5 Tips Video Games Teach About Surviving Against Zombies

The undead have been living healthy throughout various generations of consoles and franchises of games. While it is fun to mindlessly hack, whack, and sack through massive amounts of zombies in the virtual world, it cannot be ignored that even the Centers for Disease Control recognizes people should take steps against the undead in real life. Here is a list of five different video games that teach valuable tips about surviving the zombie apocalypse.

Check online reviews for potential zombies (Dead Island)

Techland’s best selling game includes a successful combination of zombies and gruesome melee weapons, all of which are scattered throughout the open-world, fictional island of Banoi. In this game, players must survive long enough through quests to escape, all of which could have been avoided if they just checked the online reviews about zombies at their resort.

Befriend - or date - cheerleaders (Lollipop Chainsaw)

Sure, some zombie games feature cops and former athletes battling zombies, but Lollipop Chainsaw teaches to never count out the cheerleader. Juliet Starling, the pigtailed main character, may wear a uniform that leaves little to the imagination, but she is a zombie hunter. While the only thing about this game that is a ten is Starling, Lollipop Chainsaw is a hack-and-slash that satisfies with the combat and controls. If a hyper, spirited high school girl can take on entire teams of zombies, then maybe cheerleading is a sport after all.

Learn how to play baseball (Dead Rising)

Dead Rising was a visual representation of when men like Frank West, the main character, go to the mall - it is a horror story. Luckily for West, the zombies he must fight are a good reason to be scarred. The game offers guns and knives to ward off waves of zombies, but weapons require bullets and knives need precision cuts to be effective. Give West a baseball bat, and one simple swing has enough blunt force trauma to crack open a zombie cranium and spill its brains.

Have a green thumb (Plants Vs. Zombies)

Getting ambushed by a coordinated group of mindless zombies? Plants Vs. Zombies is the perfect app that provides a list of useful vegetation to defend against the undead. Not only are vegetables good for you, but they can also ward off icky zombies. Try a row of fist flailing bok choy, and checkerboard some corn. Add pea-shooting plants, and the only green thumb you will need is to shovel dead zombies off the lawn.

The zombie apocalypse never stops (Call of Duty franchise)

For researchers trying to discover the zombie strain source, look no further than the zombie game mode included whenever Treyarch develops a Call of Duty game. It seems like the outbreak stems from the first-person shooter franchise, as the endless game mode turns human brains to zombie mush. Countless hours mindlessly playing various zombie maps will have gamers asking “how many levels are there?” “How many levels can I survive?” “How many levels can friends help me out with?” Before they know it, they join and chase other zombies mindlessly across the screen. The zombie apocalypse never ends, it just infects more gamers.