bad, dude.

[piepwns]

he already liked Vodka, but he was brained-washed and couldn't remember that. He gave him a Vodka based serum and re-developed an addiction. Yeah, that's right, I love Nikolai that much.

[killallzombies]

he already liked Vodka, but he was brained-washed and couldn't remember that. He gave him a Vodka based serum and re-developed an addiction. Yeah, that's right, I love Nikolai that much.

that's why we love you

no homo

[selectyeti89]

You used my video . I think its really fun to try to run in hard to run spots. Sometimes I wish I wasnt so good at zombies though. Not trying to sound full of myself but I sometimes wish I didnt have to play for 20+ hours to get to a semi decent round(in my opinion). I sometimes wish I could just get 4 friends and play zombies for fun. I remember the days when I was happy to get an Hk, and now I cant even make myself use anything but a wonder weapon or ray gun.

[Tankeo Dempsaki]

Plus you can never win, so there's no nagging voice in your head saying "I've beat it already" stopping you from playing.

[way2g00d]

video is gone?

[perfectlemonade]

video is gone?

Ask selectyeti about it lol.

I'll add a new one when I get home.

[way2g00d]

I'll add a new one when I get home.

Hey man, Did you get home yet?

Great thread. It was nice to read it and refresh old memories of WuWa and tGR.

[perfectlemonade]

I'll add a new one when I get home.

Hey man, Did you get home yet?

Great thread. It was nice to read it and refresh old memories of WuWa and tGR.

I did! I even added a different video!

Oh, also, did you see the commentary Downrun did on this thread? :D

[way2g00d]

Who is Downrun?

Yes I figured you added the video.

[Ehjookayted]

I'll add a new one when I get home.

Hey man, Did you get home yet?

Great thread. It was nice to read it and refresh old memories of WuWa and tGR.

I did! I even added a different video!

Oh, also, did you see the commentary Downrun did on this thread?

I did!

Way, Downrun is a fellow commentator. You will see him in my sub box, or you can just search him on youtube.

[ThrowAmonkeyBomb]

From what Ive seem,this is amazing,and beautiful.Ill be reading it in full later 1+