Original storyline for a horror game? Is it possible?

You could go with a story loosely based on the rapture. I'm not a religious man so I don't know the details of this, but I figure it would be possible to at least somewhat base it on this. If not, you could always say the rapture was described wrong in the bible. Something along the lines of: those who didn't live according to the ten commandments turn into horrible zombies, those who did but renounced their faith have to stay amidst these hellish creatures.

Just a thought.

edit: if you do this, you can also include some other enemies/bosses without having trouble integrating them into the story. For instance, a hell-knight wouldn't be out of place.

I'm afraid such a thing might offend some people. Especially theorizing that it was described wrong in the Bible. Thank you for the suggestion though. :D

While I'm not sure I can come up with an original idea for zombies that isn't terrible, most sci-fi terrors come from abusing the hot science topics of the day; things that most people have heard about but aren't really comfortable with. For today's audiences, good science topics that could easily cross to zombies include bioengineering (genetically modified food or animals, modified DNA, viruses), nanotechonology or cybernetics, or possibly good ol' quantum theory.

To me, zombies would go best with the biological sciences as they're inherently biological creatures. However that's been done to death. You could give it a slightly different edge by not having it done intentionally - no military experiments or evil biocorps, maybe just a freak mutation of a virus or genetically engineered soy beans [grin]. Parasites are another option, although that's been done before.

Do the zombies have to be the animated corpse kind, or just people who act like zombies? If the latter, some kind of mind-altering drug could work. Maybe some basement drug chem lab got a new mix wrong, combined it with some experimental new drug stolen from the test labs at a pharmaceutical company, and it melts the user's brains?

Of course, I'm sure all of these have been done to some extent, but there's rarely any story idea that's 100 percent original that isn't just plain crazy.

The nanotechnology idea caught my attention. Maybe nanobots could reanimate a corpse by interfacing into the brain and sending electrical pulses to nerves and muscles. This could fit pretty well with the usual visualization that zombies don't have great motor skills. They wouldn't if their muscles and nerves were controlled by artificially created electrical pulses.

I'm still open to suggestions, but I wrote that one down as a possibility. ;)

The zombies aren't really zombies, but regular people. The world's food supply is infected with an alien bacteria and the only way to survive is to eat human flesh. At the end of the game you find out that it was all just a big April Fools Day joke from PETA.

lol. Somehow, I don't think an April Fool's joke would be very horrific. :P

I find zombie scenarios are scarier if they aren't explained. The story could be original if you follow different groups of survivors who have their own take on it. There's the religious facet, the scientific etc...

If you keep the story arched on how to survive, what's been tried and such it could make it interesting.

For example:

-John meets up with a scientist who tells him that it is strange because aside from the obvious rotting flesh there are no exterior agents in the blood stream.

-John meets a religious leader who thinks his church is safe because it's followers are pure of heart (and this seems to be true enough since the church hasn't been attacked) but later on you find out that it was just a coincidence and they all die.

Those are my two cents.

BTW I love zombie scenarios and they creep me the hell out. I'll often picture myself in a zombie invasion in different places I go and come up with plans on how to survive.

I like your idea, but would the game ever feel "completed" without an explanation? Won't people be curious as to why they spent 10-15 hours fighting zombies in a video game?

If YOU were in an urban area infested with zombies would you concentrate on getting out alive? Probably. Would you go through sewers, abandoned factories, and old hospitals to figure out why people turned into zombies? HECK NO! By not making the main character into hero archtype and making him more like an average joe the player could probably relate more to him.

I think not explaining a thing adds to the immersion and makes the whole thing seem more real. Dawn of the Dead didn't explain why people were zombies, a reveran (or some other religious dude) says something along the lines of "when there is no more room in hell the dead shall walk the earth" but it's not an actual explanation. It adds to the creep-me-out factor and in my opinion makes it one of the better zombie movies.

You don't need to tie up every loose end.

edit: restructured a few things.

edit2: gawd... note to self: no posting when you've been studying non stop!

[Edited by - sanch3x on February 15, 2007 8:52:07 PM]

I see what you are saying now. I guess that's it then. ;)

Thanks for your input!

Quote:

Original post by picklejuice You could go with a story loosely based on the rapture. I'm not a religious man so I don't know the details of this, but I figure it would be possible to at least somewhat base it on this.

You'd have to do a little bit of looking into this, but it says in Revelations that the dead in Christ shall rise. Several people also believe the Hebrew word "sheol" has been mistranslated as meaning hell when it's actually closer in meaning to a grave. You could interpret something in there as those in the ground rising above, thus, zombies. You could also have it involve the Four Horsemen, in that they are raising zombies to begin the several years of anguish earth is prophesized to have. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse would make for some killer bosses. Unless its strictly zombies, there are a number of other creatures detailed in the Bible you could use. (Doing something like that would be more of a "hero" role than a "survivor" role, as Sanch3x explained.)

As far as an original storyline without an evil corporation or terrorist attacks, that leaves us with a few options that I can think of. H.P. Lovecraft comes to mind, in that you could make a supernatural or otherwise alien being responsible. It could be something like a bubonic plague that resurrects its victims. It could be a form of virus that evolved in someone, and this Patient Zero would play a role in the story. You could even be that Patient Zero, determined to correct something you feel responsible for.

That's all I got. I'll need time to think about anything else.

The town has been hit by a new secret weapon that strips people of their souls...

...the main character just happened to be in place X when it happened, and place X protected him from the blast.

...no soul == zombie btw. [smile]

Quote:

Original post by sanch3x I think not explaining a thing adds to the immersion and makes the whole thing seem more real. Dawn of the Dead didn't explain why people were zombies, a reveran (or some other religious dude) says something along the lines of "when there is no more room in hell the dead shall walk the earth" but it's not an actual explanation. It adds to the creep-me-out factor and in my opinion makes it one of the better zombie movies.

If not the best --although Land Of the Dead left a very nice impression on me !

To read the number of posts in this thread, it looks that the zombies have still a good future ahead of them ! ;) I am glad to see that I am not the only one who got *stuck* on zombies in horror movies or games, and I 100% agree with sanch3x and his reference to Dawn Of The Dead.

I tend to think though, that it is not so much the idea that makes the game, but the storyline and the gameplay. If your idea is grand, then it helps for sure, but if the realisation lacks in gameplay or storyline, then it will not change much. As an example, I always think of the movie The Island, whose idea was awesome, but whose realisation was not as good, to my humble European opinion (I am not so excited when there is too much action/stunts that do not really serve the plot: Cars, trucks, planes, other means of locomotion exploding on screen often add nothing to the story).

Once again, as sanch3x said, the right thing to me is to be immersed in the game's athmosphere and environment, and to beleive that when you see a pile of pixels moving around (Oh, we're no longer in the 80's VGA era ?), it is actually you running for your life !
StratBoy61

an evil shaman voodoo priest guy or cult. its not really done to much ive only seen a couple movies and games that do it and not so simply. you can raise what kind status the voodoo guy has it doesnt have be some guy straight off the boat from haiti, or it could, or it could be a guy from haiti who lived among americans for awhile, maybe he became mayor. not to far fetched, wasnt there a mayor who smoked crack and was on video tape buying it. arnold and jesse became mayor. voodoo zombies are the original zombie aint they? the nano tech idea was pretty good

heck have more than one reason. the more twist the deeper the game. mgs sons of liberty. i still dont know what happened but i know i fought a vampire, an electric army general, giant robots, and what not. all of whom who were very satisfying to destroy.

I like the idea that there is no explanation, and that the point of the game is to survive and escape, rather than destroy the source. To me, THAT's what's done to death (pardon the pun)--there's always this easy solution, and everyone lives happily ever after--well, what if the only way is to get the hell out and hope that someone drops a nuke on the infected city? What if there is no Queen Zombie or Supreme Shaman or an antidote? What if the premise is getting out before the bomb drops? Then you have a game where the only realistic solution to the situation may be something like a nuke that kills a lot of innocent people in the process of saving the majority. And that's something unusual.

I often dream that I'm being chased by zombies and I can assure you that knowing why they are zombies isn't my biggest concern. Having to stake/stab/kill my mom( or aunts or roomies or godson) because they were bitten and are turning into zombies is much worse.

It's possible to have a very gore game with very emotional scenes in a zombie game!

Can someone please explain to me the fascination so many people have with zombies.

I'm a fan of a wide range of fictitious creatures/characters in sci-fi, fantasy, and urban myths but I've never understood the appeal of zombies. As far as I’m concerned they lack originality, creativity, intelligence, and frankly aren’t scary for the aforementioned reasons. About the only reason I can come up with for having zombies is to provide walls of moving flesh that you have to shoot, hack, or blast your way through. Am I missing something?

The concept of a somewhat hard to kill, mutilated man who simply wants to feast on your flesh can definitely work good in a horror game or film. However yes, their complete overuse in games does make them a very paltry enemy to have unless you really break the mold with them and their role in your game. ex: hl2, it has zombies but they don't feel as hackneyed as other games due to their origin and creepiness