4 Games That NEED to Happen in 2016
Written by: Adam "ManKorn" Korenman, CC2K Video Games Editor
2) The Walking Dead: One Foot in the Grave
Like the amazing Telltale game before, this new title would not be related to the AMC show. Rather, this game would take the universe and run it to the endzone. Using tools taken from Fallout 4 and Dying Light, One Foot in the Grave would be a story of surviving the end of the world. Zombies have risen, consuming the major cities and putting humanity’s neck on the chopping block. Extinction is a very real possibility. For now, only survival matters, but that won’t last for long. If you want to make it to old age, you’re going to need to give people hope.
You start the game as a survivor. You and your brother made it to a small market on the outskirts of the state about the same time as the shit hit the fan. It’s been a month, and you are just about out of food. There is only one option, and that is to head back into the heart of darkness to find resources and, hopefully, other survivors.
You soon find a group of folk barely making ends meet. They clearly need some knowledge to stay alive, and you just so happen to have a little. With your help, you fortify the position, scrounging wood and material from nearby homes. There are a few zombies about, but you’ve had to deal with them before. Moving quickly and quietly, you barely need to fight at all. This section teaches you the mechanics of survival. During one of the early missions, you find an old walkie talkie and start messing around with the settings. The family you’re with has a young child, and they play with the radio late into the night.
You wake to the sound of screaming. The little one found a signal, and the radio started singing. There are others nearby! Unfortunately, the noise brought more than a few walkers. There’s no way you’re making it out without a fight this time. With clubs and knives and hammers you keep the dead at bay, but there are just too many. The family is overwhelmed, and your brother is bitten. He orders you to run, to get away while you still can. His last act is to draw the horde away from the door so you can escape. You take the radio, your only lifeline, and flee.
Using mechanics from Dying Light, the combat is gross and visceral. You have limited stamina at first, but it grows with time and use. Weapons are makeshift and limited, and require you to get up close and personal. Unlike the other game, damage is a bit more realistic. You can’t go long without food or water, and being tired limits your strength and endurance. If you fall, you’ll break your leg and have to crawl until it can be set. If you fight with a walker and get cut, you’ll need to clean and dress the wound. And if you’re bit, it’s game over.
Once you’ve cleared an area, it’s time to set up camp. Using the base building from Fallout 4, you’ll construct a temporary home. Everything in OFITG is destructible, so you’ll have to repair and fortify your new base often. Once you have a place to feel safe, you need to look for others. Here’s where things get next gen to the max.
We’ll set this story in a huge landscape, the size of San Andreas from GTA V. There are pockets of civilization here and there, and then a massive city on one side of the map. There is also a finite population to that city, and a limit to the number of zombies in the game. I’ll say that again. There is a LIMIT to the zombies in the game. Yes, that limit is in the millions, but it is there. You also have a limited number of survivors and starting resources. You destroyed that car? Well, it’s gone for good. Couldn’t save that person in time? Say goodbye to whatever mission they could offer.
As you find survivors, they’ll help build up your base. These aren’t helpless NPCs. They want to survive as much as you, and they will act independently. The walls are cracked? They’ll fortify. You need sleep? They’ll offer to take the first watch. Maybe they know about key resources in the area, or where a particularly useful survivor lives. Maybe they have special skills (like being a doctor or chef) and can open up new areas for your base. Yes, that last bit takes a cue from State of Decay, as well it should. That was a AAA idea in an indie title, and those developers deserve a lifetime supply of high-fives and cash.
So you’re recruiting survivors, you’ve grown your shack into a real base, and you’ve started farming. All set, right? NOPE. As we’ve learned from every post-apocalyptic story ever, man is the greatest threat. You’ll have to fend off cannibals, raiders, other settlements, and even psychos in your own camp. No matter how prepared you feel, everything can crumble at the drop of a hat. The only way to survive is with constant vigilance.
Eventually you may feel brave enough to take a scavenger group into the big city. Armed with whatever you can find, you venture into the horde of undead to scavenge to top level loot. But be careful on your way home. If you don’t lose the horde, you’ll lead them right to your base. If everything goes up in smoke, you’ll have to start all over and hope enough survivors remain.
Can you keep it together when you always have one foot in the grave?