(no subject)
I'm a bit sad that Left 4 Dead (I don't like the number in the name any more than you do) has turned into just another mow-them-down squad shooter among my friends rather than something with story. I'm probably the entirely wrong demographic for the game anyway.
Seeing as the game tries to present its campaigns (unconnected save for the characters; it's implied that they're in different continuities) as generic zombie horror flicks, I've been passing the time spent waiting to respawn imagining what an actual movie based on the game would be like. The four survivors of the zombie apocalypse are:
- Bill, a Vietnam veteran who's happy to get into another war
- Louis, a black salesman or office manager of some sort
- Francis, a tough biker type who's a bit jerky but is Actually A Nice Person
- Zoey, a female college student and fan of zombie movies
Note the order I named them, which is the order in which I expect them to die in that hypothetical zombie movie.
Assuming no subversions of expectations, and everything following the usual tropes, the girl always survives. It's good for ratings and ticket sales. I know that there are many movies where the girl dies, but either they're trying to demolish expectations, or the girl is a ditz/too dumb to live (Zoey, by comparison, is pretty competent), or there is at least one other girl who will survive. There's an outside chance that the girl's boyfriend will survive in her place, but that does not apply here.
And Francis has to live long enough for the audience to understand that He's Not A Bad Guy, despite his gang-biker looks and surly attitude. He's not as photogenic as Zoey, so he may not live to see extraction, but it's probably going to take most of the movie for his Character Development.
On the other end of the scale, Bill is an Old Guy who is Ex-Military and who can easily be slotted into the Mentor role for the younger characters. He's doomed.
I'm not sure about Louis, honestly. On the one hand, movie directors are trying not to have the African-American guy be the first one to die, due to the unfortunate implications. On the other hand, Louis is pretty much a mix of Token Black Guy and Fish Out Of Water comic relief, which does not bode well for his chances of survival. I'm hedging that he's going to expire after Bill, but long before Francis.
I get to think about all of this while waiting to respawn, because for some bizarre reason, my friends keep wanting to play on Expert, even though we're not very good at the game. Screw challenge, say I.
Seeing as the game tries to present its campaigns (unconnected save for the characters; it's implied that they're in different continuities) as generic zombie horror flicks, I've been passing the time spent waiting to respawn imagining what an actual movie based on the game would be like. The four survivors of the zombie apocalypse are:
- Bill, a Vietnam veteran who's happy to get into another war
- Louis, a black salesman or office manager of some sort
- Francis, a tough biker type who's a bit jerky but is Actually A Nice Person
- Zoey, a female college student and fan of zombie movies
Note the order I named them, which is the order in which I expect them to die in that hypothetical zombie movie.
Assuming no subversions of expectations, and everything following the usual tropes, the girl always survives. It's good for ratings and ticket sales. I know that there are many movies where the girl dies, but either they're trying to demolish expectations, or the girl is a ditz/too dumb to live (Zoey, by comparison, is pretty competent), or there is at least one other girl who will survive. There's an outside chance that the girl's boyfriend will survive in her place, but that does not apply here.
And Francis has to live long enough for the audience to understand that He's Not A Bad Guy, despite his gang-biker looks and surly attitude. He's not as photogenic as Zoey, so he may not live to see extraction, but it's probably going to take most of the movie for his Character Development.
On the other end of the scale, Bill is an Old Guy who is Ex-Military and who can easily be slotted into the Mentor role for the younger characters. He's doomed.
I'm not sure about Louis, honestly. On the one hand, movie directors are trying not to have the African-American guy be the first one to die, due to the unfortunate implications. On the other hand, Louis is pretty much a mix of Token Black Guy and Fish Out Of Water comic relief, which does not bode well for his chances of survival. I'm hedging that he's going to expire after Bill, but long before Francis.
I get to think about all of this while waiting to respawn, because for some bizarre reason, my friends keep wanting to play on Expert, even though we're not very good at the game. Screw challenge, say I.