The New Age Uprise of Zombie Gaming

A note for readers: Yes, I know, there is a large difference between zombies and "infected"-type of monsters, but for the sake of the article, and my sanity, I will generally refer to these "infected" as zombies.

There's no denying that the era of zombie-type video games is at a peak in this current gaming generation. There has been an uprising of successful titles attributed to these types of games. Some examples of these games and reviews of these games include:

Left 4 Dead (Xbox 360/PC) - IGN Rating - 9
Left 4 Dead, published by Electronic Arts and Valve, throws you into the head of one of four characters trapped in certain stories. The general idea of these stories: get to the safe room, and eventually get extracted by military personnel. It's easier said than done. Included in Left 4 Dead are not only the general "infected" population, but there are multiple special types of zombies as well to help keep you on your toes. One of these special zombies, the Smoker, can pull grab you from great distances. Another special "infected" is the Hunter, which can lunge and pounce onto you. In both of these instances dealing with both the Smoker and the Hunter another teammate must help you, making teamwork a vital asset to this game. There are various other special types of zombies as well.

Left 4 Dead primarily aims for online gameplay. Sure, there is a single player mode where AI controls the three other characters, but it doesn't come close to the experience of fending off zombies with three other actual people. It's a whole new experience.

In Left 4 Dead there are three different online modes to choose from. Survival, a recent mode addition, pits you and your teammates against ruthless hordes of zombies and special infected in specific scenarios. In this mode there is a timer, which someone must activate, giving everyone ample time to set themselves up for the oncoming slaughter (hopefully it's you doing the slaughtering). Another mode is the basic story cooperative mode, in which the four characters go through the story mode, doing the general missions and so on. The last online mode is Versus, where it's not only people controlling the characters, but it's also actual people controlling the special infected as well.

Dead Rising (Xbox 360) - IGN Rating: 8.3
Dead Rising, created by Capcom, puts you in the shoes of photojournalist Frank West, whom intentionally enters a mall during the uprising of the undead. The best part about this game? Almost anything is a weapon - guitars, katanas, golf clubs, televisions, mannequins, and even a lawnmower. As you progress further into the game there will be more enemies than just the regular zombies running around the mall - there's also the addition of psychopaths - basically the "bosses" of the game. Of course there are basic missions, as well as side missions, and the chance to improve your character through a multitude of achievements.

Sadly, there was no multiplayer mode for Dead Rising, a fix that is supposedly coming in Dead Rising 2, which is currently in the works.

Call of Duty: World at War - Nazi Zombies (Xbox 360/ PS3/ Wii/ PC) - IGN Rating - 9.2 (Wii - 8)
Call of Duty: World at War's (created by Activision) Nazi Zombie mode came as a surprise. It was meant to be a small minigame, yet it's popularity exploded so much that the team decided to come up with a second Nazi Zombie map.

Basically the two Nazi Zombie modes have the same fundamental goal - stay alive. In this mode you're setup with a team of up to 3 others players. Each level there is a wave of Nazi zombies, and as the level increases so does the difficulty. For example, at level 1 the zombies will walk slowly, falter, and so on. But later in the game, when the levels are much more difficult, the zombies actually run at you and become much more aggressive.

As you kill Nazi Zombies, reconstruct your defenses (boarded windows), and obtain special items you will gain points. Players utilize these points to buy new weapons, buy ammunition and grenades, and open up locked doors and unblock blocked pathways.

In the original Nazi zombie stage there were only a few areas to unlock, and the level is much smaller. In the newer Nazi Zombie mode there is much more to do, more guns to obtain, and even the ability to buy perks - additional items that allow you to improve your health, rate of fire, rate of reload, and quickness of revival.
Also, in the second Nazi Zombies, the teams are initially separated and have to find a way to meet up with each other.

Conclusion
It's quite obvious that gamers have been waiting for these types of games for a long time. Any gamer knows that once they saw Dawn of the Dead that it would make a great idea for a video game. I mean, who doesn't like to slay zombies? Honestly.

More titles with the inclusion of zombies are currently in the works, including the much-anticipated Dead Rising 2.