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Last Night On Earth/Zombies

xaviersaintxaviersaint The Old Guy That's New...Full Members
edited July 2012 in Saving Throw Gaming
Just curious if anyone has played these and what their thoughts were on them? Got a chance to play a little bit of Zombies but wondering if the board members had any feedback on these ones?
Stay Or Shop? - Your friendly cat salesman, Secret Of Mana

Comments

  • AdremmelechAdremmelech The Original Playa... Full Members
    edited July 2011
    Started playing in one but it didnt get very far. I'm still interested in playing a zombie game if it properly built. Something like Left 4 Dead or The Walking Dead.
    (Not a joke)

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  • shentinoshentino Member Full Members
    edited July 2011
    My only experience with a zombie game (which REALLY creeps me out) was when I got tricked into playing one by a sly GM.

    He started an RP, and only after everyone had settled (including my ride home) did he conveniently let everyone know what it was about.

    Worst experience ever.
  • TGBarighmTGBarighm Member Full Members
    edited July 2011
    I've only played a couple zombie RP's, both under unusual conditions. The first seemed promising but didn't get very far (Drem, you talking about Max's game?), and the second, although fun, featured 1 player. This game was designed to play like a combination of Resident Evil 4/5 and Left 4 Dead with heavy emphasis on item invention. It worked well enough, and I liked the momentum, but a single player doesn't add enough dimensions to the game. I got the impression that a Left 4 Dead style game works best in a live environment. Can you imagine, say, a hunter leaping on a player during a live RPG and that player yelling "Oh God! Help me!" and the other players crying out "I help him! I help him!". Not so much fun in a message forum (two days could pass before someone can post an action and by then the tension is gone). Both old-school and new Resident Evil worked great though: exploring rooms and mowing down "smarter" zombies isn't much different from dungeoneering. Of course, I'm talking about rule-based RP's. Pure RP's probably work differently and I have nothing to say about that.

    A good lesson: if you're trying to go for horror, forget about shock and awe. Maybe I'm just harder to scare, but without that visual and audio element, literary scares just don't work on me. Go for tension, suspense, mystery, and "fear of the unkown" instead. If you've ever been too afraid to go down a corridor in a game because you're afraid a trap will be there, that's the feeling I'm talking about.

    My only real problem with zombie games is how niche they are. I'll get into zombies for a few months, but once I've gotten my fill, I'll lose interest.


    It's kind of funny this thread came up when it did. I came up with a new idea for a zombie game. I'm thinking a classic zombie setting may work best for an RPG. Everyone wants to emulate Left 4 Dead or Deadrising, but I'm thinking an old fashioned setting, where the survivors hold out in a single small location, may offer the best balance between gamey and RP. Survivors will still have zombies to fight, but instead of moving from location to location, they can focus on building traps, creating barriers, and managing the resources at hand. Also, because it's a small location, players can focus on RP and character development instead of worrying about where they are and where they need to go. It should also be easier to GM because it's just one location (I would change locations from time to time though for variety, just not play the actual journey part).
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  • AdremmelechAdremmelech The Original Playa... Full Members
    edited July 2011
    Yea, it was Max's game. He had a cool thing going.
    (Not a joke)

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  • TGBarighmTGBarighm Member Full Members
    edited July 2011
    What exactly do you mean by a "properly built" zombie game?

    And, amusingly enough, I have L4D2 running at the moment of this typing. ;)
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  • AcathalaAcathala Member Full Members
    edited July 2011
    I kinda wanted to join in your Zombie game here TG, but I got the impression that it was for you and Chiapet only
  • AdremmelechAdremmelech The Original Playa... Full Members
    edited July 2011
    TG Barighm wrote: »
    What exactly do you mean by a "properly built" zombie game?

    And, amusingly enough, I have L4D2 running at the moment of this typing. ;)

    I like a game with definite rules made for the game world. The ones that I have seen (not on this board) didnt really have any rules built around them. They were sort of cobbled together, like they were just winging it as they went along. It didnt give me the warm fuzzies when the character sheet was just "Name, Occupation."
    (Not a joke)

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  • EnyoEnyo Member Full Members
    edited July 2011
    I'd like the idea of a zombie game, but I am not actually really interested in battling zombies or building traps or the likes... So any zombie game based on killing zombies is really not my style.

    What I would like is to play a character in a small group of people, trapped in a city, fleeing from the zombies and trying to survive under harsh conditions. With of course the eventual rescue. Lots of different emotions and storylines at play there. Think of someone hiding resources, or a wounded person who needs to be taken care of, disputes over who has leadership, people coming together to survive...

    That sounds like fun - but zombie battles not so much my thing.
  • xaviersaintxaviersaint The Old Guy That's New... Full Members
    edited July 2011
    Well first, thanks for the amazing feedback. It's sad to see there is a lack of quality Zombie type board based RPGs.

    It's kind of funny this thread came up when it did. I came up with a new idea for a zombie game. I'm thinking a classic zombie setting may work best for an RPG. Everyone wants to emulate Left 4 Dead or Deadrising, but I'm thinking an old fashioned setting, where the survivors hold out in a single small location, may offer the best balance between gamey and RP. Survivors will still have zombies to fight, but instead of moving from location to location, they can focus on building traps, creating barriers, and managing the resources at hand. Also, because it's a small location, players can focus on RP and character development instead of worrying about where they are and where they need to go. It should also be easier to GM because it's just one location (I would change locations from time to time though for variety, just not play the actual journey part).


    I thought about this in console game form myself. Something where you spend the days adventuring, the nights protecting your stronghold and hiding. Something like a GTA open world system but with a zombie outbreak. Less Prototype action and more adding in strategy and structure, etc.


    Again thanks for the replies guys. Saved me spending 50 bucks on Last Night. If anyone is looking for a good zombie flash strategy game, over Kongregate, check out Rebuild. That was a lot of fun. And while your there Dead Frontier and Dead Frontier 2 are a nice choose your own adventure flash game too. Again thanks!
    Stay Or Shop? - Your friendly cat salesman, Secret Of Mana
  • TGBarighmTGBarighm Member Full Members
    edited July 2011
    I'm sure there are some good zombie RPG's out there, I just haven't had much luck finding players who want to play such a game.
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  • robinthoms2robinthoms2 New Member Full Members
    edited July 2012
    My friend has this game, it is a lot of fun.
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