The 'right' way to play zombies

[Chopper]

Hey Guys,

 

This is a topic I've been thinking about for a little while and would love to get some of your opinions on it.

 

Is there a right way to play zombies?

Have we over strategised the game?

Have we become slaves to fastest tactics at the expense of fun?

 

Here are the questions I've been thinking about.

 

Some backstory;  

 

I started playing zombies with Kino about 1 month after Black Ops came out.  The excitement I felt with trying to learn this new game was incredible.

Trying out new guns, working out that the Famas was bad, Commando and Galil were good and RPK and HK were beast.

 

I learnt by playing on the stage on Kino.  It's where I learnt to kite and how to manipulate the AI.  Man it was fun.

A typical game would go as follows.  Use MP40 to around level 15, then hit the box.  Aiming for the ThunderGun, plus one of the big guns, HK or RPK.  I would then circle the stage, and destroy with these LMGs.  Round 25 took probably close to an hour to get to, but it was so much fun.

A typical game now.  Restart until box spawns in MPL room, get TG and/or Ray Gun, get Jugg, get back into MPL room, round 25 done within 30 minutes.

 

So, which of these methods is 'right'?  I know people who turn their noses up at people who do not play in the fastest possible way.  The arrogance they can show is outstanding.  Who the fuck made you King of my world and everything I'm doing?

 

To me, what's right is the way you have the most fun.

I was speaking to my friends Steve and Boysta about this.  For those that don't know, Steve is easily and acceptably, in the top 2 zombie players in the world.  Mato and Steve are really above everyone else.  There are many that come close, including Alvar, Relaxing, Zeus etc, but these 2 really do play on another level.  The speed they do things astounds me, along with many others who most would class as 'world' class.

 

Now we got credentials out the way, I'll tell you something.

As a team, Boysta and Steve did their first coop 40 on Kino, the same as me and my friend.  It took us all at least 6 hours to do this, running loops around Kino.

Since then. we have done 40 coop again in under 2 hours.

 

Without exception, we all believe that the first time we did it was more fun.  There was this feeling of accomplishment which I've only come close to twice again....95 on Die Rise coop, and 80 on Buried coop.

The Die Rise and Buried games, using the fastest tactics didn't even come close to the fun we had doing Kino.

 

Die Rise and Buried felt like grinds, whereas Kino felt like an adventure.

 

I know the fastest strategy on every map, and how to implement it.  Do I have as much fun as I used to?  I don't believe I do anymore.

It's all become a bit clinical and scientific.  Don't get me wrong, I love the strategising when a map comes out, how to do it the fastest way.

 

That doesn't mean it's the best way.  There is no best way.

 

I myself have written multiple guides, and alot of them concentrate on early point whoring, in a somewhat anal way.  Every guide you see the same, 4 bullets round 1, knife, 8 bullets round 2, knife, 12 bullets round 3, knife etc.

I've seen many times people getting upset over things that don't really matter.  When a teammate shoots on insta, I've seen people leave games.  People take a nuke, someone leaves the game.

 

A secret that is not mentioned is that unless you are a total beginner, it's almost completely irrelevant.

There are so many ways to get the same goal.  Kino for instance, as long as you get to the MP40, it doesn't matter if you have point whored like a boss, by round 15 it's all the same.  Sure, the point whorers have got a bowie before Jugg, and are sitting pretty on 12,000 on round 10.  What are you going to do with those points now?  Yeah you can hit the box, but you don't need to really.  MP40 does the job until at least 15 in fair comfort, and you probably won't run out of ammo.

 

I think point management is definitely important to total beginners, and even intermediate players.  Not to the extent that you need to follow a guide word by word to get stuff done.  The guides are more there to provide tips on somewhat specific things, like how to do revives, where the best places to train are etc.

 

Don't let them be your bible, let them be your assistant.  Take what you want, mix it up a little, and keep having fun.

 

In the past, I have been one of those who was too much a slave to most of the above.  Before I joined here, the arguments I had on GameFaqs were ridiculous.  No more.  I believe that I am a damn good player; does this give me the right to berate others for not playing the same as me, to leave a lobby if people won't listen to me?  Far too many players out there have an arrogance towards others, based on their perceived superior knowledge.  I'd like to think that most of the people on here, are for one more knowledgable than most, but more importantly are prepared to spread that knowledge in a non douchy way.

 

We have a responsibility as both decent human beings, and members of this great website to educate people with inferior knowledge when they need it, and to not berate them even when they deserve it.

 

Chopper out.

 

I'll more than likely come and add some other stuff later, but I'm happy with this for now

 

 

[TEX]

I think its not about right and wrong. More like better and worse, or constructive and rude.

[Chopper]

I think its not about right and wrong. More like better and worse, or constructive and rude.

Better and worse is part of my issue.  What makes something define-ably better or worse?  Something might be quicker, but when I'm talking and basing this of a fun factor, faster doesn't make it more fun, hence 'better'.

[TEX]

Good point, It also depends on what you judge to be fun. If getting to high rounds is fun for you faster is better. If messing about and upgrading the CZ75 to play with the Calamity for no particular reason then faster isn't more fun. 

 

Personal opinion of fun game-play: Good conversation, team work, and new experiences that lead to a high-ish round. (35+ just feels like a grind to me)

[DeathBringerZen]

Well, I like to play both methods, that way I balance out the fun side of playing with the serious side of attempting high rounds. Take Origins for example... I am currently trying to work out the very best method to get through rounds fast and I found it by keeping the door to Gen 3 from Gen 1 closed, and also the door leading into Gen 3 at the semtex area, with the gramophone at the fire tunnel, essentially locking myself/ourselves in that one area.

 

Got to 79 solo doing pretty much just that one strat in 5 hours (inc the EE and obtaining my 4 additional perks slots). Would have went further but died trying to get an ammo going round on the tank. Same strat got us to 62 co-op on a terrible connection in 4 hours. I have a lot of fun trying to work out these fast strategies, even though it IS a grind like you say.

 

I save fun games for 4 player matches. They are a chore to chase high rounds on, so I just relax when playing these games and just try to have fun. Maybe do an EE or just use the game to chat with people.

[LiL TS 420]

I think there is a right way or wrong way but it depends on the player and their play style honestly. Not everyone is going to do the same strategies, run the same trains, or camp at the same spots. I mean yeah there will always be general places on maps and common strategies but it's all up to the player in my eyes.

[83457]

Solo: i play for myself, whatever i feel like doing, because it is a game for fun, or whatever challenge that i make up.

Teams: whether good-intentioned friends, or Satan-spawned randoms, it will almost never work out, so have fun together over making it some chore/challenge that must be done, unless that us really what gets you off.

Fun, over 'work', unless in a game with hard-core players with set goals.

My view of it...

Additional: it will also depend on the map; Origins has lots to do, so budgeting your time/resources and deciding what to go after when matters way more than if you played Transit, where everyone can basically ignore the game beyond zombie-shooting.

[Rissole25]

I don't think there is any wrong way. Just play how you want to play. But if you're doing Co-Op you need to compromise maybe some of the aspects you do if other people don't agree. If you want to open the door Round 1, but no one else does, than you'll have to find another solution or compromise, or else you may just end up with some angry teammates.

Solo you can do whatever you want really. But those who tend to stick to a certain style, I think they should occasionally just chill out, and not have a serious game. Just go with flow, and don't force the game to work with your strategy. Forget point management, time management and all that. Just slay and kill. It can be refreshing and give you new incite.

[InfestLithium]

The right way is your way. Not specifically a particular strategy, but rather what a person defines as fun and sensible to them. Perhaps my form of playing Zombies has to do with never hitting the Mystery Box, yet some high-round legend utilizes the Box in order to hit the 100's. Does that mean my strategy is in the form of "playing incorrectly"? Absolutely not. It may be insufficient in terms of a speed-run, but in no way can anyone else coin it as a bad way to play Zombies.

 

I bought the damn game(s) with my hard-earned money, let me play it the way I want to. I'm not obstructing anyone else's fun while doing it, so why should it concern them how I tend to slaying freakbags?

[Chopper]

Yeah the right way is the way you enjoy the most.  For complete newbs there is definitely more efficient ways of playing but if you have a bit of knowledge, and are having fun, don't let anyone tell you you are doing it wrong.

[lead_psychopath]

For me, as I'm still not the best player in the world, rather than right or wrong, I'd put it down to safe and unsafe strategies.

The only problem for me is safer is also usually slower.

 

 

For example yesterday my friend and I had a game of Verruckt. We were trying to beat our best of 25, and we were doing really well.

 

The strat we were using was we'd start the round in spawn, then walk really slowly anti-clockwise around the map, till we'd get back to spawn, then shoot the train of the zombies, rinse and repeat. It was perfectly safe till we started getting greedy (we were staying too long in spawn, trying to kill more than a train in a go), if we had just stayed till we killed half a train, we would've lasted a lot longer.

 

 

For me though, the thrill of playing when everyone goes down and there's only one player left, that's the bit I love. Not knowing whether you are going to be able to clutch the team, or if the last player can clutch the team.

[Dahniska]

I don't think there truly is a wrong way to play Zombies, but if you're focused on trying to to seriously grind through rounds, there are certainly better and worse ways. For example Mob of the Dead. It's not wrong to never get the tomahawk, but if you're trying to go far, you will regret not having gotten it if you didn't.

There is a certain joy though of just hitting the box and grabbing a random weapon and seeing what you can get out of it, like the dual wield Five-Seven or the SMR.

I guess it depends on if you're driven by a desire to just kill zombies, or if you're trying to achieve some goal. If you're trying to achieve a goal of rounds or whatever, there are proven better and worse ways to do so; but if you're just looking to chill and do whatever, anything goes.

[83457]

For me, i just want to add that zombies is about the journey, not the destination. It doesn't have to be my best game, as long as it was fun.

Buried, the other day: i often hit the box twice at the start of the game. This usually gets me either a time-bomb or Paralyzer (the box loves me because i rarely use it, my friends are amazed at how kind it tends to be to me). But this time, it gave me the ballistic knife. So i played like that. Instead of unlimited free booze and points on round 1, i had a blast kniving through zombies, upgraded it and kept going until the teens, just using the booze/candy as it spawned. Ironically, i tried to get the paralyzer just so i could fly up and trade it for the lsat, and in a rare defiance by the box, spent over 50k points to get it, again just to trade it off.

I am sure that i had a lot more fun doing it that way, rather than if i had simply done everything on round 1 as usual.

I normally only use the paralyzer for the unlimited free booze and ease of setting up the game before i trade it and use guns until the mid forties. Once I'm forced to use only the petrifier, i usually end the game. Seriously, in the forties+, this game becomes a boring chore in many maps.

[The Clay Bird]

 

I think its not about right and wrong. More like better and worse, or constructive and rude.

Better and worse is part of my issue.  What makes something define-ably better or worse?  Something might be quicker, but when I'm talking and basing this of a fun factor, faster doesn't make it more fun, hence 'better'.

 

 

 

 

i think by "better or worse" he didn't mean a right and wrong,, but more as in more effective/less effective

 

 

there obviously are so many different ways to play I don't think there's any one way that is best.  I often will play with randoms and use a weapon i wouldn't normally use if i were going for solo high rounds or what not.  The most fun way for me is to just go with the flow of the game and take what the game gives me.  let each and every game be a new experience, that way i don't get bored