Zombies, Run! – The BEST Writing in a Video Game
Over the years, I haven’t been shy about my love for Animal Crossing: Wild World.
- Gadgets Page » Nintendo DS: Animal Crossing
- Gadgets Page » Nintendo DS: Animal Crossing Update
- Gadgets Page » Animal Crossing: How To Complete Your Catalog
- Gadgets Page » Animal Crossing: Gulliver
Hands down, it was the best written game I had ever played. It was so well-written that many of the things that the animals have said have been documented at The Quotations Page:
With great quips like, “Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day. Give a fish a man, and he’ll eat for weeks!” it’s easy to understand why I love it so much.
But there is one game that has finally toppled Animal Crossing with the best writing in a video game, and it’s called Zombies, Run!
I’ve talked about this game A LOT on Starling Fitness because it’s a health and fitness app.
- Starling Fitness – Zombies, Run! Makes Exercise Fun
- Starling Fitness – Zombies, Run! 2 Is Coming This Spring
- Starling Fitness – I Am Runner Five
- Starling Fitness – Camilla Luddington Loves Zombies, Run!
On today’s run, however, I was struck with the brilliance of this game. I was playing the Zombies, Run! 5k Training Game, which is a less expensive app that gets you from walking to running and has a ton of episodes that happen between episode 1 and episode 2 of the original app. I was running with the Week 3 Workout 2 episode where Runner 10 has me testing out how far away we have to be from a zombie until they notice me. When the doctor asked him if he was SURE that the zombie was tethered strongly enough, I KNEW that the “zomb” was going to get free. I had no idea the feeling of accomplishment and gratitude I would feel when I heard them shoot her in the head and I was safe, however.
The writing and voice acting in this game is simply spectacular. It is so good that I want to consume it in one huge binge like I would do with a television series or a good book. I can’t, however. I am physically incapable of running more than once a day and even that is pushing it for me. Instead, I have to wait on pins and needles to find out whether Sam is feeling better after his breakdown and whether Francesca is able to find more supplies for the commissary.
This game is brilliant because it works so well with running. The doctor (or Sam, when he’s feeling better) never have me sitting in the safety of Abel Township fortifying walls or moving supplies. They ALWAYS have me running. Sometimes I have to stop for stretching, heel lifts or leg lifts, but they work that so effortlessly into the storyline. Today, I literally felt a wave of relief when I got behind “the fence” so I could do my stretches without worrying about the zombie catching me.
The reason the writing is so brilliant is because of Naomi Alderman. She is an author and her newest book, The Liars’ Gospel is pushing people’s buttons. If Naomi can make the story of Jesus new and controversial, then its no wonder the threat of zombies and all the other characters in Zombies, Run! feel so real.
I’ve long languished with video games because the premise of so many of them seems one-dimensional or contrived. The writing on Animal Crossing is the one thing that kept me playing for FAR longer than anyone should play a child’s video game. The same is true for Zombies, Run! Long after I would have abandoned the app and just ran with my music, I am still using Zombies, Run! and even more excited about their new version coming out, and it’s ALL because of the writing.
Zombies, Run! works on Android and iPhone platforms. For more information: