5 Things We Want in the Zombie MMO

Late last night I sent a text message to a group of friends who I would like to call my “clan” we do not play in tournaments or anything but over the years we have killed together in games like Halo,Battlefield,CoD,Fable,etc. The message I sent them read this “Name one thing you want in the Zombie MMO being made.” 

Now if there is anything I have learned from my friends, it is that we love working together as a team and a zombie apocalypse maximizes that fact. So I have put together the top things we want in Undead Labs Zombie MMO that can truly make it great and get console gamers excited for an MMO strictly for consoles.

1.REALISTIC GORE

This one is a straight forward request but one that can be easily overlooked. Over the years in movies and games alike we have come accustomed to how Zombies die and how their bodies should act accordingly.

That is why realistic gore can really make the Zombie purists happy. By this we mean that if you shoot a few bullets into the elbow of a zombie his forearm should fall of, if you shoot him in the shoulder his whole arm should fall off, and if you shoot him in the eye ball it should make an entry wound right through the socket and out the back.

Those are just a few examples though. I am not saying it has to be a blood soaked massacre I am simply saying that the more realistic the body reacts to damage the more impressed players and critics will be. Of course they have to take graphics into consideration along with lagging the game but in my opinion the perfect balance would be in between Left 4 Dead and Dead Rising for graphics to gore ratio.

2. PLAYER CUSTOMIZATION

Obviously this is another no brain-er because when you think MMO you think of creating a player in a huge world that you build and change through your adventure. This also can’t be overlooked though.

In a game that I don’t think will have anything like armor for players to buy,craft, or loot it is important to still offer a wide variety of clothing and creation options to make players unique. One of my disappoints me with Guild Wars is how much everyone looks alike with only a handful of armor for people to buy and nothing really to make anyone different except color.

The game can start players pretty basic with t-shirts,hoodies,jackets,jeans,shorts,etc. to start and allow players to change the colors but after that the sky is the limit. To think that no one would be trying to make money off other survivors by selling them clothing for warmth or style is something that would be overlooked in this situation for obvious reasons.

A big thing in MMO’s for me is always being unique in a game that lets me see everyone else’s player. It takes something away from the experience when you have a bunch of identical survivors all around you. I think with the option of getting tattoos in the mix it could make for unique characters. Like letting me show my respect for Tai Kaliso from Gears of War who was a spiritual fighter who presented himself as calm and focused but could tear you to shreds.

3. PLAYER ROLES

 The subject of player classes haven’t been talked about yet by Undead Labs but when it is real-time combat thought to be 3rd person or 1st person there isn’t much room for the traditional class system. Now the game can either go classless or have some sort of class system. We know that some of the attributes are things like player speed, reload speed, and accuracy while running which may lead some to believe that if the attributes are all like that then there will be no need for classes but although that can be true it doesn’t mean that Undead Labs can’t do something new and innovative when it comes to classes.

By this I mean player roles. Player Roles would be a class system but it would involve modern type professions that could be utilized in a zombie filled world.

EXAMPLES:

Thief-Pick locks, siphon gas, steal, etc.
Medic-Restore party members health, Stop bleeding, etc.
Engineer-Repair cars, fix weapons, hack keypads,etc.
Scavenger-Find better loot, search bodies that others can’t,etc.

These are just a few of the ideas for classes but I am sure other people can think of way better ones. It would be an interesting way to tackle a class system and leads me into #4.

4. PARTY’S AND MISSIONS

The player roles will be a good way to encourage players to play together and bring all their skills to the table to help out the team.

This can happen in a very innovative way and it revolves around the way they build the missions. The way I see it they should build the mission where it can be completed by any profession but reward players who complete missions in groups and with a variety of classes.

They would reward them by offering different routes and obstacles than can only be passed if they have the correct profession. For example if there is a locked door that you can pick if you have a thief with you it will allow you to avoid a room crawling with undead or if you have an engineer you might be able to fix a broken down construction vehicle and getting it moved out of the way putting your team on a different route.

The ability to change the course of the mission along with maybe the addition of moral decisions that you can come across in a mission like a group of people are trapped in a closet trying to hide and you can try to save them for more experience but if you fail you don’t just lose the reward you lose experience on the entire mission.

Just a different way to enhance co-operative play and reward players for using teamwork and their minds to survive.

5.WEAPON CUSTOMIZATION

This is different from player customization for a lot of reasons. Weapon customization is what make players unique in a world where killing is the primary task. Your weapons are an extension of you so turning them into unique murder machines that reflect yourself is something that is needed.

There are multiple ways of making them unique to yourself but I feel the balance of two systems could work perfectly together. A system similar to Battlefield’s that allowed players to unlock parts to their gun to increase their effectiveness like red dot sights,4x scopes, gun stocks,etc. just by using the guns is a good way to make players earn their way up to better things. Leveling up your abilities with certain guns would unlock standard pieces for these guns but after that a more traditional style comes into play.

So first you are tested with leveling up your ability with the weapons so you can use them then after that you are left to buy different scopes,sights,stocks,barrels,laser sights,extended magazines,etc. with different statistical difference like accuracy,recoil,shot speed,etc. Then you get the most traditional piece of MMOs with the very best weapon attachments being rare loot that players find in the world.

If there is anything that Call of Duty has shown is that customization and earning rewards is a good way to get people hooked and offers players a chance to try and balance their weapons to maximize effectiveness.

Now these are just a few things that can make this game worth getting at least for me. Tell us what features you would like to see.