Call of Duty Black Ops 2: Send in the zombies

Kill it! Kill it with fire!

Zombies.

Next to Nazis, Russians, demons and orcs, zombies are some of the few enemies that the gaming industry never seems to tire of.

Oddly enough, Nazi zombies appear to be an unholy fusion that gamers await with baited breath for at the announcement of a "Call of Duty" title. It's strange that a game mode that really has nothing to do with the story or the multiplayer style has sold millions of copies for the franchise.

Obviously, the appeal is more than just shooting hordes of the undead. The survival mode that it offers is challenging in itself - repairing your barricades between waves and purchasing better weapons with the money you've earned from successful kills.

Perhaps it is the risk/reward ratio that really has people flocking to this particular mode of play.

 It's not often that gamers get to directly see results from their hard work so soon after an enemy attack unless there is a leveling system. It also shows a player's skill in direct correlation with their performance because of the rewards that they can spend on protecting their team and arming themselves.

Most multiplayer modes reward a fighter or team after the end of a match. The gradual skill growth is then displayed through items and perks. Player skill is measured in the fighting ability.

In a survival mode, it is measured in progress and effectiveness of weapons and defenses. It is almost unnecessary to show the player's skill when the rewards right there prove that they're excellent. Of course, as time gets shorter between the rounds, the skill of a player is much more important and the effectiveness of their defenses and weapons really come into play.

There aren't many defense-survival games out there. Games where you actually have to build up barriers from the enemy to stem the tide. Most zombie shooters have you traveling from one place to another. There are so few that have you staying in one place and fighting to the last man (or woman) and bullet.

Smile, handsome!

"Dead Island" came close to this, but you never really had a reason to stick around the survivor zones other than restocking and resupplying. There was more movement in there than anything. If "Dead Island" incorporated a game mode like the one in "Call of Duty" against zombies, it might actually add a level of survival to it, so much that you would actually dread the night and value your companions, NPCs or not.

Of course, "CoD: Black Ops 2" is close on the horizon and players are chomping at the bit to kill some more of the undead. Perhaps if we were to see more games employ this mode of gameplay when dealing with  the walking deceased, we'd see a lot more variety and success in fields other than "Resident Evil" or "Left 4 Dead." It's not that those games aren't phenomenal in their own right, but variety is the spice of life.

Eyes on the Last of Us

Kind of reminds me of that Will Smith movie.

The post-apocalyptic landscape of a destroyed city should be a familiar sight to gamers. But what flavor of desolate and deserted world is it? Cities? Sure. Zombies? Yup. Mutants? Absolutely. Crazed survivors? How could there not be? Now, I could be describing the Capitol Wasteland from "Fallout" or just the brain-eater populated universe of "Left 4 Dead." Instead I'm describing Naughty Dog's newest project, "The Last of Us."

This game made quite a big impression at E3 this year, after having been scuttled about the internet here and there through videos and articles for a few months.

The two protagonists, Joel and Ellie, seem to be thrust into circumstances together that require them to survive by any means necessary. Joel is apparently somewhat handy with his fists and a gun, but other than that he's no super action star. Ellie is your typical young girl who is able to fit where Joel can't, and seems to save his bacon more than once when things get too hard to handle.

The two seem like a good team, working in tandem through stealth and action sequences that had E3 audiences on the edge of their seats when the gameplay was revealed at the show.

Combat looks as visceral as "Resident Evil" but with the fluidity of Naughty Dog's flagship title "Uncharted." If you pay attention, you can see just how crucial ammo is in the game by how hard Joel aims to ensure his shots hit home. Of course, when he runs out of ammo, things get down and dirty.

Survival horror has never looked so good with actually trying to force you to conserve ammo and make you really think about your shots rather than the spray-and-prey method. This strategy and sense of danger is probably why "Resident Evil" and "Silent Hill" games have been so successful over the years. If "The Last of Us" can deliver the same sort of urgency in combat and level of thinking, it will definitely be a hit with that crowd.

The enemies in "The Last of Us" appear to be afflicted with some kind of fungus.

As for the monsters, they kind of look like a cross between zombies and pizza toppings. Mushrooms to be precise. Whatever has happened to the planet to make everything so overgrown and awkwardly lush in urban metropolises has clearly affected the people of the world as well.

We're not sure yet if this is a postmortem transformation or a gradual infection, or both. Whatever it is, it's gross and we like it.

Pretty graphics, a well-known yet refined gameplay style, intriguing story premise and still some time to go before it's released. Naughty Dog has come a long way from their "Crash Bandicoot" days, and hot damn it is impressive.

Interview with the creators of pen-and-paper RPG Outbreak: Undead

It lives! Our interview with the creators of Outbreak: Undead! Please watch and you may learn a thing or two from these driven individuals who made their own game.

To learn more about the game go to their website and their Facebook page here. Enjoy!