What’s the Plural of Apocalypse? Zombies Swarm E3

If last year’s E3 was all about the women, this year’s is all about the undead hordes, with announcements about the next season of Telltale’s The Walking Dead, a sequel to NYMG-beloved State of Decay, a Dead Rising 4 that looks like it’s getting back to the franchise’s roots, and the teeming masses of PS4’s Days Gone. A Resident Evil 7 demo went live, too, and word is we’ll hear about Left 4 Dead 3 (though who knows what to make of that one yet). Will this rush of games mean too many zombies? We’ll see, but there’s some good variety among these titles, from what we’ve seen so far.

Here’s each one, and what we know so far, but first, a general observation: uh, so, there were some references to The Walking Dead here, yeah? Barbwire-wrapped baseball bat, scruffy biker dude, and a guy named Two Dog (I laughed) — and this was just what I noticed right off. Coincidence? Probably not; The Walking Dead franchise is incredibly lucrative and the television show is one of the most popular at the moment. Pretty sure those little call-outs were not accidental.

But let’s talk about the games!

The Walking Dead, Season 3:

After the disappointment that was the Michonne-centered entry in Telltale’s take on the franchise, I felt a little iffy on this, but a return to Clementine — now with a playable companion, Javier! — looks rife with potential. The updated graphics engine really shines here, too; the detail and depth in that zombie’s face is incredible compared to the early episodes. Franchise creator Robert Kirkman has said this season will tie more closely to the comics (the series exists in the comic canon rather than the show’s), but what that will mean for Clementine is as yet unknown. Also unknown? The fallout of season 2’s multiple endings.

State of Decay 2:

If y’all thought I wrote a lot about an arcade State of Decay, what’s gonna happen with a full-fledged sequel, especially one featuring cooperative play? Buckle up, readers. I’m not even gonna pretend at objectivity here; SoD is one of my favorite games from the past few years, and seeing a bigger, brighter Trumbull Valley will be the highlight of this E3 for me unless some shit brings the damn house down. Cooperative rather than competitive online play is perfect for the game’s dedicated fan community and will add some edge and new layers to enclaves on the map, because even in cooperative play, there may well still be limited resources. I’m excited to see what happens with that, and with other updates and changes to the game world. Also exciting is the diversity in character models seen here, along with people dressed in practical apocalypse gear. Thanks, Undead Labs; you continually warm my frozen feminist heart.

Dead Rising 4:

Frank West is back and in rare form in this goofy, bloody trailer, wrapped around classic swagger and peppermint guns, and you know what? That’s okay. Apocalypse is dirty, difficult, and uncomfortable in the best of times. Sometimes you need a little holiday cheer and maybe, if we’re lucky, a Mega Man outfit. It’s not all fun and games, though; Frank will be confronted by new, tougher zombies, and will, I’m sure, uncover new angles to the overarching story of DR’s world, but in DR4, cooperative multiplayer has been expanded from the last title. Rolling through an undead beat ’em up with four of your best friends? Sounds good to me. Frank West, we missed you. Where this will fit into the franchise timeline is unclear, but with a release date later this year, I guess we’ll find out soon.

That barbwired bat, though. Upgrade from the spiked bat? Blatant reference? Either way, beautiful.

Days Gone:

I expect I’ll have a lot to say about this one, as the live play demo ground my gears a little, but for now looks like a tough world to navigate, with huge swarms of zombies of what look like multiple varieties. They’re fast, they’re mobile, and it’ll take a combination of quick thinking and quicker reactions to survive. You can see the live play demo here if you missed it.

Resident Evil 7:

The big news: Resident Evil 7 will be playable entirely in PlayStation VR. Listen, I am the zombie fan of the forever, the one true fan, the fan that was promised, and y’all, I don’t know if I’m here for that. Engadget invoked comparisons to P.T.’s atmospheric gameplay and the idea of experiencing anything within miles of that in VR? I noped the hell out. Nope. But Resident Evil 7 will also be available without VR, and right now, a demo is available (non-VR) through PlayStation Plus. Though I’m gonna confess that I watched this (very intense) trailer curled in a ball, waiting for terrible things to happen. The P.T. comparison is not off base at all.

And it must be said — the trailer is zombie-free, so who knows; Resident Evil 7 may not belong on this list, but keeping it for now, just in case.

Left 4 Dead 3:

Included here even though we haven’t heard yet. Here’s hoping.