I think if you’re going to do a survival game that is set against the backdrop of a post-apocalyptic zombie world; it makes the most sense to create a free-roaming, sandbox-style game. Imagine an entire city ravaged by a zombie plague. Cars smoldering and debris littering the streets as buildings stand abandoned. Okay so maybe that isn’t anything new, but when was the last time you ever really had the chance to explore an environment like this? Typically zombie games are more mission-based but a free-roaming game would implore exploration. Instead of simply trying to go from point A to point B as quickly as possible, your focus would be on survival. Plan different routes, take back alleys or climb to the roof of an apartment complex is you need to. The point is its fun to run-and-gun through an entire horde of zombies, but to have an entire city that is overrun with the undead presents such a unique situation with so many different dynamics and so much to experience.

I think you’d be able to experience really great, tense moments while exploring the city on foot all the while worrying about being a walking buffet. Another factor that adds to the atmosphere would be the changing time of day. Not that zombies are renowned for their ability to tell time, I think the game should still differ given the time of day. While the sun is out the walking undead would be a little more scattered and open. Come nightfall, that’s when you would see the more traditional zombie horde roaming aimlessly in search of brains and flesh.

Regardless of the city, survival is the key in any zombie game but in the case of an open world zombie game so much of how long you can stay alive is based on how well you can scavenge for weapons and items. Trying to hold up in one little spot in order to fend off the zombies is fine for a little while, but eventually you will run out of ammo, your melee weapons will grow ineffective, and they will break through your lines of defense. In order to outlast the growing number of zombies, you’ll have to venture outside and travel from place to place finding whatever you can use. Places like a sporting goods store or hunting store would be great for stalking up on things like baseball bats, hockey sticks, and hunting weapons like basic pistols and shotguns. Successfully venturing into a police station would yield some of the more firearms like sub-machine guns and assault rifles. It would be really cool to see more unorthodox and innovative weapons like wandering into a supermarket in order to grab bottles of beer or wine to be used as Molotov Cocktails.

Of course, trying to survive a zombie infested city is only so much fun by yourself. One of my favorite games of all time is the PC version of Freedom Fighters. Among the reasons, I love the recruit/squad system. It’s real simple, earn enough points through actions like healing civilians or rescuing POW’s and you’ll be able to recruit freedom fighters to your squad whom you’ll command on your mission to take down the Soviet invaders. To see a similar system implemented would be really interesting. Imagine uniting small pockets of surviving humans in the battle for survival.

Left 4 Dead taught us one important lesson and that’s if the zombies start rising, bring your friends because you’ll need someone to watch your back. Being able to play with computer controlled allies backing you up is cool, but in my experience no AI partner is as good as a live human player. Well at least 95% of the time that’s the case, nevertheless multiplayer just about always makes a game more fun. With a handful of human allies in the game, a whole new world of strategy opens up. On the most basic level deciding who is going to carry what weapons is something everyone would make use of. More advanced players would probably try to come up with crazy, unique tactics. Trying to make your way down a street is always going to be a risk so why not have someone grab a long range rifle and take to the rooftops in an effort to give sniper cover. The point of the game is to have the freedom to go where you want and do whatever you need to do to fight off the undead so adding three or four friends is going to give you all sorts of survival options.

However at this point if there’s one thing that is a little uncertain, it’s how to keep the game fresh and interesting. Killing zombies is fun, that’s a given, but even with co-op multiplayer and all the freedom in the world there needs to be something more. Open world action is great but I want an element of strategy added this game. Let’s say the recruit/squad system is implemented the way I explained it earlier, I would love to see that tied into a stronghold building system. So as you’re traveling around and getting human survivors to join you, eventually you’re group would grow to a point where you can build a stronghold. What would happen is you would select an abandoned building and order the people you’ve gathered to fortify it. From there you’ll have to defend the outside from zombies that are drawn to all the action as your recruits set about boarding up the windows and taking up defensive positions. Once the fortifying process is complete, your team will stay in there and hold down the location making it available for you to use in the future. Wherever you go, whatever you do, you’ll always be able to come back and restock on weapons and supplies.

As you progress through the game, you’ll be able to set up more and more safe houses giving you a better chance of surviving. The trade off to securing these locations is that they’ll attract hordes of zombies from time to time which means you’ll be forced to defend your stronghold against a giant crowd of the undead. Surviving these onslaughts would be difficult to say the least, but if you can make it, it will help raise the notoriety of your safe zone which in turn would attract more survivors giving you more allies to help defend the location in the future.

Whether at the center of a game or just a side feature, zombies have been in dozens of games. Except, with all the titles, I still haven’t found something that truly captures the essence of being forced to survive in a city that has been overrun by the undead. I would love to wake up one morning and find a zombie game coming down the pipes that incorporates free-roaming, open world game play. The concept of having to make your way through the city while constantly avoiding being turned into a three course meal would be so much fun because of the tension you’d feel every time you step out into the street, but also because of the freedom to go wherever you need to go and use whatever you need to use to keep yourself alive.