The Musings of Scott

As a long time zombie fan, I am kind of happy there has been such a surge in zombie popularity. (I documented the steep increase in zombie movies recently) Because of the plethora of competition out there, as well as plenty of well established zombie franchises, it’s tough for a new comer to stand out from the herd.

Last year, AMC struck cable TV Gold with the Walking Dead. With the internet eating up their niche, now even non-premium movie are turning to original content to stay relevant. The Walking Dead was well executed, it premiered on Halloween, had superior production quality, and was based on a popular Graphic Novel with an established fan base. Like any other drama it hosts a diverse set of developed characters, who over the course of the season you come to better understand the back story and motivations of. Instead of being in an emergency room full of unsavable patients, the story is set in a post apocalyptic everyday world full of unsavable monsters. It was a gamble on AMC’s part, but ultimately a good one. The Walking Dead ended up being my favorite new series last year.

Now the latest fine piece of fine Zombie comercialism that inspired me to write this post. Dead Island by Techland immediately got me (and others in my network) instantly intrigued. The artfulness won over the Ad crowd, and the originality excited all of us zombie enthusiasts. I dare say that in a market where the quantity of zombie games & movies have skyrocketed, there has been very little innovation to speak of (Zombieland was the last example of supreme creativity). They’re building a lot of hype with no clear release date, so Techland better be able to back it up with a good finished product!

This teaser released this week drew in not only gamers, but all zombie fans. From a marketing perspective it’s unorthodox presentation style instantly draws in the viewer (I don’t think a “watch the whole video it’s worth it” is necessary), but manages to tell some very complex exposition without a narrator thanks to some very creative editing. The icing on the cake of this video is the soundtrack, the sorrowful and relaxing music paints a sharp contrast to the horrific scenario unfolding in reverse. The detailed characters look quite realistic (with in game graphics that portray emotion as well as an actor could), and this looks like another genre-bending cinematic video game. The question will be is when we can expect to experience it, and if the gameplay is as artful and creative as their promotional content. Enjoy.

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