In some zombie stories, the living try to use the undead as a workforce. Though usually just as protection, as an early warning system, or as an army. But in his new novel The Death And Life Of Schneider Wrack (paperback, digital), writer Nate Crowley envisions a world in which criminals are turned into zombies and forced to work manual labor jobs. Though in talking to Crowley about his novel, what struck me is that his tale isn’t told from the perspective of the living, but of the dead.
In his debut novel Welcome To Deadland (hardcover, digital), writer Zac Tyler Linville sets a coming of age story in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. But while his story is infested with the infected, in talking to Linville about his book — which was co-published by The Nerdist and Inkshares after winning their first publishing contest — it’s clear, as he puts it, that Deadland is “a book with zombies, not a book about zombies.”
For more than a hundred and fifty years, it’s been illegal to judge a book by its cover, and similar snap judgements about other forms of entertainment are equally discouraged.
But while you wouldn’t be wrong to temper your expectations about the top-down, twin-stick shooter #KILLALLZOMBIES because it has an all-caps hashtag for a name, the game’s low-rent cheesiness is just one of this game’s many fundamental problems.
One of the joys of being a kid who reads is tearing through one of those Chose Your Own Adventure books. But like with comics, cartoons, and video games, there’s no reason you have to put those books aside just because you’re not a kid any more. You just have to read ones made for adults. Ones like Max Brallier’s Highway To Hell (paperback, digital), the spiritual sequel to his similarly multiple choice tome Can YOU Survive The Zombie Apocalypse? Though in talking to Brallier about his new book, he admitted that no, it’s not about you trying to survive a zombie apocalypse because you have AC/DC tickets.
Considering how much people fuss and fret over the quality of video game graphics and the visual fidelity of game consoles, it’s rather ironic how few games actually use their visual style as a gameplay mechanic. But in doing just that, the side-scrolling platformer Deadlight Director’s Cut (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC) — an augmented version of 2012’s Deadlight — turns something familiar into something far more compelling and fun.
In anticipation of Dead Island 2 (PlayStation 4, Xbox One) possibly coming out this year, Deep Silver are releasing the Dead Island Definitive Collection (PlayStation 4, Xbox One) which includes 2011’s Dead Island and its 2013’s stand-alone expansion Dead Island Riptide, their respective add-ons, and a new side-scrolling arcade game called Dead Island Retro Revenge (digital versions of Dead Island: Definitive Edition and Dead Island Riptide: Definitive Edition are being also sold separately, but Dead Island Retro Revenge is only available in the Dead Island Definitive Collection).
And while neither this compilation nor these updated games are worth buying if you already own them, obviously, for those who’ve fallen behind on their zombie hunting, the Dead Island Definitive Collection is a solid though not perfect compilation.
Last December, when Anchor Bay released Fear The Walking Dead The Complete First Season on Blu-ray and DVD, both versions were pretty bare bones. Well, now there’s the Fear The Walking Dead The Complete First Season Special Edition Blu-ray and DVD, and while these new editions have extras that should’ve been included on the originals, they’re far from perfect.
As a new show coming into an existing fictional universe, it’s not surprising that the first season of Fear The Walking Dead, the prequel spin-off of The Walking Dead, wouldn’t be as good as the latest episodes of its big brother. But that doesn’t explain why the Fear The Walking Dead The Complete First Season Blu-ray and DVD is so lacking as well. And not just compared to the most recent Walking Dead seasonal set, but to The Walking Dead The Complete Season One as well.
Vinyl Sugar have announced that they will release a series of Walking Dead Dorbz toys this January.