Half-Life, by contrast, went back to the root of the terror: what zombies are, not what they can do. Sure, the zombie dogs crashing through the window in Resi 1 is one of those moments that gentlemen of a certain generation may reminisce about on their death-beds, but they’re also a sign of the problem - it took setpieces and increasingly fantastical mutations of the formula to keep spines a-shiverin’. Resi's work-a-day undead were just the same old shambling idiots from forty years of b-movies. After the initial jump-in-your-seat moments, their zombies' unsettling power diminished sharply, alas. Granted, the living dead were already having something of a renaissance in 1998, the first two Resident Evil games having established them as videogame hot property. This was the game that made that old horror staple genuinely terrifying again. It is cruel to overlook the original Half-Life's treatment of them because of this, however. Zombies are, admittedly, now a videogame foe of such omnispresence that half the world will roll their eyes when one of these groaning, festering chaps shuffles his way onto our screens. Half-Life is credited with doing a great many things to save the first-person shooter from the Doom-derived rut it seemed stuck in during the late 90s - its perspective, its sense of place, its uncutscenes, its Rick Dangerousness - but rarely given so proud a nod are its zombies. So, after some heavy jiggery and some light pokery, here it is. This heartfelt paean to the original Half-Life's zombies (originally published in PC Gamer) remained reasonably proud, however. For the sake of all humankind, most of these documents must never see the light of day again. well, you know how it can feel to read something you wrote many moons ago. Preparing for a much-needed Windows reinstall, I'm currently unearthing all manner of old pieces from my freelance past.
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