Does anyone actually enjoy killing zombies in DayZ?

[igor-vk 909]

I've had a personal vendetta against zeds since the mod.  I used to empty out airfields of weapons and ammo simply killing for hours.  My attitude towards the heathens has not changed in SA, I will not rest until they are all buried by my axe.

Gee, finaly someone thinks same as me. For me, "Z" in dayz stands for zombies. In SA I look for zombie rich zones and kill all of them. I dont use melee weapons any more, so I atract even more of them. When I played Origins, with one carachter I killed more than 1000 in less than a week. 65% were head shots with silenced Stechkin pistol. I killed even more with mounted macineguns, but that doesnt count in statistics.

 

Only dead infected is good infected!

[Avant-Garde 229]

Easy kind of game enemy. Thanks god they are adding wild animals, because zombies, imo, are ridiculous gameplay wise. Its the most basic kind of enemy, it runs toward you and attack, they don't know how to organize themselfs, flank or anything. I have big hopes for wolfs, since they can be WAY more tactical in fucking you up.

 

Idk why zeds in this game has to be so stupid, why can't they use weapons? Would be so fucking cool to have military zeds acting like that HL2 Combine zed, where he takes a granade out and runs towards you lol, or farmer zeds using pitchforks/chainsaws... DayZ zeds are the worse, less creative and less challanging type of zed there is. Could be so much better imo, it would add A LOT to PvE aspect of the game and also to the general horror, that this game lacks so much.

[Whyherro123 2283]

Easy kind of game enemy. Thanks god they are adding wild animals, because zombies, imo, are ridiculous gameplay wise. Its the most basic kind of enemy, it runs toward you and attack, they don't know how to organize themselfs, flank or anything. I have big hopes for wolfs, since they can be WAY more tactical in fucking you up.

 

Idk why zeds in this game has to be so stupid, why can't they use weapons? Would be so fucking cool to have military zeds acting like that HL2 Combine zed, where he takes a granade out and runs towards you lol, or farmer zeds using pitchforks/chainsaws... DayZ zeds are the worse, less creative and less challanging type of zed there is. Could be so much better imo, it would add A LOT to PvE aspect of the game and also to the general horror, that this game lacks so much.

Realistically, there wouldn't be all that many predators in Chernarus, at least the region we play in.

 

Quoted from myself in another thread:

 

--Which is why you sleep in a tree, and prepare all food away from your campsite.

 

People seemingly have this idea that predators have this hate-boner for humanity, that they are just waiting for us to relax our guard, and they want nothing more than to kill and eat us. This idea could not be any more incorrect, and was (and sadly, is) the reason why so many predator species in Europe and North America were next-to wiped out.

 

What are the predator species we are most likely to come across in Chernarus? Wolves and bears? Wolves want nothing less to avoid humans, and will only become aggressive if you intrude upon their territory. And aggressive, in this case, means following you and trying to scare you away. If you provoke an actual attack, they are probably more terrified than you are.

 

Similarly with bears. Most bear attacks occur either because they smelled food/etc at your campsite, came to investigate, and you startled them, or you got between them and their young. 

 

The thing is, most animals (not only predators) actively seek to avoid potentially dangerous confrontation as much as possible. Predators don't go on murder-sprees just because they can, because they know that their prey can, and WILL, fight back, and they don't want to get hurt. If you get attacked by an animal, it is literally the final and worst option available to the animal, and it means you literally ignored EVERY other option to defuse the situation. These options include making themselves known, setting dominance (staring in particular. NEVER try to stare down an animal confronting you.), and actively following you in effort to scare you off and get you to leave.

 

Plus, there is the territorial concerns. South Zagoria has about 225 square kilometers of area, and let us assume that only about 70 square kilometers of that is ocean. That leaves about 150 sq kilometers of area for animals to live, INCLUDING cities and human development. Let us lowball the area claimed by a wolfpack and a SINGULAR bear as 100 square miles (wolves, and the area is given for a wolfpack in the 48 lower US states http://www.wolf.org/...fo/wolf-faqs/#h), and for a bear is between 70 (female) and 300-500 (male) square miles per mindividual. http://westernwildlife.org/grizzly-bear-outreach-project/faqs/#a6

 

This works out to be 260 square kilometers for a wolfpacks territory, and between 181-1295 square kilometers for a female - male bear. So, we could have 1 wolfpack for the whole of South Zagoria, maybe a female bear, and not likely to come across a male one.

 

So, even if predators were likely to attack humans, we wouldn't be likely to come across one.

 

Really, the most likely aggressive animal we would come across would be packs of angry, hungry, rapidly-undomesticating dogs. Good eating on one of them!--

 

TL;DR-- If there were predators in Chernarus, they would (realistically) be there in such low numbers that we would likely not see them. And, they are unlikely to attack humans unless you deliberately piss them off.

 

As for the "zombies", well, they aren't zombies, not in the sense that you are thinking.

 

http://dayz.gamepedia.com/Zombie

 

As per that source, they are literally just people infected with a rabies-like disease, with accompanying brain damage that prevents them from picking things up or climbing ladders (which really makes no sense. If you are coordinated enough to be able to sprint without falling, you should be able to hold something in your hands, or turn a doorknob, or climb a ladder)

 

And as for your comment on "horror", well, that is your opinion. I find Day Z quite frightening right now, without massive levels of gore, jump scares, etc etc etc. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horror_and_terror

 

Day Z is doing quite well on the "terror" department, and it doesn't really need "horror".

Some examples:

• The spots of blood you find in buildings: did someone get beaten to death here? Was it the infected, or a more human enemy? Or, did they decide to take their own life?
• The empty cities and towns. "50,000 people used to live here. Now it is a ghost town....". What was once a bustling metropolis is only home now to the wind and the dead
• Isolation. Humans are a VERY social species, and most people are very unnerved by isolation. People "going mad from the isolation" actually happens.
• Hell, the infected in general. Think about it next time you blast one away or smack it with an axe: they were once your friends and neighbors, family and loved ones. Now, they have become bestial, out for your blood and trying their damn-est to kill you, regardless of how much you beg for them to stop. The only way to prevent your once-acquaintances from beating you to death is to kill them first. And, if you think about it some more, there is some "Adult Fear" mixed in: what happened to all the kids and elderly? All we see are adults. That means that either:

1. The kids and elderly all died from the infection
2. The kids and elderly were all killed by their infected parents and children
3. The kids and elderly were all "mercy killed" by their parents and children.

• Shit, either our in-game characters have PTSD out the wazoo, or are some stone-hearted motherfuckers.

[Avant-Garde 229]

 

Realistically, there wouldn't be all that many predators in Chernarus, at least the region we play in.

 

Quoted from myself in another thread:

 

--Which is why you sleep in a tree, and prepare all food away from your campsite.

 

People seemingly have this idea that predators have this hate-boner for humanity, that they are just waiting for us to relax our guard, and they want nothing more than to kill and eat us. This idea could not be any more incorrect, and was (and sadly, is) the reason why so many predator species in Europe and North America were next-to wiped out.

 

What are the predator species we are most likely to come across in Chernarus? Wolves and bears? Wolves want nothing less to avoid humans, and will only become aggressive if you intrude upon their territory. And aggressive, in this case, means following you and trying to scare you away. If you provoke an actual attack, they are probably more terrified than you are.

 

Similarly with bears. Most bear attacks occur either because they smelled food/etc at your campsite, came to investigate, and you startled them, or you got between them and their young. 

 

The thing is, most animals (not only predators) actively seek to avoid potentially dangerous confrontation as much as possible. Predators don't go on murder-sprees just because they can, because they know that their prey can, and WILL, fight back, and they don't want to get hurt. If you get attacked by an animal, it is literally the final and worst option available to the animal, and it means you literally ignored EVERY other option to defuse the situation. These options include making themselves known, setting dominance (staring in particular. NEVER try to stare down an animal confronting you.), and actively following you in effort to scare you off and get you to leave.

 

Plus, there is the territorial concerns. South Zagoria has about 225 square kilometers of area, and let us assume that only about 70 square kilometers of that is ocean. That leaves about 150 sq kilometers of area for animals to live, INCLUDING cities and human development. Let us lowball the area claimed by a wolfpack and a SINGULAR bear as 100 square miles (wolves, and the area is given for a wolfpack in the 48 lower US states http://www.wolf.org/...fo/wolf-faqs/#h), and for a bear is between 70 (female) and 300-500 (male) square miles per mindividual. http://westernwildlife.org/grizzly-bear-outreach-project/faqs/#a6

 

This works out to be 260 square kilometers for a wolfpacks territory, and between 181-1295 square kilometers for a female - male bear. So, we could have 1 wolfpack for the whole of South Zagoria, maybe a female bear, and not likely to come across a male one.

 

So, even if predators were likely to attack humans, we wouldn't be likely to come across one.

 

Really, the most likely aggressive animal we would come across would be packs of angry, hungry, rapidly-undomesticating dogs. Good eating on one of them!--

 

TL;DR-- If there were predators in Chernarus, they would (realistically) be there in such low numbers that we would likely not see them. And, they are unlikely to attack humans unless you deliberately piss them off.

 

As for the "zombies", well, they aren't zombies, not in the sense that you are thinking.

 

http://dayz.gamepedia.com/Zombie

 

As per that source, they are literally just people infected with a rabies-like disease, with accompanying brain damage that prevents them from picking things up or climbing ladders (which really makes no sense. If you are coordinated enough to be able to sprint without falling, you should be able to hold something in your hands, or turn a doorknob, or climb a ladder)

 

And as for your comment on "horror", well, that is your opinion. I find Day Z quite frightening right now, without massive levels of gore, jump scares, etc etc etc. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horror_and_terror

 

Day Z is doing quite well on the "terror" department, and it doesn't really need "horror".

Some examples:

• The spots of blood you find in buildings: did someone get beaten to death here? Was it the infected, or a more human enemy? Or, did they decide to take their own life?
• The empty cities and towns. "50,000 people used to live here. Now it is a ghost town....". What was once a bustling metropolis is only home now to the wind and the dead
• Isolation. Humans are a VERY social species, and most people are very unnerved by isolation. People "going mad from the isolation" actually happens.
• Hell, the infected in general. Think about it next time you blast one away or smack it with an axe: they were once your friends and neighbors, family and loved ones. Now, they have become bestial, out for your blood and trying their damn-est to kill you, regardless of how much you beg for them to stop. The only way to prevent your once-acquaintances from beating you to death is to kill them first. And, if you think about it some more, there is some "Adult Fear" mixed in: what happened to all the kids and elderly? All we see are adults. That means that either:

1. The kids and elderly all died from the infection
2. The kids and elderly were all killed by their infected parents and children
3. The kids and elderly were all "mercy killed" by their parents and children.

• Shit, either our in-game characters have PTSD out the wazoo, or are some stone-hearted motherfuckers.

 

No massive gore and shit man, I'm just talking about some kind of enemy that you actually don't want to fight you know, that makes you panic and shit your pants. DayZ already have this, humans. But I see no reason why them zeds coudn't be also part of this, they are such a silly thing now. They impose no challange, so their terror factor is almost 0 (just like the mod).

 

About the animals, I like your post man, very well thought and I agree from a realism PoV, but I also think that they are a great oportunitie to make the gameplay richier you know, because now we either A) confront stupid as fuck zeds that impose 0 challange or B) other players, who usually ends in firefights.

 

So Imo would be nice to, you know, be a freshrespawn all alone in a rural area during the night, raining, only with the moonlight, when you hear some grunts comming from a barn. You get there, light a flare and see a zed eating a rotten corpse. Zed looks at you, right on his side is a rusty and bloody axe, he looks a his tool, get it in his hand and proceed to run after you making wierd sounds wanting to crave that axe on your back for some fresh food. You see, not over the top gore (zed eating a person), its all very spooky due sound effects that gave you a clue about something wrong going on, and the fact that the zed has a axe makes REALLY risky for you to take him with your bare fists so running like hell is your best option. No jumpscare, plain simple fear of something stronger then you wanting to kill you. DayZ has no enemy like this at the moment, only humans. And humans are boring because most of the time they shoot you and thats not really scarry.

 

You really find DayZ frightening? You PANSIE lol ( just kidding man), imagine if you played Silent Hill 1/2/3 then.. I find it rather bland, weak, unexplored and unfinished. There are so much thing to add, and I'm talking about good terror not jumpscares and "spooky skeletons" bullshit.

 

Now in dayZ, you enter a barn and a stupid creature runs after you, just fist fuck him to death (which is really, really easy) and call it a day. There is no atmosphere nor challange, zeds are boring as fuck now imo. AND, just raising their numbers is, imho, a bandaid fix for all this. We could even have less zeds if they were hard to beat/smart. Would be so cool, imagine a zed chasing you through the whole city, you climb on a stair and hear him climbing after you with his goddamn axe!

 

I understand your point about terror, but imo they are way to abstract. We need more direct things you know, get in a house and see a zombie eating a dead animal/person/zombie. The zeds completely lacks good sound effects (alpher anyone?) as for your character aswell. The game is rather bland at the moment, and you need to keep thinking about everything that happened there so it MAYBE gets a little bit wierd. We need to see shit that makes us unconfortable.

 

This what you said about kids, imagine the terror in seeing a group of zeds destroying a dead kiddo (never gonna happen, I know)? You see, imo we need shit that makes us go out of the confort zone in this game, and diferent kinds of opponents can do a nice job in this, we don't need to kill the children lol!

Edited January 3, 2015 by Avant-Garde

[Whyherro123 2283]

-snip-

 

1) which is why we should take damage to our hand when we fistfight. IRL, fists are REALLY shitty weapons, and are (relatively) damaged. Using your fists should be the last resort. Hell, getting into melee combat in and of itself should be the last resort, because melee is both 1) hard, and 2) scary. Humans invented the bow 10,000 + years ago specifically because they didn't want to get up close

 

2) I have played several of the Silent Hill games. I found them extremely childish, full of jump scares, gorn etc. 

 

3) The infected are BARELY even finished. Give it some time. Oh, and in the Standalone, I have yet to see an Infected eat a body. I am 99% certain that they actually don't, and just beat things to death out of sheer fever-induced bestial fury.

 

4) You....don't find get shot at frightening? Weird, I would be shitting my pants.

 

5) Terror is abstract. That is the point. Terror is the "lead up", while horror is the "finish".

 

See, you don't find Day Z frightening specifically because you "metagame".  To you, your in-game character is just an avatar of your ambitions (to kill other players, from what I've read so far), while to me, my character is a living person, interacting with his world that has gone to shit. I don't think ," Well, I can just beat these infected by running around them in a circle while punching", I go " OH SHIT, people chasing after me, TRYING TO KILL ME!". Think about the game "world" from the viewpoint of your character some time, and the whole world becomes much more frightening. 

[Avant-Garde 229]

1) which is why we should take damage to our hand when we fistfight. IRL, fists are REALLY shitty weapons, and are (relatively) damaged. Using your fists should be the last resort. Hell, getting into melee combat in and of itself should be the last resort, because melee is both 1) hard, and 2) scary. Humans invented the bow 10,000 + years ago specifically because they didn't want to get up close

 

2) I have played several of the Silent Hill games. I found them extremely childish, full of jump scares, gorn etc. 

 

3) The infected are BARELY even finished. Give it some time. Oh, and in the Standalone, I have yet to see an Infected eat a body. I am 99% certain that they actually don't, and just beat things to death out of sheer fever-induced bestial fury.

 

4) You....don't find get shot at frightening? Weird, I would be shitting my pants.

 

5) Terror is abstract. That is the point. Terror is the "lead up", while horror is the "finish".

 

See, you don't find Day Z frightening specifically because you "metagame".  To you, your in-game character is just an avatar of your ambitions (to kill other players, from what I've read so far), while to me, my character is a living person, interacting with his world that has gone to shit. I don't think ," Well, I can just beat these infected by running around them in a circle while punching", I go " OH SHIT, people chasing after me, TRYING TO KILL ME!". Think about the game "world" from the viewpoint of your character some time, and the whole world becomes much more frightening. 

 1) Wholeheartedly agree, would make zombies more frightening as a freshrespawn

2) wtf, you brave man, the atmosphere in that game gets me everytime :(

3) Alpher right

4) No, in this game no. I mean, BAAAANNGGG "you are dead". Thou its cool when I get shot and manage to get out alive, its kinda scarry really, even more if my legs are broken and zeds come after me

5) There are barely no "lead up" in this game imo, a deserted city is not scarry by itself, same for stupid AI and desproportional interiors. Idk man, at least for me, as you said shit is abstract and I find it rather weak now. Much likely its going to get good thou, we have GREAT devs, but idk the game direction and escope and all that.

 

I usued to play like you, but when I was new in the mod a long time ago. I don't know how to get back to that so Indeed I metagame, because the atmosphere is really weak now, so I simply can't get into this game at this point of development. The interiors SUCK, zeds suck, sound effects suck, gore effects suck big time. Basicaly at every turn something breaks my imersion so yeah, I metagame the shit out of this because zero atmosphere at the moment.

 

The funny thing is, I almost never kill other players man I'm friendly as fuck (imo its more challanging to make friendly contact then hide in a bush and shot), but I do defend this playstyle because it adds a lot to my experience, to know that there are a lot of people who play this game just to get the kicks of killing people. Makes me keep on my toes, infact, its the only thing that does that to me and actually creates some terror atmosphere.

Edited January 3, 2015 by Avant-Garde

[sachad 1016]

It is my hope that at some point this year, people are going to enter a new experimental build, thinking it'll be some new items, some updated mechanics and the usual starvation, only to find they've walked into nightmare mode. While there's been progress with pathfinding and glitches, really it's only made the zombies less threatening. Well, I hope that they're saving up the good stuff. I'm talking hordes of 30-50 zombies roaming around cities, aggressively going after any survivors. I want to approach a city like Novo, and hear the guns rattling in the distance as I draw closer, with zombie corpses strewn throughout the streets. I want to see groups of people fighting for their lives. Guys with AKMs opening 75 round drums of whoop-ass on the horde running at them, while lesser armed survivors flee for their lives, batting away lone zeds with axes and bats. I want to pick up some dead guy's gun and use it to try and save my own ass. I want to have to run into a hospital and flee to the roof, while dozens of zombies pile into the building after me. Hell, I want to run out of bullets and reach for my axe as I make a final stand, and take my own life when all hope is lost. That's the level of despair I hope to see in the game.

 

I have faith in Bohemia that they will deliver. And if it takes time, rather they use it well than bring us a shitty rush project.

[xalienax 621]

you know, it would be interesting if they could make mele work right, not be so damn clunky, and im sorry some things need a real buff in effectiveness. 

 

they (zombies) shouldn't be able to 'face tank' multiple hits to the head with crowbars, pipe wrench, etc.

 

I wan't zombies to be a real threat, but i also want playing smart and player skill to be rewarded not just strafing in a circle like a retard while janky zombies  lundge past in insanely predictable fixed animations.

 

bottom line; buff the zeds, and make big heavy objects that would split skulls IRL relaible 1-hitters to the head. avoiding aggro should be the first choice, but dealing with the odd zombie quick n quite via mele should be an option. the circle dance needs to go away.

[claws4life 99]

to me zombies aren't a threat even when I'm a freshie, all they need to do is make hordes of them in major cities and the pvp factor will actually decrease :D

[Beizs 186]

It is my hope that at some point this year, people are going to enter a new experimental build, thinking it'll be some new items, some updated mechanics and the usual starvation, only to find they've walked into nightmare mode. While there's been progress with pathfinding and glitches, really it's only made the zombies less threatening. Well, I hope that they're saving up the good stuff. I'm talking hordes of 30-50 zombies roaming around cities, aggressively going after any survivors. I want to approach a city like Novo, and hear the guns rattling in the distance as I draw closer, with zombie corpses strewn throughout the streets. I want to see groups of people fighting for their lives. Guys with AKMs opening 75 round drums of whoop-ass on the horde running at them, while lesser armed survivors flee for their lives, batting away lone zeds with axes and bats. I want to pick up some dead guy's gun and use it to try and save my own ass. I want to have to run into a hospital and flee to the roof, while dozens of zombies pile into the building after me. Hell, I want to run out of bullets and reach for my axe as I make a final stand, and take my own life when all hope is lost. That's the level of despair I hope to see in the game.

 

I have faith in Bohemia that they will deliver. And if it takes time, rather they use it well than bring us a shitty rush project.

 

100% agree. It looks like, with the new rendering and physics engines planned for this year, they're focusing on increasing the capacity for optimization etc for the game. I assume that they'll be doing a lot of work server side too, and, with this, zombie numbers will increase. The fact that they're working on the zombies (roughly) at the same time as doing the engine changes speaks whole freaking novels, imo. I do really, really hope that they improve combat before they make zombies harder/more common, though. Can't imagine having to fight large numbers of even shitty zombies with the current clunk there is to fighting, especially melee.

 

Personally, while I love the PvP element to the game, I'd be more than happy to see them cut the server numbers (not a lot - just max at 30 on all servers) to allow for more zombies ingame. I'm not entirely sure exactly how the DayZ engine and servers work, but, having experience in basic game design as well as a fair bit of experience in coding in general, I'd imagine that cutting of those extra 20 players (think the largest servers hold 50?) would open up a fair bit of space for zombies. I actually have more player interactions on lower pop servers any way as, on high pop ones, people tend to be ridiculously careful (or just go to the PvP spots).

 

I imagine that, at the moment, the game is optimized for the 50 player range, which means that, even on servers with lower pops, there's less zombies when it could, realistically, handle a fair few more. I've never noticed much of a difference between the servers (other than in areas where high pop servers get the zombies cleared).

Edited January 3, 2015 by Beizs

[yazar8 584]

I HATED killing zombies before.

 

But I still killed them, even when they didn't have an aggro on me.

 

 

Here's a story for you fellas. 

 

The last time I was on an axe fight it was September. I was being chased by some maniac French (gotta love their English accents) I died pretty quick.

 

Months and months later, I was not in a SINGLE axe fight. The only thing I did was killing zombies with my axe or M4A1 Carbine.

 

Two days ago I was on a private hive server (Puhdado's private hive server) some maniac ran in to me with a sledgehammer. I took my axe out, swinged like only 3-4 times and missed and that 5th oh boy. That one hit. 

 

Again on the same server, the same guy came back to the firestation, I killed him again. 

 

Later on at the second firestation at Elektro, another guy started chasing me with a derringer, he missed. I turned around and hit him in the shoulder (after 2nd or 3rd attempt) he didn't die. I kept trying hitting him till some third party appeared and shot me with a magnum.

 

So actually, I don't care if you hate zombies or not, I know one thing: They improve your melee performance drastically.

 

 

Today, I don't miss a single zombie. If I have the oppurtunity to kill one, I will! I LOVE KILLING ZOMBIES

Edited January 3, 2015 by Yazar8

[tacticj 15]

Side note about that zeds having weapons imo the only way around this would be if the zed would have taped a blade or something for his defence before coming infected.Not saying dayz should have this but would be cool to have this survivory zed model who turned not to be immune.

[Beizs 186]

Not really, sprinting is a basic function that requires moderately low coordination. They should stumble, etc, but they don't need to be constantly falling over.

 

Most animals can sprint, but few can use tools and fewer still can turn a doorknob or climb a ladder.

 

Holding and grabbing things with your hands requires fine motor skills. Sprinting does not.

Which really makes no sense. If you are coordinated enough to be able to sprint without falling, you should be able to hold something in your hands, or turn a doorknob, or climb a ladder.

 

[-Gews- 7443]

Agree with OP

Zombies have always been just an annoyance. Minimal danger. They've just been previously used as a tool to see if anyone's in towns and now to help spot other players who get aggro.

I don't have any memorable moments that involve zombies. Everything important and fun has involved other players. I've never had a memorable moment fending off a horde of zombies, they've just been an annoyance until I get the glitchy bastards to fuck off.

So the zombies are mostly pointless and annoying scenery. Should they remove them? Well right now alpha would be better off without them. But fixing broken zombies is what alpha is for.

For better or worse it's not really DayZ without the zombies, but for me the game would be fine with or without the zeds. I didn't start playing the mod because it had zombies, it was because it had bandits.

[Whyherro123 2283]

Not really, sprinting is a basic function that requires moderately low coordination. They should stumble, etc, but they don't need to be constantly falling over.

 

Most animals can sprint, but few can use tools and fewer still can turn a doorknob or climb a ladder.

 

Holding and grabbing things with your hands requires fine motor skills. Sprinting does not.

Most animals sprint on four legs. Humans beings (and the other few bipedal animals) have very good senses of balance and inter-limb coordination, which is what (along with well developed lower back and thigh muscles) allow us to sprint (and walk, for that matter) without tripping up on our own limbs without falling.

 

Granted, I was a Biology major, not an Anatomy student, so this is what I am gleaming from reading some articles into the subject.

[Beizs 186]

Most animals sprint on four legs. Humans beings (and the other few bipedal animals) have very good senses of balance and inter-limb coordination, which is what (along with well developed lower back and thigh muscles) allow us to sprint (and walk, for that matter) without tripping up on our own limbs without falling.

 

Granted, I was a Biology major, not an Anatomy student, so this is what I am gleaming from reading some articles into the subject.

 

Not to get too invested in the science behind a video game (or, rather, modern zombies in general, which, ultimately, is sci-fi), but issues in the premotor cortex while the cerebellum remains mostly active could explain that. The premotor cortex is involved in things like logical thinking, language, fine motor skills, voluntary movement, personality etc. The cerebellum is also involved in fine motor skills, but either one being damaged/inhibited could explain the inability to use tools.

 

The two work together to handle a range of motor tasks, but balance, to my knowledge (I'm not an expert, but I'm very interested in science in general, especially biology and human anatomy) isn't really heavily affected by the premotor cortex. I think that the functions of the premotor cortex (or their lack thereof) line up fairly well with a zombie in general.

 

Then again, I could be getting areas mixed up or straight up wrong and shit, so don't quote me on anything. :P

Edited January 4, 2015 by Beizs