As an enemy who is hungry at every turn, chases people when hungry, chases people and thieves, "zombies" can always become an important horror element in various pop culture works. In the face of all kinds of zombies, the protagonist group also upholds the spirit of copying with guys, copying guys to fight, and running without guys, and happily launched a "happy battle" with them, during which the weapons against zombies seem to be constantly changing, and even today, there is no fire axe, baseball bat in melee weapons, no M1911 and AK in long-range weapons, and it always feels like something is missing when fighting zombies.
If the tube is not good or not, it is done!
But in the early zombie films, the weapons in the hands of the protagonist group are often not so exquisite, and the guys in their hands are easy to find, can hit, and are easy to hold, and it is not good to be psychologically comforted.
The father of zombie films George. A. Romero's 1968 "Night of the Living Dead", the weapons against zombies are extremely simple, such as the tire wrench in the black brother's hand, the fruit knife that the heroine has been holding in her hand, the long iron piece in the middle-aged man's hand, etc. The most noteworthy and the most worthy of the word "weapon" in the hands of the protagonist group is an old-fashioned Winchester M1894 lever rifle:
This legendary rifle is one of the best-selling and most popular hunting rifles of all time, and its influence can be seen in many fields, whether it is daily hunting or local security, and even in the two world wars. Arthur in Red Dead Redemption 2. Morgan's rifle with a continuous lever, the WIN 94 rifle from PUBG, and so on, are all based on it:
It also highlights the design criteria for weapons in early zombie films—everyday utensils, and even rifles, which were common hunting rifles in every household in the United States. Such prop design not only closes the distance between the audience and the screen story, but also creates a more terrifying horror atmosphere: "When the brutal man-eating monsters attack, people can only pick up the weapons around them to resist, and the most terrible thing is that these weapons are often daily necessities, and it is difficult to kill monsters efficiently." ”
This difference in strength created in weapon design has also become a symbol of countless subsequent zombie films, whether it is the later famous "Resident Evil" movie series, or the "Busan Trip" that focuses on family affection, we always seem to see the protagonists holding the common table and chair sticks and waving towards the hideous-looking zombies...
Weapons are not only necessary tools for protagonists in zombie movies to fight against threats, they can also be key props for shaping characters. In the famous zombie American drama "The Walking Dead", there are always a few characters who can skillfully use the iconic weapons in their hands to "kill seven in and seven out" in the zombie horde. For example, Rick, who is a policeman with a revolver in his hand and serves as the backbone of the team; Darryl, a "crossbow brother" with a cold personality, but who knows the way of survival and hunting, and holds a crossbow; Morgan, who advocates introspection and peace, is skilled in martial arts, and holds a long stick...
The authority represented by the revolver, the calm and hunting represented by the crossbow, the "rigid and soft" characteristics of the long stick itself, etc., are all reflected in their owners, which silently shows the diverse personality of the characters in the film, makes the character image more plump, and gradually becomes the key element for the audience to identify the characters in the film.
Not only to fight, but also to play cool
Like zombie films, some zombie games also design weapons according to the characters and gameplay characteristics, such as "Blood Revenge", which was released in October last year, which designed a variety of personalized weapons for different characters. Ivan Gero can slash around with a machete, Holly can wield a spiked bat in his hand, and Jim has an M1A sniper rifle that provides long-range fire support at key nodes. Although the initial weapon can be changed after officially entering the game level, in the promotional posters and character portraits, the protagonists hold the iconic weapon and wait for the picture has been imprinted in every player's heart.
"Zombie Siege" pays more attention to the "multi-layered pleasure" of weapons: happiness is good, as to whether it is reasonable or not, it does not matter.
So under this entertaining design concept, players can always see a lot of reasonable or unreasonable, or interesting or nonsensical weapon design in the past works of "Zombie Siege", especially in the fourth generation of works can be described as completely free of themselves, from the fire axe and baseball bat that seem normal at the beginning, to the yoga mats and electric shock pacemakers that are gradually not quite right, to the shopping combat vehicles that completely release themselves, the air-conditioned Iron Man mech, which really makes the three words "fighting zombies" suddenly become "fun".
It will break, it can be modified, and it can also be folded buff
Compared to "Blood Revenge" on character development and "Zombie Siege" for entertainment, "Fading Light" adopts a more realistic and distinctive design style in the design of weapons.
The first is based on melee weapons, due to the outbreak of a zombie virus in the city of Haran in the game, guns and other hot weapons are either confiscated by the army or used up to fight zombies, and the rest are basically snatched up by the villain "Rice Gang". Therefore, players can see the protagonist group holding steel pipes, tool hammers, wrenches, wooden table legs and other daily necessities modified with a variety of equipment, and the vicious-looking zombies fight wits and courage, and the "old-school zombie film weapon concept" that can be used in situ and can be used is once again reproduced in this game.
Of course, it is certainly not enough to "use it when it can be used", the damage of the weapon, low attack power, etc. are all problems, so the skilled craftsmen began to "fold the BUFF" of the weapon, and "enchanted" the weapon through various rare modification drawings. For example, add a flame burner, which comes with a ignition effect when swinging, or add an electric shock device, which causes stun when hitting the zombie's head, if the enemy is too close, it will sometimes trigger a chain effect, and on rainy days, the electric shock weapon can also use rain to conduct electricity, causing range damage.
The modification of different drawings brings new appearance and performance to the original simple weapons, the same weapon can present a completely different damage effect and appearance under the modification of different drawings, so the rich weapon modification system not only fits the background setting of the game, enhances the player's sense of story substitution, but also makes "brush weapons" and "change weapons" become another big interesting way to play in the game.
In its sequel "Fading Light 2: Battle between Man and Ren", the gameplay of weapon modification and stacking BUFF has been continued and improved again. In the sequel, you can no longer stick to the weapon production drawings, freely choose the damage module you want to match, electric shock with burning, toxin with bleeding, or crossover is no problem, the appearance of the weapon will also change with the addition of damage module, the back of the knife will be attached to the flame spray bottle, or conductive originals, etc., cool, but also make your combat more effective.
In the case of adding "blocking" in the sequel, the use of weapons is no longer a blind brainless slash, and if necessary, the withdrawal of weapons to withdraw defense makes the combat strategy more varied. For example, in the case of your two-handed grip on the sledgehammer attack speed is limited, relying on the defense of the sledgehammer lever to maneuver with the enemy, looking for their attack block to kill a single blow, is also an excellent tactic.
Weapons against zombies will continue to "change"
From the earliest local materials to the later targeted weapon design to today's "kaleidoscopic", in the case of "zombies" itself has not changed much, the lineup and design of zombie weapons have been constantly expanding, whether it is for the character shaping or for the cool pleasure used by players, the use of simple, or complex, or simple, or fancy weapons to make zombies more "decent" Death, will always become the design core of the weapons in the zombie genre, but whether it is for the player or the audience, Brandishing or watching these weapons "unbeatable" in the zombie horde may be an unforgettable memory.