Perhaps one of the most popular genres in all of gaming, literature and movies, zombies have taken the world by storm even if they are not eating our brains. For many years, famous titles like Resident Evil, Dawn of the Dead and Zombie Survival Guide have all revolved around, guess what, zombies. The reason why people fall for the walking dead is a discussion for another day, but the question today is: Has the “Zombie Genre” become overdone?

As culture developed, the concept of what a zombie actually is has changed from voodoo slaves to walking, flesh eating dead to crazed infected, but what remains consistent through all of that is that the true depth of mystery of originality has been lost, devoured amongst the dead. Sure, the shambler’s formula can be changed from walking to running, from passive to enraged, from dead to alive but it all ends up being the same general recycled plot. Apocalypse + Survivors = Movie. Yes, the antagonist changes from time to time, sometimes adding some scientific fluff to make the plot seem more important and interesting, but the lack of actual depth, the change in setting, purpose, the character followed. It never seems to end.

The plot always follows a particular survivor who either is way too good at surviving the apocalypse or has no idea what he/she is doing. Never once has a movie or videogame seemed to follow one of the scientist who studied or, better yet, created the outbreak and the moral qualms therein. Besides Z-Nation and its impossibly large roster of zombie types, never once did the story follow a sentient zombie or something similar. No one can apparently fight off the disease and, better yet, there seems to be an infinite amount of the dead. Internal squabbles between characters seem to be completely out of place, leaving the audience to wonder if the act was appropriate for said character or if it was just fluff for the plot. This makes side or even the main character seem far less important than he/she should, degrading the movie as a result and none of this ever changes. Perhaps the people that write this stuff are too comfortable to step one toe outside the proverbial box, but where does that leave the consumer?

With this in mind, ask yourself–is the Zombie Genre overdone?